1980 Rolls-royce Corniche on 2040-cars

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Top Gear has an Extra Gear problem | Episode Review

When the BBC announced Extra Gear, I was excited. As an avid fan of show's like The Talking Dead – companion show to AMC's hit The Walking Dead – a behind-the-scenes look at my favorite motoring show sounded promising. But with the fifth episodes of each show, I'm worried that Top Gear is suffering to keep Extra Gear interesting. We'll start with Chris Evans, inarguably the most heavily criticized member of the new Top Gear team. Evans is progressively less shouty and more comfortable filming while driving in each episode – the fifth is no different. He's almost likable in the Zenos E10 video, like a ginger James May, and he delivers accurate and eloquent driving impressions. The review is entertaining, until Extra Gear shows the producers cut a huge element – an old-versus-new sprint around the Race of Champions circuit at the Olympic Stadium in London. Former Formula 1 ace David Coulthard would drive a Caterham 360, while current F1 pro Daniel Riccardo rocked the Zenos. If the entire premise of Evans review is that the Zenos E10 is the newest of the new for British super-lightweight track toys, why did the producers decide to leave a race against the segment's standard bearer for Extra Gear? It's a baffling move, cutting a segment of the film that reinforces Evans' excitement over the Zenos. Rory Reid's Jaguar F-Type SVR piece is excellent. Fifty five years to the day after Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis raced to the Geneva Motor Show in a second E-Type for display, Reid would attempt the same feat in an SVR. If he failed, Jaguar wouldn't have a car to display. Dewis made the 750-mile trip with 13 hours of notice, and Reid would need to do the same. It's a brilliant, simple premise that reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson's so-called "Race against God" in a Jaguar XJ, way back in season 16. The history of the challenge and Dewis' gravelly commentary add gravitas. But the entire film goes by so fast. It's longer than Evans' Zenos video or Harris' BMW M2 film, but at less than ten minutes, Reid and the SVR deserved more screen time. Extra Gear poured salt in that particular wound with a great segment featuring Norman Dewis that deserved to be in the main show. Reid takes the famed test driver for a spin around the Dunsfold track, then, instead of the comedian of the week, the hosts interview Dewis on Extra Gear's couch.

Ward's releases 10 Best Interiors list for 2014

While we're still a ways off from the automotive awards season proper, where things like North American Car and Truck of the Year, Motor Trend's Car of the Year and Car and Driver's Ten Best are named, that doesn't mean there aren't trophies being handed out to deserving automakers. Ward's 10 Best Interiors being one of them.
As the name might imply, the magazine focuses on the very best interior treatments in the US market. Whereas some awards purposely exclude extreme, high-dollar offerings, Ward's considers them - the only requirement is that a vehicle has a "new or significantly redesigned interior."
Ward's offered up the list of winners in simple, alphabetical order, and it only seems fair to do the same:

Odell Beckham Jr.'s custom Rolls-Royce hood ornament catches the true Spirit of Ecstasy

Odell Beckham Jr. hasn't even played a single game for his new team, yet he's already making a splash in Cleveland. Not for his play, but for his car. Images and video of OBJ's custom Rolls-Royce Cullinan hit the web this week, and it suits his larger-than-life personality perfectly. The Browns orange wrap is a minor piece in a grand package that includes a custom hood ornament that replicates his famous one-handed behind-his-head catch. Sorry, Spirit of Ecstasy. OBJ's career has been too impressive to be defined by a single play, but his 2014 catch against the Dallas Cowboys (seen below) is certainly a top highlight. Widely considered one of the greatest catches in all of NFL history, it has now been immortalized in a hood ornament of all things. But not just any hood ornament. It takes the place of the sacred Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy on his custom Cleveland-themed Cullinan SUV. And yes, it can still be hidden within the grille. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NFL players, and athletes in general, have been known to create some of the wildest custom vehicles we've seen, and OBJ's Double-R is no exception. Built by Dreamworks Motorsports in Roxboro, North Carolina, the Cullinan has an orange wrap, dark 26-inch Forgiato wheels with floating RR center caps, gloss black accents, and Suntek Films window tint. That's just the basic stuff. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Cementing his car as a truly unique piece are the sound system and the interior. Dreamworks built a subwoofer box to mimic the iconic Rolls-Royce grille, and the one-off starlight headliner was constructed just for this vehicle with a custom pattern. Plus there's that Spirit of Hubris up front. Whether it's a no from you, dawg, or it's a resounding yes, there's no doubt this thing will get people talking. Inspect the details in the gallery above. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.