Articles that Ben Branch 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 -
Don’t Panic
So I’ll say from the outset that the above image is going to make no sense to you unless you’ve read The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, if you haven’t read the book, go grab a copy and then come back when you’re ready.
The Zombie Survival Guide
This book – “The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead” is a modern classic of sorts, its author is Max Brooks, the son of comedy legend Mel Brooks. Max is also a staff writer at Saturday Night Live and he’s the man who wrote the screenplay for Brad Pitt’s latest feature film, World War Z.
Venice BLVD Trucker Hat by Deus
The humble trucker hat is a summertime wardrobe essential, they keep your face shaded and the mesh rear helps to keep your head cool on all but the hottest days.
1981 Suzuki GN400
When it comes to custom motorcycles we don’t often hear about the guys building sub-$1,000 machines in their garages – most of the builds that garner attention cost a minimum of $10,000 with some of the more labour intensive builds costing many tens of thousands more again.
Grover & Friends Box
Grover is an LA based clothing label that focusses on unique, interesting attire specifically designed for Californian summers. All of their gear is handmade in Los Angeles and up until now, it’s only been available for sale through LA boutiques.
1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider by Pinin Farina
This is an all-original 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I by Pinin Farina, only 14 of them were ever made with a further 16 being made by competing coachbuilder Scaglietti. The Mondial 500 was named after Alberto Ascari’s Formula 2 car that had dominated the previous years championship – winning 6 of the 8 races in 1953.
The Book Of Answers (With A Hidden Hip Flask)
There are many great reasons for keeping an illicit stash of grandpa’s cough medicine around the house, though being married is probably the most obvious. This book, titled “The Book Of Answers” contains a 6oz stainless steel flask and has a magnetic backing, so the flask remains firmly in place.
Mercedes-Benz Unimog
The modern Mercedes-Benz Unimog is a verifiable beast, many don’t know that it’s still in production largely due to the fact that Mercedes almost exclusively sells them to either Paris-Dakar teams or emergency services agencies.
Dainese M6 Two Piece Race Suit
The Dainese M6 Two-Piece Race Suit is a piece of gear that serves two purposes, the upper jacket portion of the suit can be worn separately as a standard motorcycle jacket – then on days when you’re going to visit the local circuit you can zip-in the leather pants and ride with a full-body protective suit.
USAF Posters by Nicholas Anderson
These fantastic art deco Air Force posters are the brain child of Nicholas Anderson – a serving USAF officer and a very talented digital artist. Nick sells them for $20 – $25 a pop and then donates $5 of the proceeds to his squadron’s Booster Club.
2013 Mojave Brooklands Jacket by Belstaff
This is the new, updated Mojave Brooklands Jacket by Belstaff for 2013. It’s been reworked and slightly redesigned to make it waterproof, it also now includes advanced, removable D3O armour in the shoulders and elbows with a pocket for a back protector (available separately).
1953 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spyder by Fantuzzi
This is a 1953 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spyder by Fantuzzi – just 52 of them were built in 1953 by Maserati with the sole aim of challenging the likes of Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz on some of the most iconic race tracks in Europe and around the world.