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 -
Odd Job SR542 by Deus Ex Machina
Deus chose the 007 moniker for this, their bored out 542cc SR400, and it isn’t hard to see why. This is a very menacing, very big bellied Japanese chap.
Vintage Flight Vest by GRP
I love finding little boutique clothing manufactures that still produce garments the same way they did when Blower Bentleys roared around Brooklands. GRP is a little Italian knitwear maker based in Carmignano, this is their Vintage Flight Vest and I like it a great deal.
1977 DeTomaso Pantera Racer
I am a huge, huge fan of the DeTomaso Pantera. The look and performance of the cars have always been slightly ridiclulous but I don’t care in the slightest, I still think they’re some of the most testosterone fuelled monsters to ever turn a wheel.
F86D Dog Sabre R/C
Building huge remotely controlled planes in your garage is perhaps the poster child of ridiculous hobbies, but as with most insane pastimes, it’s very popular and incredibly fun.
Clark Gable and his Dusenberg
Clark Gable and his Dusenberg reminding us all that we’re just not as cool as we might think.
Norton Commando 961SE
The Norton Commando is easily one of the most famous motorcycles ever made, even people who know nothing about bikes will know the name and will probably mention the words “British”, “Café Racer”, “Vintage” and “Fast” in conjunction with the marque.
Shwood Ashland in Zebrawood
Shwood is a Portland, Oregon based company that hand makes these remarkable sunglasses from sustainably harvested African hardwoods. This pair, called the ‘Ashland in Zebrawood’, has high grade Carl Zeiss lenses with 100% UV protection, stainless steel hinges and a multi-ply wooden frame.
Motorcycle vs Ice Boat Race
Sounding for all the world like something the 3 hosts of Top Gear might dream up for an episode in Lapland this photograph from 1908 shows an iceboat racing a motorcycle across a frozen lake in Canada.
1965 Amphicar Convertible
It’s a wonder to me that some enterprising automaker hasn’t created an affordable, amphibious roadster for public consumption. Sure we have a few boutique car companies that sell interesting but hugely expensive amphibians but there’s nothing out the for the common Joe.
Tentsile Tree Tents
The Tentsile hammock tents utilise a simple inverted tripod shape to remain steady with people sleeping in the “arms”, the centre section is a communal area and has a rope ladder that reaches down to the ground.
The Grounding of the Princess May
The Grounding of the Princess May is one of the most famous shipwreck photographs in the world, after she ran aground in 1910 the photographs spread around the globe with startling speed and the stories of heroism on board began to emerge from the survivors.
Bell & Ross PW1
This beautiful time piece is called the Bell & Ross PW1 and it’s one of their newer creations, it’s a pocket watch in every sense of the word and may very well be the purist distillation of minimalist watch design I’ve ever seen.