Jack Ehret, the Black Lightning, and the road near Gunnedah On January 19th, 1953 Jack Ehret rolled his Vincent Black Lightning onto the gleaming asphalt near Gunnedah in eastern Australia where a 2 ¼ mile straight straight stretch of road had been closed by an accommodating constable, so Jack could take a shot at setting a new…
The Eagle Speedster is a car that’s immediately recognizable to any red blooded car guy, even if they’ve never actually seen one before. This is because it’s essentially a Jaguar E-Type that’s been completely taken to pieces and rebuilt, with a majority of new parts, though still keeping its core identity. It’s been said that…
The name Hesketh will probably always be most closely associated with the flamboyant world of 1970s Formula One racing, and for giving James Hunt his Formula One debut in 1973. The team were notoriously fond of champagne and would drink cases of the stuff regardless of their actual finishing positions, typically in the nearest 5…
There are few pocketed items more important than a discrete hip flask. They make even the dreariest of weddings entertaining – not to mention christenings. When choosing a flask it’s important to get one that’s slim enough not to show in your breast pocket, and you typically want to avoid cheaper examples as they often…
The rotary-engined Norton Commander is a very rare motorcycle, just 300 or so were made before Norton was paid a final visit by its creditors at Midland Bank, and production was shut down. It’s a shame as with better funding, the almost turbine smooth twin rotor Wankel could have been a benchmark touring bike for its…
The Supermarine Type 300 by Bremont is a British automatic wristwatch designed to be a daily-wearable, heirloom quality timepiece. It’s named for the legendary Supermarine Spitfire Type 300 prototype aircraft that would form the foundation of the Spitfire we all know and love. The design evokes the classic professional dive watch, backed up by its…
This set of official Goodwood Road Racing Club mechanic overalls have been carefully designed to look and feel exactly like the ones worn by the spanner monkeys in garages and pit lanes back in the 1950s. Goodwood offer the overalls in sizes ranging from XXS through to XXL, it has press studs down the front,…
From 1952 till 1985 a friendly Brit named Norman Dewis was the chief test driver and development engineer at Jaguar. He was pivotal in developing the XK120/140/150, the C-Type, D-Type, XKSS, E-Type, and a slew of other iconic Jaguars – making him by far the most important test driver in the company’s history. The big wigs…
The new Meters OV-1 headphones have been developed by the same team behind Ashdown Engineering, a British company that has designed and created instrument amplification for a number of the world’s biggest bands. Each pair has built in dynamic ANC (Automatic Noise Cancelling), a lightweight alloy frame, and USB charging for its internal battery. Meters…
Morgan Motor Company: The Most Honest Car Factory in the World is a short film that takes a close look inside the factory of the storied British automaker. There’s an interesting juxtaposition at Morgan of old and new, with their classic vehicles still sporting ash wood frames and hand-fitted aluminum bodies. Newer Morgan designs have…
The story of the Sopwith Dove cannot be told without first talking about the Sopwith Pup – the Dove being the far less common two-seat variant of the WWI fighter plane. The Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Aviation Company never particularly liked the name Pup, it was a nickname given to their single-seat fighter plane by…
The Norton Atlas was introduced in 1962 as an upgraded version of the Dominator, primarily focussed on the American market. The Atlas brought together two iconic Norton elements to create a motorcycle that’s now much sought after by enthusiasts – a Featherbed frame and the parallel twin first used in 1949. The Norton Featherbed Frame…
