Autos

We present you the first Unfinished Man car review/test drive, in collaboration with First Super Cars.  We would like to thank the good folks at MCL Motor Cars for providing the beautiful 2011 Jaguar XJ.

What a way to start reviewing automobiles!  The Jaguar XJ is not only luxurious but is also a hell of a lot of fun.  I must admit, when I first saw pictures of the all new XJ, I wasn’t a big fan of the styling in the rear of the car.  Seeing the car in person for the first time, it looked a lot better than the pictures.  After spending three days with the car, I totally fell in love with the styling.  It’s just so different from

The 1955 Ford Thunderbird is one of the most beautiful, elegant, and sporty car from post WWII era.  The Thunderbird never looked the same after that generation and for that reason holds a special place in automotive enthusiasts’ hearts.

For that reason a client commissioned Bo Zoland from Visuatech to re-design the 1955 T-Bird, with modern design twists.  Bo specializes in custom design and technical illustrations and came up with this stunning design, which is very reminiscent of Chip Foose’s work.  Unlike a lot of the concept illustrations we see, this T-Bird will actually be produced and in addition to modern design cues, it will use a lot of modern technology.  The Thunderbird will use the underpinnings of a 2009 Ford Mustang with the classic lines of the T-Bird.

The past meets the present with the all-new Morgan 3 Wheeler, which features modern technology and WWII styling. The original Morgan 3 Wheeler was produced from 1909 until 1953 and nearly 30,000 of them were sold, while many more were made under license by Darmont Morgan of France.

The 2011 Morgan features a modern V-Twin fuel injected motorcycle engine from S&S which produces 115 horsepower and is mated to a Mazda 5-speed transmission including a reverse gear. The classic chassis and design of the Morgan 3 Wheeler imitate the styling of a WWII aircraft, and also features a leather padded airplane style cockpit which allows the occupants of the vehicle the feeling of ‘flying through the air’.

Mercedes-Benz finally took the wraps off the hotly anticipated SLS AMG Roadster yesterday.  The roadster loses one of the “main-attractions” of the coupe, the gullwing doors, which were loved by most automobile journalists we talked to and gave the car a connection to the original gullwing car.

Although the car loses the gullwing doors and its top, Mercedes engineers worked hard to keep everything else as close as possible to the coupe.  With the roof gone, the chassis had to be stiffened with extra bracing but only 88 pounds of weight was gained compared to the SLS AMG coupe.  The three-layer soft top is made out of a material that combined the use of magnesium, steel, and aluminum and is available in beige, black or red colors and can be operated at speeds of up to 31 miles per hour (50 km/h), the opening and closing process takes just 11 seconds.

Last year I wrote about the luxurious Startech Land Rover Defender 90 Yachting Edition, that post was extremely popular but there were a few people whining about why someone would make a luxury Defender; I said, WHY NOT!  I personally loved that Defender and am a big fan of the Vilner tuned Land Rover Defender pictured above.

The Land Rover Defender is one of the toughest SUV’s one can buy but it lacks in the luxury department; if you are a true Unfinished Man, you’ll know the importance of luxury, even in the most rugged vehicles.  That was the thinking a Russian business man had, he must be a regular Unfinished Man reader, he wanted his Defender to stand out from the crowd and provide him with true luxury that one would find in a Range Rover, so  he commissioned Vilner to do up his Defender.

I’m a huge fan of the Ferrari 458 Italia supercar, and Anderson Germany is one of my favorite car tuning companies, so naturally you’d think I’d be in love with the Anderson Germany Ferrari 458 Italia Carbon Edition.  I’m not; I like it, but I’m just not sure why I don’t love it.  It is a nice car – but seems a bit over the top, maybe?

The tuned 458 Italia comes with a lot of carbon fiber parts, hence the name.  The German tuners added the following carbon fiber parts: front lip spoiler, front bumper flaps, front bumper vents, wider side-skirts, rear spoiler, and rear air inlets and outlets.  That’s a lot of carbon fiber pieces, but wait, there’s more!

My cousin was big into modelling. One day, while looking at his model collection of military aircraft and ships, he showed me a picture and description of the next model he wanted to buy and build. “It’s a Q ship- very cool,” he told me. Hmm; this was a ship that I had never heard of before, and remembering it now inspires me to tell you about my favorite sleeper cars from the muscle era.