Sports Cars at the Cincinnati Concours

 

Sports cars have always fascinated people. The thought of going fast and zipping through curves makes a lot of people smile. The organizers of the Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance are no different. They have stocked their Contemporary Sports class with some excellent vehicles, including a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulla Spider Veloce. These were the last of Alfa's classic series 101. This particular car is #853 of a limited edition of 1091. It sports a 1570 cc inline four-cylinder engine that generates 128 horsepower.

How do you follow a legend? Well, for Jaguar it was with the XJS. This 1994 convertible was near the end of a 21-year production run that started by using the E Type's V 12 engine. By the time this car hit the road they had switched to a four liter inline six-cylinder power plant that churned out 219 horsepower.

Speaking of the legend, this is it, a Jaguar E Type, which was marketed in the USA as a XKE, the XK being an engine designation. This is at the end of the Series 1 cars and is often referred to as a Series 1A. Its engine is a 3.8 liter inline six-cylinder.

Here is another British road going gem, a 1967 Austin Healey 3000. Over 3000 of these were built in 1967 with most being exported to the USA. It is referred to as a "Big Healey" because, instead of a four-cylinder engine, it has a 2912 cc inline six-cylinder motor that churns out 150 horsepower.

Another British 1967 model is this Lotus Elan Series 3 SE. This car exemplifies the Lotus principle of "Simplify, then add lightness." It has a 1558 inline four-cylinder engine that punches above its weight class making 126 horsepower.

A mix of Italian design and American muscle created this 1970 DeTomaso Mangusta. The "Mongoose" has stunning Italian influenced design that was penned by American Peter Brock and sports a Ford sourced 3.0 liter inline six-cylinder engine that pours out 493 horsepower. Only 401 were ever produced with an estimated 250 remaining.

Here is a 1973 Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS. These cars were built for homologation in Group 4 racing. This is one of the first batch of 500 made and it is driven by a 2.7 liter, rear mounted flat or boxer style six-cylinder engine that makes 210 horsepower.

This is a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. With a 3164 cc, rear mounted flat/boxer six-cylinder engine that spits out 282 horsepower, it's little surprise that the current owner attends rallies with this car.