eBay Find: 1971 Yamaha DT1 MX
The 70’s were a gold-era in the production of off-road motorcycles, it may just be my personal preference but bikes like this just look so much better than the plastic and graphics covered dirt bikes of today.
Vintage
Adventures of a Motorcycle Despatch Rider
The book Adventures of a Motorcycle Despatch Rider is the true story of Captain William Watson’s experiences during the first World War. The book covers Captain Watson’s extraordinary journeys through Ireland, Wales, England and France as the first 2 years of the war unfolded.
Vintage Drifting
This incredible photograph of Robert Benoist drifting his V-12 Delage around the 1924 French Grand Prix circuit is just about the most perfect motor racing picture I’ve yet seen.
Motorcycles Invade The Wilds
It’s a little hard to imagine people taking their Harley-Davidson hardtails out for weekends of mountain climbing and river fording but that’s exactly what they did in the 1950’s.
Retro Flight
You just have to love the character embodied in this photograph. I don’t know if it’s the unfurling cape or the fact that that suspension is going to bottom out in a big way when he lands, but something about this snapshot just makes me happy.
The Ferrari Modulo
The Ferrari Modulo was created by iconic automotive design firm Pininfarina in 1970 on commission from Ferrari, Ferrari at the time had a number of left over 512 S models that it couldn’t sell (or race) and so they gave one to Pininfarina and essentially said “make something wonderful”.
Steve McQueen’s Cleveland Fowler
Cleveland started manufacturing motorcycles in 1915 with fairly rudimentary 2-stroke singles, by 1925 demand for a larger and more powerful 4-stroke finally won over the company management and engine designer F.E. Fowler set about building an all-new 4 cylinder 4-stroke with a 600cc displacement and a 3 speed transmission.
German Board-Track Racing
After mentioning my dismay earlier this week about the lack of modern board-track racing in the article about the Revatu Pea Shooter one of our readers shot me over an email with a link to this fantastic film about a crew of modern day board-tracker racers based in Germany.
1951 Aston Martin DB3
Aston Martin built the DB3 almost exclusively for racing between 1951 and 1953, only 10 of them were ever made with the chassis numbers 1-5 going to the factory works team and chassis’ 6-10 going to privateer teams in the UK.
John Wayne On A Motorcycle
This great photograph of John Wayne was taken in 1970 on the set of Big Jake, a western set in 1909. Wayne is said to have used the Honda to get around the set and there are rumours that he wrote the bike off one evening after having had a few too many drinks and attempting to ride back to his trailer.
1947 Franay-Bentley Mark VI
This one-off 1947 Franay-Bentley Mark VI is widely considered to be the best (and most expensive) post-war Bentley ever made, that stunning and almost Bugatti-esque body was all hand made by French coach builder Franay. The car was first shown at the 1947 Paris Auto Show to world-wide acclaim.
The Velocette KTT
The Velocette KTT is a milestone in the history of the motorcycle, it was the first production motorcycle to use a foot-shifter (the bikes of the time used hand-shifters) and is credited with setting the trend that all modern production bikes now adhere to.