The Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge The Tupolev A-3 Aerosledge is an unusual curiosity from the depths of the cold war, the CIA and MI6 doubtless had thick folders on the craft as it was used for collecting both cosmonauts and crashed pilots in the remote areas of Siberia. Alexei Tupolev of the Tupolev Design Bureau originally developed…
The NASA Saturn V Owners’ Workshop Manual is a comprehensive guide to the world’s most famous rocket, best known for its role in sending the Apollo missions, including Apollo 11, to the Moon. Each Saturn V launch cost $185 million in 1960s dollars, that’s over $1.1 billion today, the rocket had a payload to LEO of…
Background: An Inventive Family Marshall and Milton Reeves were American brothers whose inventions made their mark on agriculture, commercial vehicles, and industry. They were Christians known for their humility and when their company became large and successful, they could be found with their sleeves rolled up working on the factory floor alongside their employees. Both…
The Nissan R382 The 1969 Nissan R382 is one of the most impressive Japanese race cars of the 1960s, it’s fitted with a mid-mounted 6 liter V12 capable of touching the 600 hp mark and despite the engine’s complexity, it proved remarkably reliable. Fans of ’60s era Can-Am racing will likely see an immediate resemblance to…
The Fliteboard The Fliteboard is a personal electric hydrofoil, or eFoil, designed to take riders at speeds of up to 40km/h on journeys of up to 25 km/h. As a point of reference, the average speed a wakeboarder travels at is approximately 27 km/h, and a water-skier might travel at speeds of 35-40 km/h, so…
The History of the Pit Stop is an extended interview with one of the greatest Formula 1 engineers in history – Gordon Murray. Pit stops have become a large part of Formula 1, and of motor racing in general, but many of the elements that make up a modern pit stop were developed by Murray…
Rodney Dangerfield’s Guide to Auto Repair is a famous 7 minute sketch by the legendary American comedian that’ll sound immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever had dealings with a shady mechanic. In the sketch the late-great Dangerfield is joined by Dick Butkus, Bubba Smith, and Morgan Fairchild. He plays a senior mechanic teaching a class…
The Honda CB985F Evolution is a motorcycle that started life as a regular CB900F, before getting a comprehensive evolutionary rebuild at the hands of Darren Begg – a custom motorcycle builder who specializes in taking classics from the ’70s and ’80s, then rebuilding them using modern suspension, brakes, and technology. dB Customs dB Customs is…
The Lincoln-Zephyr V12 engine made its first appearance in the Lincoln-Zephyr models of 1936 with a capacity of 267 cubic inches. The Lincoln-Zephyr V12 Engine If the design of the V12 looks familiar to you, it’s probably because it was somewhat based on the legendary Ford Flathead V8. The Ford V8 would become the backbone of…
When you see the Watkins M001 for the first time you spend a good 5 minutes staring, trying to wrap your mind around it. It’s equal parts complex, unusual, and unfamiliar, almost as if a motorcycle from the Blade Runner universe was modified in the Marvel universe, before somehow exiting a wormhole and landing on…
The idea of developing a home-built kit to convert the KTM 990 Adventure into a two-wheel drive motorcycle with hub-centre steering sounds difficult enough – but somehow also managing to reduce the weight by 40 kilograms compared to the stock bike sounds borderline impossible. Despite the litany of difficulties associated with the concept, mechanical engineer…
James Parker and RADD Inc. Suspension The Yamaha GTS 1000 was released in 1993 with unusual forkless front suspension designed by James Parker, a Stanford University trained Industrial Designer with an innate engineering ability – which he used to develop oftentimes unusual motorcycles. In 1971 when he ran a Hodaka dealership Parker created a 120…
