American Performance at Keeneland

No matter what you officially call it, it's still muscle. At the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance they have a terrific class called American Performance 1960-1975 which encompasses those cars that were around when I was growing up and first getting my license. Naturally, I have a fondness for these cars. One is this 1968 GT Cobra Mustang. Only 119 of these gems were ever made. This car was the centerfold of the May, 1997 issue of Mustang Monthly.

Here is a 1970 Ford Torino CJ 429 J Code. This car oozes muscle and speed. Seen with the original bright yellow paint which, with the 429 V8 that could push it down the road at up to 120 miles per hour, would look like a blur. Current owners Opie and Sue Willis said the original owner ordered very few options except speed.

This is a numbers matching 1969 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro with 51,000 original miles. Since people like Don Yenko were defying Chevy and dropping bigger engines into Camaros, an ordering system, COPO (Central Office Production Orders) were established to accommodate this growing trend. This car has both of the speed and power generating COPO options.

The Willis clan also owns this all-original 1964 Chevy Nova SS. The car has a 283 cubic inch V8 that generates 220 horse power, about 30 more than the standard Nova. The car sports every performance option and many appearance options as well. In 2009 this car was in the MCACN muscle car nationals where it scored 992 out of a possible 1000 points.

Ford stylist Larry Shinoda outdid himself with this 1970 Torino King Cobra Prototype. Only three of these were made before the project was halted due to changes in NASCAR rules.Power comes form a 427 Super Cobra Jet four barrel V8 that gave this car a top speed in excess of 150 miles per hour.

When Rick and Peg Campbell restored this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 they used only original or NOS parts. The restoration took 15 years to complete. But it was worth it as it was the first car ever to win the Authenticity Award, the highest award a Mustang can win.

1967 was an early year for the government's regulations about emissions control. That is why this 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 has it's original anti-smog system on the 396 cubic inch V8. Though the system was in place the car still churned out 350 horse power and could fly down the road at 120 miles per hour.

Mercury isn't generally thought of as making muscle cars but this 1969 Cyclone CJ begs to differ. A 428 cubic inch SCJ V8. The CJ of Cobra Jet option was mostly about performance and this model had all of the options, including the 735 CFM Holly four barrel carburetor.

This is the famous Number 1 Indy Track Car that was used to pace the 1970 500. This 1970 Oldsmobile 442 was specially hand built as it needed to be able to maintain speeds of at least 135 miles per hour and be able to stop within 500 feet.