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 -
General Motors Aerotrain
The General Motors Aerotrain was an experimental direction taken by GM in the mid-1950’s, it was designed by legendary car-man Chuck Jordan, the classic 50’s American car influence is clearly apparent in its conceptualisation from tip to tail.
Tag Heuer Dashboard Timer
Modern design trends tend towards the digitisation of formerly mechanical objects, often into an onscreen display. Whilst I understand the importance of progress I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for a time before Turing’s idea really took off and the mechanical device was still king.
The Liberty Tool Company
A love of motor vehicles goes hand in hand with a love of tools. Without our tools we’re at the mercy of someone else’s creative vision and sometimes, that just isn’t good enough. This beautiful short film centres around a man called H.G. “Skip” Brack and his store, The Liberty Tool Company.
Knuckler Glove by Iron & Resin
A decent pair of leather gloves are a step below a helmet in their importance to motorcyclists, I’ve had a couple of motorcycle mishaps in my time and it always seems that my hands hit the ground first, followed by every other part of my body, with varying degrees of speed, pain and skin-loss.
Rev-2 by Wonder Bikes
Jason Wonder is one of those young, talented individuals that make you sit back and try to remember what you had achieved by the age of 24. This wonderful custom (yes, yes, the pun was terrible) is based on a Harley-Davidson V-Rod, however not much of the original bike remains.
Shell Road Map
From the early 1920’s right through to the 1980’s oil and gasoline companies used to hand out free road maps featuring their own company advertising. From a marketing perspective, it’s a very good idea and I’m surprised it isn’t more commonplace nowadays.
Honda CB650 by Steel Bent Customs
The guys at Steel Bent Customs have a habit of building some of the nicest and most affordable café racers out there and this…
Renard GT
I count filmmaking amongst my unmanageably long list of interests, this short film by Kaimar Kukk about the Renard GT is a great example of what a talented film maker can achieve in 2 minutes.
Autodromo Vallelunga
This watch by Autodromo is named after the circuit and has a clear automotive design influence with the front dial resembling an RPM gauge, the overall minimalism in the design appeals to me as does the price, $425 is a lot less than I excepted this to retail for when I first saw it.
Cooper Wool Cap by Esemplare
The humble woolen cap is one of those things a man should never leave at home between November and March, this great example by Esemplare looks like ti’d be suitable for an Arctic expedition.
Hans Herrmann, the Porsche 550 Spyder and the Railway Crossing
The Porsche 550 Spyder is so low that during the 1954 Mille Miglia, former Formula 1 driver Hans Herrmann drove it at high speed under closed railroad crossing gates a few seconds before a passenger train flew by.
Le Side-Car
It seems a shame that side cars have fallen from grace in the modern age, this French example built by Simard is a work of art. Hell even the advertising is a work of art.