The Coronado Speed Festival is not just about seeing rare vehicles parked on the tarmac, but seeing them run inches apart on the track. It is the centerpiece of the event – after all, there aren’t a whole lot of places you can see a genuine Mercedes 300SL approach a retaining wall at 70 miles per hour.
This year, we saw the addition of the pre-war vehicles into the race group. These cars aren’t the fastest around, but was still interesting watching the drivers wrestle them around the corners. During this time, low CG, wide tires, and independent suspension were all just dreams – today we almost take that stuff for granted…
Many of these vehicles are so mechanically simplified that a passenger is necessary just to keep tabs on the performance threshold.
The big bore muscle group was a striking contrast to the otherwise “quiet” turn-of-the-century automobiles.
This Boss 302 is one of my favorites year after year.
The AMC Javelin: a rogue, distant breed in comparison to the Camaro/Mustang back then. Today, it is considered just as competitive.
This was a cool approach on the C2 Stingray style of the mid 60s, done by Fiberfab. I’ve never been a huge fan of the pre-68 Corvette body style – however, this puts a nicer light on it.
The formula cars also stole the show. One of our favorites is the E9 CSL – which, by body style, doesn’t really fit into this group. But it was still competitive.
The historic stock cars also returned, many of them updated to a newer 90s platform.
Also returning this year were the BMW Le Mans cars, doing hot laps in-between run groups.
This car remains as one of my timeless favorites. I love the look and sound, and loved seeing it compete in the ALMS series back when that was in prime.
The open wheel and Formula B cars take the track.
That concludes our weekend at the Coronado Speed Festival. If you’ve yet to attend – as always – we highly recommend it! Thanks for viewing!
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