This captivating photograph of Bob Burman and the Blitzen Benz always makes me stop and pause for a moment, I still contend that it’s one of the best photographs I’ve ever seen.
It was taken in 1911 about a month after he set the new world record in the car (141.94 mph). This was roughly twice the speed of the aircraft of the era and the record remained unbroken for almost 10 years.
Blitzen Benz in German means “Lightning Benz” which I think you’ll agree, is one of the greatest car names in human history.
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.
The Ford GT The Ford GT was developed as a hat tip to its iconic forebear, the Ford GT40, a vehicle developed by Ford and Lola to take on Ferrari at Le Mans – which it did very successfully, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans 4 consecutive times from 1966 to 1969. The modern Ford…
The AMC Gremlin and Modified Stock Car racing are a match made in 1970s oval track heaven. The Gremlin was small and cheap, with a long hood area covering an engine bay that could accommodate far larger engines than its sub-compact car competition. The Kammback design of the Gremlin was an added bonus, as many…
The Austin-Healey 100 The Austin-Healey 100 is one of the most beautiful British cars of its time, in fact I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the most beautiful cars of its time regardless of origin. Amazingly the designer behind the low, sweeping roadster wasn’t actually a designer and he had…
This documentary covers the entry of Tuthill Porsche in the East African Safari Classic Rally. The team was fielding a series of comprehensively rally-prepped Porsche 911s, and had drivers including Stig Blomqvist and Björn Waldegård – who were both in their mid-60s at the time and still throwing down with the far younger drivers. Rumor has it…
The fact that Cannonball! is a true story is almost impossible to fathom looking back on it from 40+ years since it was last run. The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash The actual race was named the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash with the first running of the event taking place in 1971, though…
The Shelby Series 1 Personally, I think the Shelby Series 1 is a significantly underrated car. It was the only blank-slate road car ever built by Carroll and the storied American company, it has looks influenced by the Shelby Cobra and the Shelby Daytona Coupe, it’s fitted with a highly-tuned, all-alloy, double overhead cam L47 Aurora…
