The Cars of Cars at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Each year the Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance has Special Displays for unique or different types of automobiles. This year they had three. This first one is quite fitting as it highlights the cars from the Disney animated features Cars. It's fitting because Cincinnati was one of the very first concours events to take part in the Hagerty Youth Judging program. This was the 15th year that young judges got to make their choices. Concours programmers managed to assemble real automobiles that resemble the ones from the movie. Among them was a 1976 International Loadstar that resembles "Tow Mater," the comic relief for the films. This is a medium duty truck packing a 350 horsepower V 8 engine. 

Of course, there has to be Lightening McQueen. This is a full-sized replica built by Scotlea Hot Rods. In the movie this is a "Piston Cup Racer" that has a 6.2-liter V 8 that generates 550 horsepower.

This 1951 Hudson Hornet represents Doc Hudson from the movie. In the movie Doc is a retired racer and serves as the mayor and doctor of the local town. In reality the Hudson was the fastest street legal car built in 1951, powered by a 308 cubic inch inline six-cylinder engine turning out 170 horsepower that could hurtle the car to 107 miles per hour.

A 2010 Maserati Quatraporte Sport GT represents Carlo Maserati, a character in Cars 2. The real car 4.7-liter V 8 that generates 435 horsepower.

This 2007 Ferrari F430 represents the character Michael Schumacher who, in both the movies and in reality, was a famous F1 racer most noted for wins with team Ferrari. This car runs on a 4.3-liter V 8 that creates 480 horsepower. This car was the last Ferrari to have a gated gear shifter.

This 1968 Fiat 500 represented the character Luigi who, in the movies, runs the Casa Della Tire Shop. The 500 is a small "city" car which, following World War II, was the "Peoples'" car of Italy. It has a 650-cc flat/boxer two-cylinder engine that produces all of 28 horespower.

This 1990 Mazda Miata were there to represent Lightning McQueen's biggest fans, the twins Tia and Mia. The world's bestselling sports car has a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine that turns out 116 horsepower. 

Classic Sports Cars at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Sports cars have always been popular at any type of car event but especially at a concours level show. Here are generally some of the most stunning and rare sports cars many will ever see. The Sports Classic class at the Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance was no different. The class featured a 1951 Allard K2, one of only 119 every built. The Allard was a British car stuffed with a big American engine. The car is powered by a 331 cubic inch Cadillac V 8 using 3X2 Stromberg carburetors. The engine produces 170 horsepower.

Combine a racing background with high-quality luxury and you get a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS. Sporting an aluminum body styled and built by Touring, it benefits from "Superlegarra" or super light construction techniques. He has a 2500 cc inline six-cylinder engine that generates 110 horsepower. The car has been in the same family since 1964.

This is a very rare 1939 MG TB as only 319 were built before World War II interrupted production. Only 90 are known to still exist. Running on a 1250 cc inline four-cylinder engine that creates 54.4 horsepower. 

Here is a 1958 Porsche 356A T2 Cabriolet. The 356 was the first road car to sport the name of company founder Ferdinand "Ferry" Posrche. The earliest models were partial "parts cars" from the Volkswagen Beetle bin, a car designed by Ferry's father. It has a rear mounted 1582 cc four-cylinder flat/boxer engine that makes 75 horsepower.

A younger 1956 Porsche 356 Coupe was also on hand. Using the same 1582 cc four-cylinder flat/boxer engine, this car has been regularly driven by the owner for 38 years.

This 1962 Chevrolet Corvette convertible marked the end of the first generation, or C1, version of the Vette. It also introduced the famed 327 cubic inch small block V 8 engine. This engine churns out 340 horsepower.

Racers at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Race cars have long been celebrated by concours events around the world. The Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance is no different. This year the organizers curated a variety in their racing class including the 2025 SCCA T1 Road Racing Champion, a 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302. This car started out as part of the Ford Racing School before being picked up by Team Blitz. It has a 302 cubic inch V 8 that generates 475 horsepower.

A member of the Porsche factory team, this 2009 GT3 Cup Grand Am finished third in its class and 11th overall at the 2009 Daytona Rolex 24 hour race. It sports a 3.6-liter flat boxer six-cylinder engine that creates 395 horsepower.

This 1953 Allard JR is one of only seven ever built. It took part in 33 races reaching the podium 26 times including 17 first place finishes. It is powered by a 331 cubic inch V 8 that churns out 300 horsepower.

A recreation of a famed distance racer, this 1951 Packard 200 Club Sedan ran in the revival race of La Carrara Panamerica in 1996-1999. It has a 327 cubic inch inline eight-cylinder engine that makes 165 horsepower.

Built specifically for the Indianapolis 500, this 1960 Schmidt Special and finished eighth that year. It raced again two years later and was subsequently used as a camera car for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It has a 255 cubic inch inline four-cylinder engine.

This 1969 Oldsmobile Smothers Cutlass convertible was one of five prepared by Factory Perf Eng and was one of only 26 such cars built that year. With a 350 cubic inch V 8 engine it can turn out over 325 horsepower.

This 1973 Plymouth Barracuda was prepared specifically for drag racing. With a 508 cubic inch V 8 that generates 580 horsepower, this car hurtles down the quarter mile in 10.73 seconds, reaching a top speed of 120 miles per hour. It's little wonder it won multiple races and ISCA awards.

Here is a 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix Winston Cup racer. The chassis uses a special Laughlin Racing tubular frame. The car has a 358 cubic inch V 8 engine that is good for 690 horsepower.

Complete with a hand built 304.5 cubic inch V 8 R3 Paxton engine that creates as much as 390 horsepower, this 1964 Studebaker Daytona LSR was one of only 647 convertibles built that year.

 

Vintage Pre-War Cars at the Cincinnati Concours

Cars manufactured prior to World War II are typically classified in two areas, antiques and vintage. The antiques are the earliest cars, generally prior to 1925, while the vintage vehicles go from that year up until the start of the war. The Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance has a class for those pre-war vintage automobiles. Among the entrants in this year's event was a car seen as a top competitor to the Ford Model T. This is a 1923 Chevrolet Superior B Sedan. The car originally sold for $860 and has an overhead valve four-cylinder 171 horsepower engine. It generates all of 26 horsepower. This particular car was part of the collection in the Nethercutt Museum for 20 years.

 

This 1926 Franklin Series 11A Victoria coupe is one of only 12 known to currently exist. Franklins were built in Syracuse, NY and were seen as luxury automobiles, this having an original selling price of $2750. It sports a 199 cubic inch inline six-cylinder engine that creates 32 horsepower.

Here is a 1934 Plymouth PE Deluxe Business Coupe. These cars were built without a back seat with the intent that salesmen would use the space to carry their samples. It has a 201 cubic inch inline six-cylinder engine that puts out 77 horsepower.

This is a 1925 Franklin Series 11 A Sport Runabout. This represented a new look for Franklin as the front end had a mock radiator shell for the air-cooled engine. This brought the car more in tune with the current styles. It has a 188 cubic inch overhead valve inline six-cylinder engine that creates 35 horsepower. 

Performance and Muscle at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Performance has always been a staple of automobiles. From the beginning, people worked at getting more power and performance from their vehicles. But it was in 1949 when Oldsmobile introduced the Eighty-Eight, a car flush with a 303-horsepower V 8 engine that they called the Rocket V 8. This was a street legal car with racing aspirations. By the mid-1960s, American car magazines had coined the term "muscle car" and an era of high performance was born. This high-performance muscle car era was recently celebrated at the Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance with the American Performance class. This group included a 1967 Oldsmobile W-30 442 coupe. With a 425 cubic inch V 8 "Ram Air" engine that generates 450 horsepower, this is a higher performance version of an already high-performance car. This particular car has been in the same family for 46 years.

Central Office Production Order or COPO designation on a Chevrolet meant that this was the most power packed performance version of a car. Here is a 1968 Nova SS COPO. These cars were built to compete in NHRA drag racing. With a 396 cubic inch V 8 engine that puts out 375 horsepower, this is essentially a street legal dragster. This is number 15 of 50 such cars ever built.

Carroll Shelby had a habit of taking cars to the next level of performance. He famously did so to the AC Cobra but also to the Ford Mustang. This is a 1965 Shelby American GT 350. It started with the standard Ford 289 cubic inch V 8 engine that Shelby tweaked to 306 horsepower. Only 562 of these were produced in 1965.

Back in the 1960s, a number of manufacturers were creating racing versions of their standard cars. For the Chevrolet Camaro, that was the Z/28. Created to spec for SCCA Trans-Am racing, these Camaros, like the 1969 seen here, has a 302 cubic inch V 8 that makes 290 horsepower.

Here is a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS or Super Sport. The SS designation indicated a higher performance model. Originally made as a mid-sized family car, Chevelle soon became a staple in the muscle car scene. This model has a 396 cubic inch V 8 engine that fires out 325 horsepower.

For much of its early life, Pontiac was a lower level "family" brand for General Motors. That is until a guy named John DeLorean showed up. He managed to wedge high power engines into family cars and helped usher in the muscle car era. Perhaps Pontiac's most famed muscle car was the GTO. This 1965 model has a special option 389 cubic inch V 8 engine the cranks out 360 horsepower. It also has a "Tri-Power" special option which gives it three two-barrel carburetors.

Carroll Shelby didn't stop with the GT350. In 1967 he wedged Ford's new "Cobra Jet" 428 cubic inch V 8 into a Mustang, enhancing it to give it 355 horsepower. The GT 500 was born. With some re-designed body work, these helped Shelby American sales increase six times over.

Often called a "gentleman's muscle car," this 1967Plymouth GTX convertible is one of only 680 ever produced in that year. With a 440 cubic inch V 8 engine, this car turns out 375 horsepower.

High-Performance Mercedes at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Established in 1967 as a developer of racing engines, AMG became known as a performance specialist for Mercedes-Benz automobiles. Since 2005 it has become a wholly owned subsidiary and is responsible for creating the high-performance models of the Stuttgart automobiles. There was a special AMG class at the 48th Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance which included a 2026 G63, a hybrid luxury vehicle with off-road capabilities. It combines a four-liter twin turbo V 8 engine that puts out 577 horsepower with a 48 volt mild-hybrid system.

Imagine a practical family station wagon with super car performance. That is exactly what this 2021 E63S wagon is. Running on a four-liter V 8 that pumps out 603 horsepower, this car can go zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 186 miles per hour. That's getting your groceries in a hurry.

This 2016 GT-S coupe was the second sports car developed in-house by AMG. Its four-liter V 8 engine puts out 503 horsepower. It's little wonder this car was named Best Driver's Car by Motor Trend magazine.

Here is a 2019 CTC. With a twin turbo and dual clutch transmission, the CTCs were used as Formula 1 safety cars. And why not, they have a four-liter V 8 engine that generates 550 horsepower and can sprint from zero to 60 in 3.3 seconds. This car was bought used and it had all of 41 miles on the odometer.

The GT 55 Coupe was new for 2024. It uses a four-liter Biturbo V 8 engine that creates 469 horsepower and 516 foot pounds of torque. With a top speed of 183 miles per hour it flies from zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds. 

The SLS was a two-seater with gullwing doors built to honor the famed 300 SL. Only 389 were sold in the USA. This is the first car designed and built entirely by AMG who gave it a 6.3-liter V 8 engine that turns our 583 horsepower. With a top speed of 197 miles per hour it can go from zero to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

Essentially a street legal version of their Formula 1 race car, the AMG One is the record holder as the fastest street legal car to lap at the Nurburgring. Only 275 were ever produced with only three coming to the USA. It has a 1.6-liter V 6 engine that generates a staggering 1049 horsepower.

In 2018 the fastest four door sedan in the world was this E63 S. It runs on a four-liter V 8 engine that creates 603 horsepower and 627 foot pounds of torque. This car zips from zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds. At delivery it sported a list price of $120,155.

Contemporary Mercedes at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Mercedes-Benz has had a long history of making automobiles and of being successful at it. Many associate the brand with luxury and rightly so. The Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance recognized the significance of these cars at the 48th iteration of their event. One of the classes was for more contemporary Mercedes cars. This group included a 1990 300 SEL, which, at the time was the halo car in the Mercedes lineup. These were the second to have the S Class name. This car sports a three-liter inline six-cylinder engine that puts out 177 horsepower. These were one of the few cars on the market at the time to offer side passenger airbags.

This is a 1993 300 CE Cabriolet which represents the first year of this model and the first four seat convertible from the marque since 1971. Seven hundred, sixty-six were sold in the USA. It runs on a 3.2-liter inline six-cylinder engine that generates 217 horsepower.

The 1986 190 E 2.3-16 was a homologation car for rally racing. The 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder engine was co-developed with Cosworth and puts out 167 horsepower. This single-family car with 65,000 miles was one of about 2500 sold in the USA.