Turbocharged Era at the Cincinnati Concours

 

A goal for many is to increase the power of their automobile engine. One way to do this is to increase the amount of air mixing with the fuel. One of the first highly successful methods was the supercharger, basically a mechanical device that would generally run off of belt attached to the engine's crankshaft. A more efficient way is the turbocharger. This is more efficient, running off of the exhaust gasses, allowing for air to be compressed at the intake. This means more air being forced into the piston, creating a more powerful explosion and therefore, more power. OK, so that is the most basic explanation possible, but the result is more power. Starting around the mid-1970s, commercial vehicles began getting turbochargers, in some cases as a result of government legislation. The Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance had a special display class for Turbo Era Cars which included a 1991 Nissan 300XZ Twin Turbo. The car has a three-liter inline six-cylinder engine that generates 272 horsepower.

This is a rare 1987 Chevrolet Calloway Corvette Convertible. Calloways were special orders with higher performance, and most were coupes with convertibles being quite rare. The car has a 350 cubic inch twin turbo V 8 engine that turns out 345 horsepower.

1979 was the last year that Porsche made a turbo 930 for the United States market. They did not start again until 1986. This 1979 930 is one of only 652 built that year. The car has a 3.3-liter flat six turbo engine that puts out 253 horsepower and allows the car to go from zero to 60 in a blistering five seconds.

Here is a 1974 BMW 2002 turbo that is one of only 1672 made that year. These were highly successful rally cars based partly on their two-liter inline four-cylinder engine that creates 170 horsepower. A quick side note, a friend of mine had one of these and, yes, they are fun to drive.

This is a "Dealer Collection" special edition 1994 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo2. Only 173 of these were built. It has a two-liter inline four-cylinder turbo engine that churns out 215 horsepower.

Here is a 1987 Buick Grand National GNX, which held the distinction of being America's quickest production car for its time. The GNX was modified by McLaren/ASC for high performance. It has a 3.8-liter V 6 turbo engine good for 300 horsepower.

This is a high-performance 1986 Ford Mustang SVO. It possesses a 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine that creates 205 horsepower.

In 1985 the Ferrari 288 GTO was manufactured for racing homologation. Only 272 were built to meet the requirements. At the time this was the fastest production car in the world, powered by a 2.8-liter V 8 turbo engine that generates 400 horsepower and can shoot the car down the road at 186 plus miles per hour.

This 1983 Renault R5 Turbo 2 was built as a factory homologation car for Group B rally racing. It has a 1379 cc inline four-cylinder turbo engine that is mid mounted and which creates 158 horsepower.

This wraps up the coverage of this year's Cincinnati Concours d'Elegance. Let me know what you thought by either leaving a message (no ads, please, they just get deleted) or by dropping me a note at turnerbudds@yahoo.com.