The Loudest Thing in Kent

Count Zborowski, four aero-engined machines, and the true origin of a name the whole world knows

The Mincer on Wheels

Marcel Leyat built the most dangerous road vehicle in early automotive history. It weighed 250 kilograms, had no gearbox, no clutch, no differential, and no reverse gear. The propeller spinning two feet from the driver’s face was not the worst part.

The Car That Swallowed the Future

The Phantom Corsair. 1937–1938. One built. One owner dead at 24.

The Dream Car at the Bottom of the Atlantic

The Chrysler Norseman vanished in Cargo Hold No. 2 of the SS Andrea Doria. Seventy years later, what's left is folklore, photographs, and 240 feet of cold water.

Sixteen Cylinders and the End of Restraint

In January 1930, Cadillac unveiled a car with sixteen cylinders and the confidence of a nation that did not yet know it was broken. Within a decade, everything it stood for would be gone.

When motorcars were couture: the world that made the Round Door Rolls-Royce

A Belgian masterwork, an American fortune, and the concours queen that became a carnival sideshow before rising again.

The car that did everything right and still lost

Abner Doble built the finest steam automobile ever made. Twenty-four people got to own one. Then the world moved on.

The Car That Made Rolls-Royce Nervous

Fred Duesenberg built the Model J to be the finest automobile in the world. He succeeded. Then the world moved on without him.

One hundred cars. One hundred days. A thousand broken hearts.

The Tucker 48

Fifty Cars That Shook Detroit to Its Foundations