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 -
American Standard Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster was originally designed in 1954 by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. Interestingly, it was originally intended to be a guitar for country musicians but in the intervening 59 years it’s been used in every genre from rock n’ roll to jazz with some death-metal thrown in for good measure.
1926 Brough Superior
Brough Superior is still considered by many to be the grandest motorcycle marque of all time, during their years of production their motorcycles sold for prices on par with the average house’s value (£130 to £180).
Monaco LS by TAG Heuer
The TAG Heuer Monaco is one of those iconic timepieces that even casual fans of horology immediately recognise, the design was first introduced in 1969 to honour the Monaco Grand Prix but it wasn’t until 2 years later when Steve McQueen used one during the filming of the 1971 film “Le Mans” that the popularity of the watch began to take off.
1985 San Marino Grand Prix – Full Length
The 1985 San Marino Grand Prix is one of those historical curiosities that deserves a place in any Formula 1 fans mental database of races…
BOTT XR1
This bike, the BOTT XR1, is a great example of what could have been achieved had Harley-Davidson not axed its Buell division back in 2009.
Saturn V Flight Manual
This is the Saturn V Flight Manual used by astronaut and Lunar Module pilot Edgar Mitchell during the Apollo 14 program, Mitchell was just the 6th man to walk on the moon and spent 9 hours in the Fra Mauro Highlands region on February the 6th 1971.
Icon 1000 – The Women’s Collection
Our female counterparts in the world of motorcycling are often forgotten about by manufacturers, the limited amount of protective gear they have to choose from often leaves them buying and wearing stuff they’d never have chosen otherwise.
Motorcycle-Mounted Machine Gun
When I saw this remarkable WWI era photograph showing a chap from the 39th Tomsk Infantry Regiment with his motorcycle-mounted machine gun I immediately decided that I wanted one. Preferably without the million or so angry Germans on the other end of it.
1970 Porsche 908/3
The Gulf colour scheme on this 1970 Porsche 908/3 makes it an instant favourite around this part of the internet, interestingly this is just the…
Barnett RC150 Crossbow
This is the Barnett RC150 Crossbow – it reminds me of the crossbow used by Norman Reedus in The Walking Dead and because of this, I want one badly.
Honda CB750 Custom by MotoHangar
The Honda CB750 is a motorcycle that’s been tweaked, customised and rebuilt in more ways than will ever be documented. The venerable Honda model was built between 1969 and 2007 in a wide variety of configurations, when it was first released into the US market in ’69 it became known as the “first superbike” and went on to influence modern high-performance motorcycles perhaps more than any other single bike.
The Projects: 1972 Chevrolet Camaro
The 1972 Chevrolet Camaro was almost the last one ever made due to severe strikes at the GM factory leading to 174 days of silence on the factory floor resulting in over 1,100 incomplete Camaros being sent to the knackers yard.