Benny Kirk
1,724 ARTICLES
Advanced Gemini: The Little Known Spacecraft Concept That Could Have Outshined Apollo
6 Jun 2022, 17:52 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Apollo program is enshrined in our memories as a crowning achievement of all mankind. But people who don't research space junk for a living probably don't know that things may have been profoundly different in even a slightly differen...
This NASA Spacecraft Could Have Put Americans on the Moon in 2018, But Congress Stepped In
5 Jun 2022, 08:07 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / In one of our recent articles about NASA's current Artemis Moon mission program, we showed you how it was essentially birthed from the rib of the defunct Constellation program intended to serve pretty much the same function. Before getting the...
This Bonkers Italian Truck Had a 90-mm Cannon in the Bed, It's Coming to War Thunder
4 Jun 2022, 19:21 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Italians build their vehicles with a flair and a passion no other country can match. But don't think for even a moment that this only applies to flashy supercars and sports cars. Want proof positive? Let's take a look at the Lancia 3R...
LS1 Swapped Porsche 944 Takes an Old School Sports Car and Makes It Shred Rubber
3 Jun 2022, 19:31 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / A few years ago, Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage on YouTube paid to have an LS1 V8 from an old Corvette into the rear hatch of a Porsche 911 of similar vintage. He then grenade the engine on a track day and painted the circuit with a thin oil film. ...
NASA's Space Launch System Almost Never Got Off the Ground, Here's Its Wild Story
2 Jun 2022, 06:25 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / If you're a person with eyes glued to the stars but weren't fortunate enough to be around for the first moon landing, you're on the precipice of your dreams becoming a wondrous reality. All thanks to NASA's Artemis program, ...
The Saleen S7 Was a Landmark American Supercar That Deserves More Love
1 Jun 2022, 09:43 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Americans can't build supercars. Or at least that's what Europeans on auto-related forums and sub-Reddits used to say. Whether out of smug superiority or ignorance, a handful of American high-performance vehicles are proof positive this n...
A Deep Dive Into the All-New BMW X1 and iX1, Proving Entry-Level Bimmers Can Still Be Cool
1 Jun 2022, 07:29 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The BMW X1 has always been an SUV in the shadows of giants like the X3, X5, and even the X6 and X7. All of whom are considerably larger and more city-unfriendly than the X1 itself is. But don't think for even a moment that means BMW wasn'...
These Auto Brands Sponsor These Iconic Sports Franchises, One May Surprise You
31 May 2022, 22:09 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Pro sports teams need one thing more than any else, and that's revenue. It's almost as important as not signing a goalie that completely prolapses during penalty kicks or a Major League slugger who takes a called third strike with two out...
1979 MGB Features Mopar Surprise in the Trunk and No Common Sense, That's Why We Love It
31 May 2022, 18:14 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Historically, if you drove an MG MGB British drop-top sports car, it's because you prefer it over the rear-engined Porsche 912 you cold have had instead. Just how profoundly different the two cars from each other were ultimately helped be...
Finally, the F-14 Tomcat Is Coming to War Thunder, Here's Why It's Huge
29 May 2022, 03:18 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / If you asked the average Ace Combat or War Thunder player where they think F-14 Tomcat was built, they'd probably say the foundries of aviation Valhalla. Specifically to be the sexiest warplane ever to fly. But in truth, the Grumman Tomcat...
Cobra V8-Swapped 1964 Ford Falcon Delivery Sells for Double Reserve Price, Shocks No One
28 May 2022, 23:24 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Americans don't give a rat's behind about station wagons anymore. Or at least, they're so off-put by lots and lots of bad wagons from the 80s and 90s that they allowed crossover SUVs to outright replace them. But would this have been...
Malaysian Man's Evo-Swapped Kia Forte Looking for BMW M2s to Race
28 May 2022, 06:52 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Kia Forte is a throwaway car in North America. But in Southeast Asia, almost nothing can be justifiably thrown away if it's of some use. Around there, you simply improve on what you have to work with until you have what you desire. Wha...
Metalworks Speed Shop's Split Window Corvette Gets the Most Out of an Art Morrison Chassis
27 May 2022, 22:03 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's blasphemous when someone with a $20 toolset and more ambitions than sense goes to town with the internals or externals of a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray with the split rear window. If you're going to mess around with perfection, you bette...
Subaru EJ-Swapped Fiat 126 Comes Straight Out of Poland, Perfect Pierogi Delivery Car
26 May 2022, 04:30 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The Fiat 126 is a little Italian city car that's worn more masks than the average Broadway running of Phantom of the Opera. But let's be real, the most historically significant and interesting variations almost always come out of Eastern ...
Stunning 1918 Model E46 Opera Coupe Proves Buick Was Once Amazing, Also a Movie Star
26 May 2022, 01:49 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Buick is a Chinese company. Okay, that's not exactly accurate, obviously, but more than three quarters of all sales coming from there is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Based on some of the sales figures we've become used to from one...
M5 Stuart Light Tank Looks Ready for Battle in New York Parking Lot, Is a WWII Vet Itself
25 May 2022, 22:38 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / The M3/5 Stuart was a Second World War American tank that perenially saw its spotlight whittled away by the Sherman, and even the more well-known but considerably less adored M3 Lee. The Stuart was a tank designed for every facet of the Allied war ...
This AH-1G Looks Vicious Working Gate Guard Duty Outside New York VFW
25 May 2022, 18:02 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / My trip to the Glenn H Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, was an absolute gem. But it was while looking across the road from a gas station down the street from the museum that I got my biggest surprise. It's all too easy to get caug...
Mitsubishi's Russian Lineup Outshines America's Even After Sanctions, Here's How
25 May 2022, 08:20 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Recently, we watched all the zany shenanigans one Russian YouTuber got himself into as he went for a day of car shopping. Chuckling the whole time out of both hilarity and shock while he looked at their astronomical post-sanction prices. But on...
Russian Man Goes Car Shopping After Sanctions, What He Finds is Horrifying
24 May 2022, 20:52 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's historically been pretty gosh darn difficult for folks in Russia to get their hands on motor vehicles. Especially before the fall of Communism, most people never got the chance to get behind the wheel. Mostly by being a prohibitively expe...
K24 Swapped Fox Body Mustang Makes Purists Rage and JDM Fans Joyous
24 May 2022, 18:28 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / A few months ago, we showcased a custom Honda K24 swapped 1966 Ford Mustang owned and built by American teenager Jarred Willey. The response to swapping an American legend's engine for a JDM icon was, say, mixed, at best. Well, does doing the ...