American Muscle At the Concours

 

The American Performance class is always one of the most popular and most competitive at the Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance and this year's 47th running of the even was no different. Among the cars in this group was a 1971 Chevrolet Nova SS. The Nova began life as a trim option of the Chevy II which was a compact car. This makes the Nova, even though it sported a  350 cubic inch V-8 engine cranking out 270 horse power, one of the smallest of the muscle cars.

 

This 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible was an actual finalist in the Good Guys Muscle Car of the Year contest back in 2015. R/T was the designation by Dodge for their performance enhanced automobiles. In this case the Coronet has a 440 cubic inch V-8 HEMI engine that turned out 375 horse power. 

Originally a trim option on the mid sized Tempest, the GTO was Pontiac's first true performance car. It came about when renegade John DeLorean (yeah, that guy) wedged a large performance engine into a mid sized sedan. This 1968 GTO has a 440 cubic inch V-8 that can generate 360 horse power. This model was Motor Trend's Car of the Year.

This 1971 Plymouth Road Runner was named Carlisle's Chrysler Nationals First In Class in 2024. This car has a 340 cubic inch V-8 that powers out 275 horse power.

 This 1969 Ford Shelby GT 500 was personally autographed by Carroll Shelby himself. It has a 428 cubic inch Cobra Jet V-8 that puts out a pulse pounding 425 horse power. This car is all original.

 

Here is a 1967 Ford Shelby GT 500. This is the first year of the Shelby Mustang GT 500 and also marked the first year of the big block 428 cubic inch V-8 engine. 

 This is a 1966 Shelby GT 350H. Believe it or not the car rental firm Hertz bought 1000 of these modified Mustangs from Carroll Shelby's Shelby American company, essentially saving it from going under. And yes, people were able to rent a car with a 289 cubic inch V-8 engine that cranked out 350 horse power. This car won Best In Class.

 Another car personally signed by Carrol Shelby is this 1968 Shelby GT 350. By this point Ford had taken over the modifications and building of these cars. It has a 302 cubic inch V-8 that cranks out 310 horse power.

This 1967 Pontiac GTO has only 43,000 original miles and is in original condition, including still wearing the original paint. This car has a 400 cubic inch V-8 that puts out 360 horse power. Nice family sedan.

Here is a special 1969 Chevy Camaro COPO. This limited edition Central Office Production Order car came with a 427 cubic inch V-8 engine that hurled it down the drag strip with 425 horse power.

 This is an all matching numbers 1967 Chevy Chevelle Super Sport. This car has fewer than 60,000 original miles and is an all matching numbers car. It is powered by a 396 cubic inch V-8 that generates 325 horse power.