This B-17 Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine table is built from a decommissioned R-1820 engine – this is the motor that powered every wartime example of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Douglas SBD Dauntless bombers as well as countless other aircraft, armored vehicles, and tanks including the M4A6 Sherman and the M6 Heavy Tank.
The Wright R-1820 Cyclone first entered production in 1931, it’s a 9-cylinder radial engine that was loosely based on the Wright P-2 engine, and it was built under license in the Soviet Union as the Shvetsov M-25 and in Spain as the Hispano-Suiza 9V.
Over the course of its decades-long production run the R-1820 was developed into dozens of different engine specifications including diesel variants. The most powerful example was the R-1820-82WA which was capable of an eye-watering 1,525 hp.
Although there are still a considerable number of Wright R-1820 Cyclones in service, most of them have been retired, and a lucky few have been converted into functional art like this one. With a diameter of 1,600 mm (5′ 3″) and a height of 1,100 mm (3′ 7″) it’s not a diminutive piece of furniture, meaning it’d make an excellent centerpiece and an ideal beverage consumption platform in a suitably large drawing or billiard room.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, 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 millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
These classic car skateboard decks by Vuvroom were designed by Brian Dooley, an illustrator with a life-long affinity for vintage motoring. Dooley founded Vuvroom as a platform to create and sell his work as an independent artist. Dooley’s latest design is a series of three skateboard decks featuring an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT Veloce,…
This series of tees by Nik Schultz of L-Dopa Design are called “Dark Mode”, he developed the series to showcase a series of motorsport icons against the blackness of a night sky, rather than the more traditional bright white. The t-shirts include a modified Porsche 911 2.2, a Mini Cooper S, a Porsche 917, an…
Wolf & Wander Co. is a new clothing company dedicated to showcasing the work of up and coming artists and designers from developing countries. It’s often almost impossible for them to break through to the wider global market, and company founder Leo Davie hopes to permanently change that. Wolf & Wander Co. If that name…
The iconic Fisher Bullet Space Pen, named for its sleek bullet-shaped rounded ends, has long been celebrated as an icon of mid-century modern design, and you’ll find examples in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection as a symbol of American industrial design. The Myth Of The Million Dollar NASA Pen vs Soviet Space Pencils The Space Pen…
This article was written by Mike Gustafson, the founder of MONNOM Customs and builder of the beautiful teardrop camper you see pictured here. My wife, Sandy, and I have been wanting to build a teardrop for several years so we took the typical approach, scour the internet to find what we like and what we…
The Volvo 1800E is the fastest version of what is possibly Sweden’s most beautiful car. It’s a car that was designed by a Swede and built with a global supply chain (and some subterfuge) to replace the famous failure that was the Volvo P1900. The Volvo P1800 – 1800S – 1800E – 1800ES The design…
