Project MKX Behind the Build

For the Project MKX we have partnered with designer and co-founder of Undefeated, James Bond. Taking James' unique perspective and design philosophies we have collaborated to bring to life a vehicle that I would be proud to drive daily and that meets our active lifestyle. James has accomplished so much building the UNDFTD brand to cult status and has brought new inspiration and ideas to the table for this project.

James Bond has been responsible for multiple fashion designs with companies such as Adidas, designing the line for David Beckham and PUMA collaborating on multiple projects. He is also an avid auto enthusiast. He recently participated in last year's Gumball 3000 in a Ford Mustang RTR that raced throughout Europe. The partnership made complete sense merging the world's of fashion, lifestyle, design, and automotive.

Taking inspiration and working with James we were able to incorporate a host of influences on the project based on the Undefeated ethos of sport, active lifestyle, military, and utilitarianism. One such influence was the use of Smittybilt G.E.A.R seat covers. The covers are made of a durable canvas that add a touch of utility with a military feel.

Part of an active lifestyle is the outdoors and whether its the beach or the mountains the Project MKX was built to fit any occasion. A custom roof rack with an INNO cargo box and surf rack was used.

Not much needed to be done to the exterior to improve the looks so we concentrated on the interior. We really wanted to keep the luxury feel inside the vehicle, but still wanted to upgrade it for the show. Everything was kept to remain functional with the MKX including the heated/cool seats. So we added a strip of khaki canvas along with new AMG style perforated leather to the seats for subtle touch of detail. We also wrapped the roof with alcantara and the perforated leather.

For added power and an aggressive sound a Magnaflow exhaust system was prototyped on the vehicle.

The exterior of the vehicle is the most important element as that sets the tone and focal point of the build. After discussing multiple options with the team, the decision was made to wrap the MKX in Wraptivo by Meguiar's. There are several reasons for wrapping over paint. We decided to go with a wrap simply because we wanted to make a statement and also not have the color change permanent. The satin grey was perfect and inspired by the color of a helicopter. This state of the art material Wraptivo provided is truly amazing and needs to be seen in person. Also we were able to request the help of one of the top installers of wraps for this build and he did an awesome job in 2 days.

For added texture and detail and also to break up the colors on the vehicle it was decided to try out the carbon fiber material from Wraptivo for the roof and rear window wing.

Of course we needed to display a board to go along with the surf rack so James called in a favor from Chris Christenson, a renown shaper based out of Carlsbad, CA. Chris custom created a 9 foot long board in a black pearl.

The next post will be the unveiling of the Project MKX at SEMA within the Ford Booth. Stay tuned for more.