There’s nothing like finding an original Alfa Romeo V12 Formula 1 engine up for sale for the borderline affordable price (for some) of ~$20,000 USD to get you thinking about engine swaps. It comes with its original transaxle too, so you’ll just need to find a mid-engined car in need of a power plant –…
The Sunbeam Tiger famously features a V8 shoehorned into an engine compartment designed in England by engineers who would have been mortified had they known that their little roadster would, a few years later, be shipped off to a former chicken farmer’s garage in California where it would be hammered, cut, and welded to accommodate…
The Bolt Safe was designed to offer a simple but very effective hiding place for small items, including rolled up bank notes. People who travel overland (and over sea) often squirrel away some cash and ID papers in a hidden location, to keep them safe from thieves, corrupt border officials, and unscrupulous local law enforcement….
John Lennon’s Monkey Bike might not be something you thought you’d be reading about when you woke up this morning, but there it is. Lennon bought the Monkey Bike, a 1969 Honda Z50A, brand new at the end of the ’60s and used it around his Tittenhurst Park estate – often with a young Julian…
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a book we’ve featured before on Silodrome, it’s one of those must-read paperbacks that tends to quickly find a permanent place on the bookshelf of anyone who’s read it. The book was written by author and motorcycle enthusiast Robert M. Pirsig, a highly educated man with degrees…
On December the 20th 1992, Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna stepped out of a rented limousine with Emerson Fittipaldi at Firebird Raceway in Arizona. What happened next would send shockwaves around the world of motor racing, and leave many asking themselves the same question – would Ayrton Senna leave Formula 1? This 30 minute documentary…
The Lotus Elan is a British sports car with a cult following around the world, since it was first introduced it’s had an impact on the motoring world that can still be felt today almost 60 years later. Perhaps the greatest accolade the Elan ever received was when Formula 1 and supercar designer Gordon Murray…
The Meyers Manxter 2+2 is the slightly longer wheelbase version of the Meyers Manx – a dune buggy with a form so iconic that it’s been studied in design schools from California to Copenhagen. Unlike the Manx, the Manxter uses a full-length VW Beetle floorpan, without requiring the cutting/shortening/welding of the original. This means that it…
The John Wyer Team took multiple wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – often with cars wearing the iconic light blue and orange livery of their primary sponsor – Gulf Oil. It would be the 1959 running of Le Mans that would give the John Wyer Team their first victory – with drivers Roy…
The first Porsche tractor designs were penned by Dr Ferdinand Porsche in the early 1930s alongside the early designs for the VW Beetle – the original plan was to develop a “Volks-Tractor” to be sold alongside the “Volks-Wagen”. A Brief History of the Porsche Tractor By 1934 there were three working tractor prototypes, all of which…
The Nezumi Baleine Dive Watch is made by Swedish company Nezumi Studios – they specialize in developing classically styled watches with surprisingly affordable price tags. The name “Nezumi” comes from a Japanese folk hero from the Edo period nicknamed “Nezumi Kozō”, his real name was Nakamura Jirokichi, and he became famous for stealing from 100+…
The eCub 2 is a retro electric motorcycle from the international team at Shanghai Customs, it combines the much loved Honda Super Cub chassis with an all-electric drivetrain including a 1000 Watt electric motor in the rear wheel hub, and a bespoke removable battery pack made up of Panasonic 3.7v 3.400 mAh lithium-ion 18650 cells….
