Das Kleine Wunder or “the little wonder” was the name of the first two-stroke engine used in a DKW motorcycle, by the late 1920s and early 1930s DKW was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world and in 1932, DKW merged with Wanderer, Audi and Horch to form the infamous Auto Union.
This footage is a promotional reel from the DKW factory in Germany, it shows the motorcycle production line process from start to finish and though it doesn’t have narration, the faint hiss and whirr of the film projector says it all.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
This Husqvarna Model 30 A is a custom motorcycle of sorts – it was built by a privateer racer before Husqvarna offered their own factory-built version – the Model 350DT (DT for “dirt track”). The 1920s and ’30s were an important, formative time for dirt track racing – also called flat track, circle track, and…
This feature was written by James Hilton, the proprietor of Death Machines of London. When possible we like to give custom builders the opportunity to tell the story of their bike, to give an insight into their thought process and methodology. – Designed in memory of Giovanni Ravelli: WW1 fighter pilot, motorcycle racer, and one of…
The Matchless G80 TCS Typhoon was the fastest off-road version of the G80, with the largest engine, and the highest power-rating that was available to the general public. The Creation of the G80 TCS Typhoon Interestingly the idea to create a 600cc version of the popular 500cc Matchless G80 CS (Competition Scrambles) wasn’t the idea of…
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with a highlights reel to showcase the best of the Goodwood Festival of Speed for this who missed the livestream. The Goodwood Festival of Speed has grown to become one of the world’s pre-eminent motoring events. It’s a competitive hill climb held on the grounds of Goodwood House…
The Original 1960s Batmobile The original Batmobile from the 1966 TV series was famously built by George Barris with just 3 weeks notice. The contract to build the Batmobile had first been given to well-known car customizer Dean Jeffries, who began the project using a 1959 Cadillac as the starting point. The contract was pulled…
The Ducati 848 was released in 2008 as a replacement for the outgoing Ducati 749, the new model quickly gained legions of fans thanks to its all-new engine – a lightweight 122 rwhp 849cc Ducati L-twin. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that I said L-twin rather than V-twin, this wasn’t a typo –…
