Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, 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 well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Ben Branch -
Leather iPhone Wallet by Portel
Portel is a european company based in Estonia run by the 2 person team of Port & Ermel, they’ve been creating some of the most eye-catching iPhone and iPad protective gear for the past couple of years and this is one of their new iPhone wallets.
Leather Motorcycle Jacket “Domino” by RSD
When it comes to solid, good-looking leather motorcycle jackets, Roland Sands Design is fast making a name for themselves as a force to be reckoned with. They’ve developed a line of jackets that have shoulder, elbow and back armour pockets – allowing owners to kit the jacket out for serious riding, or remove the armour and wear it on a night out on the town.
US Army Field Manuals (Set of 3)
US Army Field Manuals are well-known and highly respected by campers, soldiers, survivalists, hikers and “preppers” – there are over 600 different books in total so the team at Best Made collected the top 3 and created a set that can be bought via their website for $22 USD. That seems like a pretty good deal considering the fact that if you ever find yourself actually needing them, money will likely only be useful to you as kindling.
R131 Fighter by Confederate Motorcycles
The R131 Fighter by Confederate Motorcycles is a bike I’ve been wanting to feature here on Silodrome for quite some time, in some respects it’s the epitome of an engineering first approach to motorcycle design, and that’s resulted in a bike that’s beautiful purely because form follows function.
BookBook Laptop Case
The BookBook MacBook Pro Case solves 2 dilemmas at once, firstly, the issue of laptop theft is muted because no one in their right mind steals old books. Well, except for Nicholas Cage in those dreadful, wanna-be-Indiana-Jones movies.
1932 Talbot Boat Tail Tourer
When it comes to wooden cars, most people will immediately think of the Morgan, some will remember the old Africar and others will think of Fred Flintstone’s foot-powered coupe. This old Talbot will cheerfully give any of them a run for their money, the entire body is crafted from Honduran mahogany, making the car look almost like a 4-wheeled version of the Baby Bootlegger.
Waxed Security Jacket by Schott
Schott is a NYC based clothing company with a habit of producing some of the most iconic jackets in the world, this is their Waxed Security Jacket and it’s one of the more handsome waxed cotton jackets you’ll find anywhere on the web.
Indian 101 Scout
The Indian 101 Scout was produced between 1928 and 1931, it was the successor to the previous Scout model that began production in 1920 but the 101 had been fully reworked from the ground up by Charles Franklin, the senior Indian engineer and former motorcycle racer responsible for the original Scout.
Anfibio Cafe Boot by Dainese
The Anfibio Cafe Boot by Dainese is just about the perfect solution for people looking for that classic, retro motorcycle boot but not wanting to forgo anything in the way of safety.
1962 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe
The ’62 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe was commonly known as the “Bubbletop” it came with 5 engine options with the top-end being the one pictured here – a 409 cubic inch V8 engine with 420 ft/lbs of torque and 409 horsepower capable of pushing the car to a 1/4 mile time of 12.84 seconds.
Skate Guitars
Skate Guitars are one of those ingenious ideas that fall into the must-own category for me, they’re essentially repurposed skateboards that have been fashioned into fully functioning, live-performance quality electric guitars.
Harley Cafe Racer by Deus Ex Machina
This bike was nicknamed “The American” by its creator, Michael Woolaway (aka Woolie), the head motorcycle man at Deus Ex Machina in California. The fundamental ethos behind The American was that is should be as American as possible with as few internationally sourced parts as could be managed.