Benny Kirk
1,666 ARTICLES
Barn Find Condition Me-163 Komet Shows the Fall of WW2 Germany in a Nutshell
6 Jan 2022, 18:43 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It takes more than a few mental gymnastics to appreciate the scale of the achievement of the Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket interceptor. Then again, seeing the less-than-stellar-looking example at the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center sure does show its ...
Forget the Corsair, This is the Real Most Important Navy Plane of WW2
6 Jan 2022, 14:37 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Fighter planes get all the love. There's not much argument about that. Most people will tell you that World War Two's greatest American navy aircraft was the F6F Hellcat or the F4-U Corsair. But what happens when one of those two gets...
Auction Dilemma: Which One of These Barnfind Euro Sports Cars Would You Bring Back to Life
5 Jan 2022, 21:06 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Classic European sports cars are an enigma in the enthusiast ethos. They're spoken about with the reverence and respect of someone recently appointed to sainthood. But not every example is factory fresh like something out of the Vatican archiv...
1970 Charger V8 Barn Find Has Something Other Than the HEMI Under the Hood
5 Jan 2022, 16:46 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Don't ever tell us genuine barn finds are only found in Forza Horizon these days. We've found one in the flesh in the real world. In Southern California, no less. Take a good look at this 1970 Dodge Charger V8 big block owned lovingly by ...
Red Bull Themed Tuned Porsche Cayenne S Has the Suspension and Tires to Run a Legit Rally
5 Jan 2022, 05:07 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / A short while ago, we showed you an off-road capable modified Porsche Cayenne that surely had all the aesthetics of a great 4x4. But that was positively civilized compared to what we have for you now. Feast your eyes on this bold and striking modde...
Not Dead Yet: Mitsubishi Reports Best Sales in Over a Decade, Still No New Evo
4 Jan 2022, 21:42 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / You probably thought 2021 would be the year Mitsubishi finally went under after years of sales slumps. As it happens, their latest financial report says quite the opposite. This report details how the fourth quarter of 2021 saw sales increase an as...
Would You Buy This NC MX-5 Supercharger Kit Instead of an LS Swap
4 Jan 2022, 20:47 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / LS swaps are overrated. There, we said it, seethe if you wish. If we have to see one more perfectly acceptable NC MX-5 be butchered to high holy heaven with an LS engine ham-fistedly squeezed inside, we'll pen a strongly worded article lamenti...
Norway Bought More EVs Per Capita Than Anywhere Else on Earth in 2021, Sets an Example
4 Jan 2022, 17:13 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / You're likely to have a different view of sustainable energy when your national oil supply is largely governed by the whims of a saber-rattling dictator with an ax to grind just east of your border. This is the predicament that the Norwegians ...
Corvette C6 ZR1 vs 997 Porsche 911 Turbo: Which Would You Take Home at $90,000?
3 Jan 2022, 20:56 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / It's rare for a ten-year-old sports car not to depreciate to fully equipped Honda Civic territory. But to not only maintain value but appreciate means you have your hands on an undisputed all-time great. The C6 Corvette ZR1 and Porsche 911 Tur...
Football Star Tammy Abraham Crashes Porsche on the Way to Rome Training
3 Jan 2022, 16:42 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Football stars and luxury SUVs pair together like champagne and caviar. But you don't find too many who get into much trouble eating too many fish eggs. It's only when they overestimate their own driving ability that things start to go wr...
These Porsche Aircraft Engines Have The Heart of an Early 80's 911
2 Jan 2022, 21:54 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Porsche is an automaker with its hands in every aspect of motorized vehicles at one point or another. From sports cars and luxury SUVs to war tanks and, believe it or not, even aircraft engines. You may ask yourself why Porsche would spend comp...
Would You Buy This Off-Road Modded Porsche Cayenne Over a New Bronco Badlands?
2 Jan 2022, 21:31 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Let's play a fun little game with unreliable and polarizing U.S. Market 4x4s. Why? Because when we saw that a custom lifted Porsche Cayenne Turbo was for sale on Carsandbids.com, we couldn't help but notice it sold for around the same pri...
Elefant Tank Destroyer: Ferdinand Porsche's Epic Fail That Got Its Butt Kicked at Kursk
2 Jan 2022, 20:20 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Folks tend to focus on the successes of Ferdinand Porsche that manifested after his death in 1951. We're talking the 911, the Boxster, and even the electric Taycan, and rightfully so. But don't get it twisted. A not-insignificant port...
Elizabeth Taylor Flew Shotgun With Howard Hughes in This WW2 Twin-Engined Bomber
1 Jan 2022, 20:56 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Some famous airplanes have become notorious because of the missions they've flown. Others, though, are notable because of the people who've called themselves passengers on board. Howard Hughes and Elizabeth Taylor ring a bell? Say hell...
Meet the Seversky P-35"Babybolt," The P-47s Long Forgotten Ancestor
31 Dec 2021, 21:34 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Some fighter planes seem to get all the love. It doesn't matter if it's the P-51, F-22, Spitfire, or a MiG-21. A select handful of all-time greats are household names, and the rest are all but forgotten. This is especially the case wit...
Before Multi Billionaire Status,Steven Udvar-Hazy Made Airplane Models Out of Match Sticks
31 Dec 2021, 21:28 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Suppose you ever wondered what you'd need to do to have a military aerospace museum named in your honor. In that case, we recommend checking out the life story of a Hungarian-American multi-billionaire by the name of Steven F. Udvar-Hazy. Y...
Bell P-39 Airacobra: Mid Engined, But No C8 Corvette With Wings
31 Dec 2021, 21:08 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Do you want to know why people don't build mid-engined airplanes anymore? It's because it took until after the Second World War for folks to realize mid-engined vehicles don't make practical sense unless they have four wheels and...
Up Close and Personal With Enola Gay, the Most Polarizing Airplane of All Time
30 Dec 2021, 21:17 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / Suppose you don't think something as mundane as an airplane can elicit a genuine emotional response. In that case, we recommend you make the trip to the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, ASAP. Because on display at this offi...
NASA VIEW Headset Defined VR Decades Before Oculus, Probably Can't Play Half-Life: Alyx
30 Dec 2021, 07:00 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / We bet you think your Oculus Quest or HTC Vive is pretty neat. Or that you think it's the epitome of a brand new technology rooted deeply in the 21st century. Well, sorry to say, my friend, you're dead wrong. NASA's been designing an...
This Bizzare Parasite Fighter Hung from a Colossal Navy Airship
30 Dec 2021, 06:19 UTC · By: Benny Kirk / We've all had dumb ideas from time to time. It's a perfectly normal part of human nature. But deciding the best way to deploy military aircraft is from a giant balloon in the sky is a whole other level of bonehead, at least from a modern ...