Automotive Oddities At the Concours

 

Without a doubt one of the most fun and interesting collections at the 47th Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance was the special class for automotive oddities. This was definitely a group of cars you won't see every day. Among them was a 1983 Citroen 2CV6 Speciale.This car, with its 602 cc flat boxer two cylinder engine was designed to carry eggs across a field without breaking them.

 

Believe it or not this isn't a Little Tikes kiddie car but a 2008 Smart Fortwo which was actually made by Mercedes Benz to resemble the toy car. It has a one liter, 70 horse power, three cylinder engine.

Well, this isn't quite the James Bond Lotus that can turn into a submarine but it is the West German made 1967 Amphicar Model 770. It is a true amphibious car that has two propellers in the rear.

 

This may resemble a Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle at first glance but is actually a coach built 1949 VW Hemuller and Sons cabriolet body built on a Type 1 chassis.

 This is a 1952 Crosley Skorpion. Crosley Motors was a Cincinnati based car maker owned by Powell Crosley, Jr. who also owned the local baseball team, the Reds, as well as media power station WLW. The car has a 44.2 cubic inch, 26 horse power inline four cylinder engine.

This three wheeler is a 1960 Mazda 360. Actually designated as a light truck, the 360 was designed specifically for the narrow roads of Japan. It is powered by a 300 cc, 11 horse power V-twin two cylinder engine.

Here is a 1958 Meadows Friskysport convertible. This is one of only 15 of these cars known to exist world wide and one of only five in the USA. It's powered by an 18 horse power motorcycle engine with four forward gears and, by running the engine backwards, four reverse as well.

 This 1950 Crosley Super Sport sold for under $1000 back in the day. That means in today's dollars it would cost a whopping $13,000. It has a 44 cubic inch, 26.5 horse power inline four cylinder engine.