The original Dukes of Hazzard TV series and the ensuing movies have become pop culture icons, they’ve aired around the globe giving the world a look at the American South, and I’m still not sure if the most popular character is Daisy Duke or the car you see here – General Lee. The Dukes of…
The Mazda Cosmo – An Introduction The Mazda Cosmo was born in the midst of the maelstrom of the 1960’s, the era of the Space Race between the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and the other democratic allies. In a sense the two rival political, economic and social systems were in direct and not…
The Cord 812 SC Phaeton, and its non-supercharged sibling the 810, have been held up as possibly the best examples of American automobile design from the pre-WWII era, and of the 20th century as a whole. The Cord 810/812 – History and Specifications The design brilliance of the Cord 810/812 is more than skin-deep, the…
A Flat 6 Love Affair was written by regular Silodrome contributing writer Marc Goldbaum. When it comes to Porsche there are more than a few enthusiasts. Bart Kuykens, however, happens to be one in the sea of Porschephiles who brazenly stands among the greats. Bart, in his actions, takes the obsession and passion to another…
Introduction: To Build a Better Jeep My first, and only, working experience with an Austin Champ was on a farm down in Australia where I was helping the property owner with some vermin control. We were racing across a sheep paddock doing at least 30 mph, although it felt like a lot more, in hot…
The Wishbone is a custom car built by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth in 1967, it proved to be a disaster for him and his company, he became so incensed with the car he had it cut up and thrown away – forever removing the car from the face of the Earth. Or so he thought….
The Bill Thomas Cheetah has become an unlikely success story, the car was first designed as a concept car of sorts for Chevrolet who were seeking something a little more hard-edged than the Corvette to take on and beat the new Shelby Cobras. Bill Thomas – Self-Taught Engineer Extraordinaire Bill Thomas was a legendary California…
This is one of the most famous examples of the Vauxhall Firenza in existence, if not the most famous outright. Nicknamed “Old Nail” this is the car that was driven by iconic British driver Gerry Marshall to the Forward Trust Special Saloon Car Championship win 1972 and 1973, the Simoniz Saloon Car Championship in 1974, and…
The Jensen Interceptor was built by the relatively small company out of their West Bromwich factory to compete with the likes of the Aston Martin DB6, the Ferrari 365 GT, the Jaguar E-Type, and the Maserati Ghibli. Rather than developing their own engine and drivetrain in-house, the team at Jensen bought in Chrysler V8s and…
These are the original six drawings for the patent application for the Ferrari F40, the application was filed in December 1987 listing Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina as the inventor and Ferrari as the assignee. The Ferrari F40 is remembered today as possibly the last great analogue supercar, from a time when electronic systems and driver…
The Woodill Wildfire is considered by many to be the first production fibreglass sports car in the world, it was very nearly mass-produced by Willys as the “Willys Wildfire” and mass-produced as a contemporary of the first Chevrolet Corvette. If it hadn’t been for Kaiser Motors buying Willys in 1953 the history of the company…
This is the 1971 Plymouth Road Runner Rapid Transit, it’s the only one ever made and today it stands as a high watermark for American concept muscle cars of the early 1970s. The Road Runner was developed alongside three others – a 440 Cuda, a 340 Duster, and a Hemi Cuda that was built as…
