The Featured Marque at Keeneland: Maserati

This year's Keeneland Concours d'Elegance presented Maserati as their Featured Marque. I couldn't think of a better way to finish out the week than by showing some of the models manufactured between the 1960s and the 1980s. First up was perhaps the most famed of the Maseratis, a 1972 Ghibli SS Coupe which had a 4.9 L V8 that pushed a top speed of 155 mph.

Next to it was a 1970 Ghibli Spyder which is one of only 125 droptops ever built, a 1980 Merak SS which sported a mid mounted V6 engine and has only around 30,000 original miles, a 1973 Indy 4900 which was one of the final 30 built during the time when Citroen owned Maserati, and a 1965 Mistral Coupe which was the last car to use the 6 cylinder overhead cam engine originally designed for racing.

Racing Cars at Keeneland

What is a concours without a class for Racing cars and this year's Keeneland Concours d'Elegance provided a great mix of old and new in different racing styles. First up was a 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am replica which was a tribute to Jerry Titus' car from his successful Trans Am racing days.

Also resting on the lawn was a 2000 Audi R8 LMP 900 which came in second in a 1-2-3 sweep by Audi at LeMans in 2000, a 1937 BMW 328 which won the 1938 Grand Prix of Holland and was then hidden from the Nazis, a 1972 BMW 3.5 CSL FIA Group 2 which was one of the 19 original "Batmobile" racers and proved itself with a win in Touring class and an 11th overall at the 1973 24 Hours of LeMans, a 1981 BMW M1 GR.5 which led the first half of the 1981 Watkins Glen six hour race before having to retire, and a 1914 Duesenberg Racer driven by the famed Eddie Rickenbacker to a 10th place finish in the 1914 Indy 500.

Sports Contemporary Cars at Keeneland

The Sport Contemporary class at the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance featured brilliant sports cars manufactured from the mid 1960s through the end of the last century. The first car I saw was a fairly rare 968 Lamborghini Islero which featured a 4.0 L 370 horse power V12 engine.

Also gleaming in the sun was a 1969 Mercedes Benz 280 SL which features the unique "pagoda" removable top and it's condition allowed to to star in a Mercedes Super Bowl ad, a 1974 Porsche 914 which has every option available that year except for a heated rear window, a 1965 Jaguar E-Type which was one of only eight in this color that year and was used in promotions for the first two years of its life, a 1965 Morgan Plus 4 Plus which was the firm's attempt to modernize their look with a closed body, a more modern 1999 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 which has twice won the Trans Am Nationals original class award as well as the group's Best of the Best, a 1961 Volkswagen Type 1 Sedan which has won an AACA Senior Grand National trophy, a 1972 BMW 2002 Tii which for its early life was used for autocross, hill climbs and rallies in addition to being a daily driver, and a very rare 1974 DeTomaso Longchamp which is considered perhaps the best known unrestored example of this automobile.

Sports Classics at Keeneland

The Sports Classics class at the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance offered up a unique combination of familiar and rare automobiles. The first car I encountered in the field was an amazing 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce which is a street version using the same engine as the standard racing Alfa of the time.

Also on display was a 1963 Jaugua R-Type Series 1 which originally cost all of $2850, a very rare 1952 Cunningham C3 Vignale Coupe which has not only been on the cover of magazines but was also on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, a unique 1954 Kaiser Darrin with its fiberglass body and doors that slid into the frame and was sold for only one year, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird which has been in the same family since 1958, a 1964 Porsche 256 SC Coupe which the owner has driven for over 51 years and has racked up 138,000 miles, a 1959 chevrolet Corvette Roadster which represents the changes from the first generation and provided more power and speed, and a 1954 Fiat 8V "Otto Vu" which features essentially a racing engine that was supplied to about 125 coach builders in Europe. This was was created by the famed Italian firm Ghia.

Early Foreign Collectors at Keeneland

The Foreign Collector class at the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance include classic foreign built automobiles manufactured through 1972. One of the cars in this class was a beautiful 1961 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II which saw luxury features such as power steering and electric windows in a package with a top speed of 105 mph and could go 0-60 in under 11 seconds. Pretty amazing for the time.

Also in the field was a fantastic 1957 MG MGA that has fewer than 70,000 original miles on the clock, a 1965 Porsche 356 SC Coupe which was the last model of this original Porsche classic, a 1962 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II with an amazing 35,000 original miles, a 1969 Mercedes Benz 280 SL Roadster which was originally bought by the current owner's father when the owner was only five, a fabulous 1959 Aston Martin DB2 Mk III which was actually the type of car James Bond drove in the novel Goldfinger, and a unique 1965 Acadian Beaumont Sport Deluxe built by GM in Canada and is one of that country's rarest automobiles.

American Collectors at Keeneland

The American Collector class at the Keeneland Concours d'Elegance featured domestic made classics from 1947 through 1975. This year's class featured this 1962 Ford Thunderbird which has been a class winner at various concours and grand national events.

Also basking on the lawn was a 1964 fourth generation Ford Thunderbird which was the first to feature the "sweep away" steering wheel, a 1958 Dodge Coronet which has a PowerFlite push-button two speed transmission, a 1960 Chrysler 300F which at the time was nicknamed the "Banker's Hotrod," a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport which was the first year for the SS model, a 1947 Dodge D24 Custom which originally cost $1507, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad that has won best in class at various concours events including Ault Park, and a 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Custom Catalina that ran off of a 347 cubic inch 290 horse power V8.

Coach Built Classics at Keeneland

Specialty coach building of cars is pretty much a thing of the past but in its time this resulted in some of the most beautiful cars on the roads. The Keeneland Concours d'Elegance has a class dedicated to these beautiful cars. Included in this group was this 1934 Packard Super 8. The owner wanted a boattail body and built this one himself.

Also on the lawn was this 1927 Pierce Arrow Series 36 Judkins Coupe thought to be the only one of its kind, a rare 1936 Railton Eight Fairmile 2Convertible Coupe which was the fastest production car of its time with a 0-60 time of 8.8 seconds, a stunning 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante which is one of only seven ever built, a magnificent 1931 Stutz DV 32 Rollston Bodied Victoria which was originally owned by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and a very rare 1953 Cadillac Series 62 Elegante which features body built by Carrozzeria Motto of Turin, Italy.