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Hot Rod Garage series premieres with 700-hp big-block Jaguar XJ

Roadkill hosts Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger have broken up - kinda - to spin off a new show, Hot Rod Garage, that mostly gives up the driveway and parking lot wrench work for the confines of a garage. We say kinda because while Finnegan is the primary host for Hot Rod Garage, Freiburger plays guest host and the new show starts off by wrenching on the Roadkill Draguar project car.
What's the Draguar? It's a 1974 Jaguar XJ12 that's about to be force-fed a 383-cubic-inch Chevrolet long-block engine with tidbits like Holley carbs, a Weiand 6-71 roots blower and a "custom WillBlow transmission," all good for about 700 horsepower. After that Finnegan gets into swapping parts on his wife's El Camino and some TIG welding lessons.
You can check out the first episode below. And in case you're worried, no, Roadkill isn't going away.

Looking back on our favorite cars of Mad Men

The second half of the seventh and final season of Mad Men debuted this week, set to cap a run of public and critical acclaim. A decade's worth of interesting cars also made for good television, if you were paying attention. Vehicles didn't often steal the spotlight from Don, Betty, Roger, Joan and the gang, but they added meaningfully to the tone and beauty of the series. We sorted through the wheeled extras from Mad Men's archives, and choose some of our favorites to highlight. The list consists of cars that had at least a small impact on the plot of an episode, though certainly there are worthy gems hiding in just about every street and driving scene. Check out our subjective top five, and then let us know which of the Mad Men cars would be on your list. 1962 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Season 2 Don Draper's Cadillac Coupe DeVille, all 500 feet of it, shows up in a few seasons of the show, but it's the first appearance that sets the tone. A Cadillac salesman, cut from the same cloth as Draper, asks what Don drives right now. "A Dodge," Don admits. "Those are wonderful if you want to get somewhere," allows the salesman, "this is for when you've already arrived." For a man on the move up corporate and social ladders that's a powerful message, and a pitch-perfect car. 1961 Lincoln Continental – Season 3 The most stylish Lincoln Continental ever is perfect set dressing for the mod show, of course. Though it's interesting that the car isn't cast as dapper Draper's ride, but rather his father-in-law's. Grandpa Gene does what all great grandfathers are bound to: lets his granddaughter Sally drive the big Lincoln while he works the pedals. Generational bond secured, in fine fashion. When you go back through the first three seasons of the show, you'll notice that Continentals show up more than once, too. There's nothing quite like them to evoke the best of the early '60s. 1963 John Deere 110 – Season 3 The only non-standard passenger vehicle on the list, no self-respecting gearhead/Mad Men fan should quibble with the inclusion of the John Deere 110 riding mower. For starters, the Deere is lovely to look at; a miniature version of the American Heartland icon in its green and yellow duds. The 110 appears as if milled from a solid block of steel, just the opposite of today's sleek, plasticky lawn minders (we're scouring Craigslist for one to bring home). The John Deere also has dear ramifications to the plot, too.

Jaguar with claws: 592-hp XE SV Project 8 Collector's Edition

A few years ago, and to much fanfare, Jaguar launched the F-Type Project 7. It was Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit's first Collector's Edition car. It now has a successor – with four doors. Jaguar has announced the XE SV Project 8 Collector's Edition, which will get its official debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Project 8 is as a 592-horsepower sedan that the automaker is calling "the most extreme Jaguar ever." It's powered by a specially tuned version of the company's 5.0-liter V8 engine, which will make it Jaguar's most powerful vehicle ever put into production. It will be limited to just 300 examples hand-built at SVO's Technical Centre in Coventry. As for how much it'll set you back if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations Managing Director John Edwards says Project 8 "is conceived for enthusiasts and the most discerning collectors. The price for such an extreme performance sports car available in strictly limited numbers will reflect that." Engine tuning is just one of the upgrades to the Project 8, but, for now, Jaguar is remaining vague about other alterations to the XE. Edwards says the car "takes aerodynamics and performance engineering to another level," and there's no reason not to take him at his word. The British automaker says it'll let us know more about the car on June 28, just two days before its official introduction. For now, though, we can enjoy the teaser video from Jaguar, above, which shows the XE SV Project 8 in a particularly sporty camouflage wrapper testing on the Nurburgring. Related Video: News Source: Jaguar Jaguar Performance Supercars Videos Sedan jaguar xe sv project 8