Keeneland Winner's Circle

This year at the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance they celebrated their 11th anniversary by inviting back winners form the previous 10 years. The Best of the Best were represented in their own featured class. These nine beauties represent winners of both class and Best of Show. Today I will highlight these gems such as this Rangoon Red 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible which sports a Challenger 289 V8 engine.

Originally sold as a parts car after being 70% destroyed in a fire, this 1933 Packard Victoria underwent a complete restoration beginning in 2007 and has received a perfect 100 point score by the Classic Car Club of America. It is a winner not only at Keeneland but at other Concours events as well.

Born as a racer, this 1932 Alfa Romero 8C 2300 Touring Spider is still racing today. It started its career in England and came to the US in 1940 as a diplomatic car. After a restoration in 2003 it has completed six 1000 mile Rocky Mountain tours.

When Ferrari decided to build a car named after its founder, they knew they would have to make something special. This 2004 Ferrari Enzo is proof that they succeeded. It sports a six liter V12 that churns out 660 horse power and hurls the car to a top speed of 217 miles per hour. This is the very last U.S. version of this car ever manufactured and it carries the signature of all of the technicians who built it.

In the early automobile days in England, cars were levied much higher road taxes than motorcycles. For that reason manufacturers such as Morgan made three-wheeler. This 1935 Morgan F-2 raced first in England and since coming to America in 2002, it has run in over 100 vintage races. Owner Bob Wilson said that he brought the car to the States as luggage on a commercial plane. That's a story probably no one else has.

Some amazing past winners were on display including this car close to my heart, a 1966 Jaguar 4.2 E Type FHC. Current owners Alan and Gretchen Wiedie bought the car as a "basket case" in 1978 and, except for body work and paint, restored it completely themselves.

This 1953 Chevrolet Corvette is one of 300 special Polo White models that were hand built following the car's introduction. The drive train is a 235 cubic inch straight six producing 150 horse power. It is coupled with a two speed Powerglide transmission.

For two years Mercedes made what is often referred to as the "Opera Coupe." This 1971 280 SE 3.5 Coupe is an example from the last year this car was made. With a 3.5 liter V8 under the hood, this was the last model that was hand built by Mercedes Benz.

This is the car that put Porsche on the US map, a 1953 356 Deluxe Version 1500 Super. It had the Model 528 engine that generated 75 horse power and could accelerate to 108 miles per hour. Only 567 of this model were ever built.