Benny Kirk
1,726 ARTICLES
The Royal Navy Needs New Frigates, BAE Systems in Glasgow Inks Deal to Keep Building Them
16 Nov 2022, 00:49 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Royal Navy has a chip on its shoulder in the year 2022. Though it's not the largest group of imperial sea fearers in the world as it may have been in the distant past. It's still a vital cog in a sea-bound wall of defense in the beati...
Air Force Research Lab Inks Deal To Support Stratolaunch Talon-A Hypersonic Testbed
15 Nov 2022, 21:31 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Okay, fellas, here's the scoop. The Stratolaunch Talon-A Hypersonic Research Vehicle might be the coolest experimental airplane you've probably never heard of. With promises of all the speed of an X-15 sans pilot, this novel bird boasts a...
This Focus ST-Swapped Transit Connect is the Hot Rod Van Ford Will Never Build
15 Nov 2022, 04:40 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Ford Transit Connect is the kind of handyman's van that's perfectly adept at staying out of the spotlight while Mustangs, Escapes, and F-150s take care of the bulk of Ford's North American sales volumes. But every so often, a tru...
Stellantis Inks Deal To Source EV Microchips From German Tech Giant, Will It Be Enough?
15 Nov 2022, 03:00 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Despite the predictions some automotive analysts levied this time last year, the global microchip shortage is still very much real, like a heart attack. In an era where brand-new, quality microchips are a commodity valued in the same way something ...
Sierra Space's Dream Chaser Looks Wicked on the Assembly Line, 1st Launch in February
14 Nov 2022, 20:40 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / You don't need a reusable space plane the size of an airliner to bring humans and cargo to and from Low Earth Orbit. That's why, in spite of its size, the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane is as worthy of a Space Shuttle successor that...
I Agree With Regular Car Reviews, The Modern Nissan Altima is an Awful Car
14 Nov 2022, 19:57 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / A couple of years ago, I dropped off my 2017 Nissan Sentra S at a service dealer for its second warranty CVT replacement in nine months. But believe it or not, that wasn't the biggest bummer of the day. That came when they handed the keys to m...
Custom 1957 Cadillac Eldorado is Old School Cool With a Modern Surprise Under the Hood
13 Nov 2022, 21:19 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Thanks to the Escalade V and the CT5 halo car, Cadillac is on the cusp of being a cool luxury brand for the first time in decades. Sure, there were splashes of brilliance in the 2000s and 2010s. But in the 2020s, Caddy's fielding a lineup as s...
America Rejects Diesel Cars, This Custom Turbodiesel BMW 135i Proves Us Wrong
13 Nov 2022, 00:32 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / In Europe, Asia, South America, and many places elsewhere, diesel passenger cars are just another part of life. But in America, where everything has to be different, folks have an entirely different opinion of diesels. In the states, diesels ar...
Harley Earl: Learn the Story of the Real Mastermind Behind the Corvette
11 Nov 2022, 20:35 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / In the era of the mid-engined C8 Corvette, it's easy to give all the credit to the man who wanted to move the engine from front to back in the first place. That man would be the incomparable Zora Arkus-Duntov. But make no mistake. Though Arkus...
Gorgeous Porsche 9XX Gen 3 Formula E Car Makes Global Premiere Before Mexico City E-Prix
8 Nov 2022, 00:45 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Porsche doesn't enter just any old racing series. So when they decide to double down on a specific racing format, it's a sign that it's here for the long haul. That's why the all-new 99X Electric Gen3 Formula E race car is such...
Europe Will Buy Nearly One Million Chinese EVs a Year by 2025, Will It Be an Issue?
7 Nov 2022, 20:53 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / There's an unspoken stigma against buying Chinese-built vehicles in the United States. Though Japanese, German, and Korean cars sell there in their millions, the U.S. is one of the few places in the world where Chinese cars have yet to gain ma...
Michelin Guide: Why the World's Most Exclusive Restaurant Guide Is Run by a Tire Company
5 Nov 2022, 01:06 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The world of fine dining mimics that of a good auto racing series in more ways than you might realize. At the very top end of things, it can be competitive like Formula One. What does any of this have to do with cars? Well, not much on the face of ...
NASA Issues Lunar Terrain Vehicle Contract Challenge, Prize is America's Next Moon Rover
4 Nov 2022, 00:11 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Perhaps only second to the Lunar Module itself in icon status, the old Apollo Lunar Rover captured the hearts and minds of people worldwide. There's something about a four-wheeled manned vehicle roving around the surface of another heavenly bo...
This Man Restored an F-14D Tomcat Nearly by Himself, He Deserves Our Respect
3 Nov 2022, 15:24 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The last time we saw Felix 101, the last Grumman F-14D Tomcat to fly with the U.S. Navy, it had just arrived at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York. After 14 years parked outside a facility formerly owned by Grumman Aircraft, the...
A Year in Review: Do I Regret Buying America's Cheapest New Car?
3 Nov 2022, 00:17 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's amazing how much life can change in a year. But 365 days and 14,000 miles later, do I regret buying a 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage ES hatchback for $17,500? Well, the answer is too complicated to explain in one paragraph. So, I'll dedicate...
This Classic 1955 Ford F-250 Was Fully Restored Decades Ago and Now Needs More Work
2 Nov 2022, 20:04 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / We tend to see a lot of restored classic cars in the state they're in soon after the build is finished. When all the polished wood, shiny chrome, and all the bits and pieces are as they were the day they left the restoration shop. But what abo...
This 1970 Mustang Restomod Packs Beastly Roush Performance Muscle Under the Hood
2 Nov 2022, 19:23 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The time between 1969 and 1970 was a landmark one for the Ford Mustang. With new performance packages like the Boss 429, the Mach 1, and the Boss 302 galore, you get the sense this period was as close to automotive perfection as was possible 50 yea...
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket Roars to Life for First Time in Three Years, Works Flawlessly
1 Nov 2022, 20:27 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / With NASA's Artemis I set to launch on the 14th of this month at the earliest, SpaceX is here to remind us that private industry will be a powerful force in the coming spaceflight renaissance. After a three-year-long hiatus from service brough...
T-Minus Two Weeks: All Eyes on Artemis I as NASA Tries to Relaunch America's Moon Program
1 Nov 2022, 19:46 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / They don't call it rocket science for no reason. Even so, that didn't make watching back-to-back scrubs of NASA's Artemis I mission to circumnavigate the Lunar Orbit any less disappointing. With technical problems and weather-rel...
Big & Beautiful: This 1977 Ford LTD II Wagon Is So Much Cooler Than a Modern Crossover
1 Nov 2022, 18:51 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / In 2022, only a handful of new station wagon models are still available in the United States Domestic Market. In the era of crossover supremacy, there's no need for a vehicle that hauls just as many people but without such a commanding show-of...