The 1940 BMW 328 Roadster shown here presents a bit of an automotive mystery, its rare Touring of Milan bodywork was constructed using the Superleggera (super lightweight) method with a design in keeping with the Auto Avio Costruzioni sports racer – Enzo Ferrari’s first foray into car construction. These factors likely mean the car you see here was…
A Brief History of the Ferrari 288 GTO The Ferrari 288 GTO was destined to compete in the borderline-insane world of Group B racing. The FIA introduced the regulations that would define Group B in 1982, and it triggered an arms race amongst automakers that is often referred to today as the golden age of rally….
This car was one of the Scuderia Ferrari Works entries in the 1955 Mille Miglia – a challenging 1,000 mile race across Italy held on public roads. It was originally a 3.7 litre vehicle with 280 hp and a kerb weight of 850 kilograms, Paolo Marzotto was the driver but he didn’t get far – the…
A Brief History of the Pegaso Z-102 The Pegaso Z-102 was a technologically advanced sports car built by the Spanish in a Hispano-Suiza truck factory between 1951 and 1958. It’s difficult to know exactly how the risky Z-102 project managed to get approved by the accounts department, but the fact that the chief technical manager of the company was…
The L88 Corvette is a vehicle spoken about among the Chevrolet cognoscenti with the kind of hushed reverence usually reserved for matters of state diplomacy or religion. With 560+hp on tap right off the showroom floor there weren’t many American cars that could realistically compete with the L88 – as is evidenced by the long…
A Brief History of the Iso Grifo 90 The Iso Grifo 90 was built as a life-size wooden model designed by Marcello Gandini in the early 1990s, it was commissioned by Piero Rivolta, who believed the time was right to bring the Iso marque back from the grave. Rivolta commissioned Dallara to develop the chassis and…
The 1939 Frazer Nash-BMW 328 you see here wasn’t actually completed until 1946 – it had been ordered as a rolling chassis by the British Frazer Nash company in 1939 but the outbreak of WWII had seen all 4 chassis impounded by British Customs and Excise until a year after the war ended. A Brief…
The MV Agusta 850SS was the last, the largest, and the fastest of the MV Agusta 4-cylinder road machines from the 1970s. In fact it was one of the fastest production road-going motorcycle in the world in 1977 with a top speed of 150+mph and between 85 and 95 hp on tap, depending on who…
Although many people have never heard of Thor, the company played a huge role in the early days of the American motorcycle industry – employing Oscar Hedstrom, Al Crocker, and Bill Ottoway early in their careers, these men would later become famous for their work at Indian Motocycles, Crocker Motorcycles, and Harley-Davidson respectively. A Brief…
In July 1988 Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason arrived at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track to take possession of their matching Ferrari F40s. They were in Modena as part of Pink Floyd’s “Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour, although there’s no word on whether the tour name had anything to do with the four-wheeled purchases of…
A Brief History of the Pur Sang Type 35 The Pur Sang Type 35 has the unique distinction of being the first replica car ever to appear on the pages of Silodrome. Although if the Pur Sang faithful ever hear you refer to the car as a replica, they’ll be out for your blood. Automotive historians…
A Brief History of the Lincoln-Zephyr V12 The Lincoln-Zephyr V12 made its first appearance in 1936, its impressive V12 engine was a stark contrast to its competitors – namely the LaSalle with its V8 and the Packard One-Twenty with its straight-8. The Lincoln Motor Company is a division of Ford, established to give Ford a presence…
