Best In Show

We can all hope to look this good when we are 75. Assembled in 1938 at a factory in Steyr, Austria and then clothed with a custom body in Dresden, German, this Steyr 220 Special Roadsters is one of only three remaining examples of this fine motor car. So fine an example is this car that it recently won Best in Show at the Ault Park Concours d'Elegance.

Steyr Automobile is a company most of us have never heard of. It was founded in 1915 as part of the large manufacturing conglomerate Steyr AG. The first car to roll off the line was the 12/40PS and was the brain child of 38-year-old designer and engineer Hans Ledwinka. The car featured a six cylinder, 199 cubic inch single overhead cam engine.

Ledwinka's time at Steyr wasn't long. He and management repeatedly clashed the direction the company would take. Ledwinka wanted to manufacture small, affordable cars while management insisted on creating luxury models. Obviously, as is most often the case, management won and by 1925 Ledwinka quit.

The company moved forward and in 1929 even managed to recruit the famed Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. His first contribution was the stunning 37/100 Austria that featured a powerful 5.3 liter straight eight engine. When the Depression caused Steyr to look for a bailout that came in the form of Austro Daimler. Daimler cancelled this new car because they saw it as competition. Porsche saw it as a reason to leave and start his own company.

Steyr managed to survive during the Depression and then ensuing World War by using a combination of strategies. These included the manufacture of a limited number of luxury cars along with going into a licensing partnership with Opal to build smaller cars.

One of the luxury models during the Depression was the 120 which debuted in 1934 and featured a unique for the time transverse-leaf independent front suspension. This model was improved upon in 1937 as the 220 and sported a 2.3 liter inline six.

The example shown here came equipped with the Special Roadster package. This meant the car came with a modified cam, dome pistons, dual carburetors and a dual exhaust.

Over the past couple of years this car has won numerous awards at shows and Concours across the country, including finishing second in its class in 2012 at Pebble Beach as well as at the 2013 Boca Raton Concours. Now it can add a Best in Show title from one of the oldest and largest Concours events in the country.