Well, I don’t really have a category for this post. I spent about an hour staring at this picture yesterday trying to figure out how the hell this guy was controlling the throttle, transmission and brakes. If you think you know, educate us all in the comments below.
Chariot of 1938 Ben Hur Drawn by Four Motorcycles
For the Ben Hur of the motor age, no four-horse team would do. Instead, the charioteer stunting in a sports festival sponsored by a Potsdam regiment in Germany rides on a rubber-tired chariot drawn by four motorcycles.
Reins in the driver’s hands lead to the handlebars of all four bikes, which are harnessed together by three horizontal bars. The har-ness recalls certain farm tractors which are controlled by reins.
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.
The MV Agusta three-cylinder, known as the Tre Cilindri, was ridden by Giacomo Agostini to 13 of his 15 World Championship titles between 1966 and 1973. MV Agusta had started with a 350cc version of the three-cylinder in 1965, this engine would be expanded to 500cc for 1966, allowing the Italian company to challenge both the 350cc…
The Triumph TR6 Trophy is perhaps better known by its legendary nickname – “The Desert Sled”. It’s not known who coined the term, but it stuck like glue, and it’s followed the intrepid Triumph off-road racer for decades. Even if you don’t immediately recognize the model, you’ve seen it before if you’ve seen the movie…
Editor’s Note: This film starts with 2 minutes of skiing and ice skating footage, stick with it and it’ll all make sense in the end. Riding the Film is a 1937 Chevrolet instructional film that does an excellent job of showing how motor oil is used throughout your engine for lubrication. There are a series…
We still frequently use the term horsepower as the primary indicator of how much power an engine produces, but very few can explain what it actually means and how it was originally calculated. This concise 9 minute short film explains the origins of the term, how it was calculated by James Watt, and why it…
The Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 is almost certainly the most famous aircraft engine in history, I’m sure there are other contenders of course but I’m convinced the Merlin has them beat. Although most believe the engine is named for the famous wizard of the same name from the legend of King Arthur, it’s actually named after…
For years I have drooled over the styling of Harleys and Indians from the 1940’s. I also inspired by the images of TROG in the USA. Finding and affording an original Harley or Indian of this era was beyond my means so this created an opportunity to build a replica with a twist.
