The Jaguar XK120 was a revelation when it was first shown in 1948, the “120” in the name refers to it’s top speed of 120 mph which was the fastest top speed of any production car in the world at the time.
Interestingly, the first 242 XK120s had hand-beaten aluminium bodies mounted on Ash wood frames, once production went into full swing the Jaguar factory switched over to pressed steel bodies with some select aluminium body parts. Those original few Ash framed cars are worth astonishing amounts of money in the modern day, though sadly it’s estimated that less than half of them have survived.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Jim Clark was one of the most successful racing drivers of his era, and he remains one of the most successful of all time, with a win in the Indianapolis 500, two Formula One…
The Harley-Davidson VR1000 was a race bike developed in the late-1980s and early-1990s to take on the best in the world. We don’t typically associate the American motorcycle maker with performance machines, but the VR1000 was…
This documentary covers the dual entries of the mighty little Lotus Cortinas at two races in Sebring in 1964 – a 250 kilometre stock car race and the world-famous 12 hour endurance race. The…
This is an edited extract from This Way To The Revolution, a book by Ian Francis about Birmingham in the late 60s. Available via Flatpack Projects. Less Than Nothing Birmingham’s oldest district, Digbeth sits just…
This is the Tamiya R/C Volkswagen Beetle Rally, it’s an homage to all of the Beetle-based rally and desert racing vehicles that have been built from the 1950s right through to the present day. Although…
The Toyota 2000GT is one of the most important Japanese cars of all time, it’s now the most valuable vintage Japanese production car ever – just 351 of them were made. The Toyota 2000GT –…
