In 1928 Fritz Von Opel set about building the world’s first rocket powered motorcycle, dubbed the Opel Raketen Motorrad, the bike was designed to use it’s internal combustion engine to reach 75mph at which point the rider would hit a foot pedal, igniting the 6 rear mounted solid rocket boosters.
The plan was to break the current land speed record and reach a top speed of 132mph. Sadly the German authorities vetoed the attempt due to safety concerns. The rocket powered motorcycle went on to complete a number of demonstration runs and was used as a marketing tool by Opel for a number of years.
I was surprised to learn that it isn’t currently owned by Jay Leno.
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.
Against All Odds is a 1971 Datsun documentary about the team’s Trans Am racing efforts with the Datsun 510, known as the Datsun 1600 in many world markets outside of North America. The mighty little Datsun 510 would shock the under 2.5 class in the 1971 and 1972 SCCA Trans Am Championship, beating the previous…
The Ducati 750 Sport is an exceedingly rare motorcycle that sits squarely between its two more famous siblings – the Ducati 750 GT and the Ducati 750 Super Sport (SS). Put simply, the Ducati 750 Sport (also known as the 750S) was a higher-performance version of the slightly more consumer-friendly 750 GT.
The Porsche 953 The Porsche 953, sometimes referred to as the Porsche 911 Rally or the Porsche 911 4×4, is one of the most famous skunkworks 911s to ever depart the Stuttgart factory. The car started life as a regular 911 SC before undergoing a comprehensive rebuild in the hands of Porsche’s best and brightest….
This four-cylinder Windhoff was one of the most advanced motorcycles of its time thanks largely to its engine, which doubles as the motorcycle frame, and features oil-cooling, an overhead camshaft, and an engine block that acts as a giant radiator. Windhoff Motorcycles Windhoff Motorcycles, officially Windhoff Motorradenbau GmbH, began producing motorcycles in 1924 but the company…
The Rickman Metisse Triumph is one of the most thoroughly British motorcycles we’ve featured in some time. Not only does it have a British engine and transmission thanks to Triumph, it has a Rickman frame and bodywork, and just to cap things off, it’s parked outside the Ace Cafe in London – the original home…
The Golden Sahara II is remembered as one of the most important custom cars of the 1950s – and it only came to be because George Barris and a friend accidentally drove a brand new 1953 Lincoln Capri Hardtop under the back of a hay truck – guillotining the roof off. Fortunately the two men…
