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 -
1913 Indian Boardtrack Racer
The Indian Boardtrack Racers of the early 20th century are quite easily amongst the most beautiful motorcycles ever built, the bikes are the first real generation of motorcycles, they were largely based on bicycles with no rear suspension and very limited front springs.
12 Hours of Sebring by Paul Chenard
This piece by Paul Chenard shows the race preparation of the Ferrari cars the evening before the 1962 12 Hours of Sebring.
Fraser Nash-BMW 319 Roadster
The Fraser Nash-BMW 319 Roadster had remarkable performance by 1935 standards, the 55 hp, 1,911 cc OHC six-cylinder, was fitted with 3 Solex carburettors…
P40 by Spirit Yachts
The P40 by Spirit Yachts is, and I say this without reservation, one of the most beautiful production boats in the world. The 40 foot powerboat is hand made from nature’s carbon composite or “wood” as it’s commonly known…
Kam the Elephant and his Land Rover
The Series 1 Land Rover is still one of the most capable 4x4s ever made, it may not have traction control, independent suspension or any fancy buttons but it did have extraordinary lightness. Although perhaps Kam’s Land Rover wouldn’t be so light with it’s driver onboard.
McLaren X-1
I like the McLaren X-1. I like it from an aesthetic perspective and I love it for what it represents, you see the X-1 is a return to that great old automotive tradition of creating unique, coach-built motorcars for special clients.
Peter Sellers and his Ferrari 275 GTB
This photograph from 1965 shows Sellers with his much loved Ferrari 275GTB…
If You’re Not Winning, You’re Not Trying
If You’re Not Winning, You’re Not Trying is a 1973 Documentary that follows the iconic John Player Lotus team through the ’73 season. It features some truly amazing footage of Colin Chapman, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson…
The USS Akron
This photograph of the USS Akron under construction looks beautiful, the really captivating element of the picture has to be the men standing at the very tops of those extraordinary ladders attached to what look like horsedrawn carts.
Paul Newman
During an interview many years ago, famous racing driver Mario Andretti was quoted as saying “Paul Newman was one of us”. That’s a hell of an accolade from one of the greatest racing drivers in history. He wasn’t wrong though.
Winston Churchill’s Land Rover
It isn’t every day that something as quintessentially British as this comes along, meet Winston Churchill’s 1954 Land Rover Series 1, a car that was specifically built for the man himself with an extra-wide driver’s seat and an arm rest in place of the passenger seat.
Triumph Tee
In some respects, Triumph is the Keith Richards of the motorcycle world, no matter how many times you think the company is a goner, they bounce back stronger than ever.