Lebanon, Ohio – Located on the north side of Cincinnati, Cars & Coffee West Chester hosts a series of events throughout the summer and, as luck would have it, one of its regular car shows fell on Memorial Day weekend—which meant the crowd was even more impressive than usual.
Sure enough, classic musclecars, rare RHD imports, European exotics, and plenty of late model muscle all roared into the parking lot on a beautiful Saturday morning.
Peruse the pics and you’ll get a good idea of how diverse the car field was and—as always—if you’ve never attended a Cars & Coffee event, it’s definitely worth checking one out. (A quick internet search will likely reveal at least one happening over the summer in your area.)
***
This 1971 Chevelle happens to be a rare “Heavy Chevy” edition. Never heard of one? Learn more about the Heavy Chevy package here. (Image/OnAllCylinders)This ragtop was part of a pair of Kappa twins that showed up to the event—the RWD GM Kappa platform underpinned two domestic coupes, the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice, along with the Daewoo G2X and Opel GT in Asian and European markets, respectively. (Image/OnAllCylinders)The other Kappa car was this rare coupe version of a Pontiac Solstice GXP. These unique hardtop models represented a sliver of overall Solstice production—with just a hair over 1,200 leaving the plant before production of both Kappa-platform cars was halted in 2010. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Speaking of rare badge-engineered cars, this is a right-hand drive Z30 Toyota Soarer imported from Japan. It came Stateside as the Lexus SC400 luxury coupe, but the JDM models got more performance-oriented drivetrain options (though both models could be had with versions of the famed Toyota 2JZ six). (Image/OnAllCylinders)…Still speaking of badge-engineered performance cars, here’s a Mitsubishi 3000GT. Though you could buy this car in the United States as a Mitsubishi, Ma Mopar had her own variant dubbed the Dodge Stealth. You can learn more about the whole Captive Import thing in this story on the Chevy LUV truck. (Image/OnAllCylinders)One more badge-engineered special for today. Built through a partnership between Subaru and Toyota, this GR86 is also sold as a Subaru BRZ. Before the demise of the Scion brand, it was offered as the Scion FR-S as well. The car was primarily a Toyota chassis with a Subaru-sourced Boxer four under the hood. (Image/OnAllCylinders)OK, we lied. Here’s a final badge-engineered marvel: a Buick Regal TourX. GM plucked this short-lived(!!!) wagon from Opel in Germany, where it was called the Insignia. Buick, if you’re listening, bring this one back please. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Another super-interesting JDM import, this is the Pajero Evolution homologation special. Mitsubishi’s in-house performance division, Ralliart, transformed an ordinary Pajero SUV into a hardcore rally car to help it compete in grueling off-road events like the Dakar Rally. Learn more about homologation here. (Image/OnAllCylinders)We spotted this 1970 Monte Carlo with its interesting 402ci big block. Essentially a 396 bored 0.30″ over, Chevy was coy about using the 402 cubic inch displacement label in its marketing. On its smaller cars, the Bowtie still called these 396s, but for the Monte and some full size trucks and cars, it was officially dubbed a 402. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Looking for the Answer? You may appreciate our model-specific Miata Buyer’s Guides. (Image/OnAllCylinders)One of the Miata’s contemporary competitors was the unfairly(!) short-lived(!!) Honda S2000. This is an even more rare version of the already-coveted roadster known as the “Club Racer” spec Honda S2000 CR. Beyond the factory spoiler and hardtop, the CR was stripped-down and stiffened to be lighter and more nimble than its showroom counterparts. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Check out the hood. This is a legit ZL-1. If you want to learn the history behind that designation (and why it’s such a big, big deal), read this: Behold the Mighty 1969 Chevy Camaro COPO ZL-1 (Image/OnAllCylinders)We’re big fans of Darts around here, especially if they’re one of the rare Sport models equipped with a vinyl top and factory sunroof. (Image/OnAllCylinders)And of course, we’ll never not photograph a 383-powered Charger. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Obligatory.(Image/OnAllCylinders)The owner of this Wankel-powered RX-8 brought a spare Dorito with him. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Look closely at the hood badge, and you’ll see this is a 60th anniversary C6. (Image/OnAllCylinders)We actually met the owner (no, not Arnie) of this Fury at Goodguys a while back. You can read that Fury feature here. (Image/OnAllCylinders)The unique roof on this C5 was found only on the FRC and, later, the Z06. The rear brake ducts here tell us this is the latter. Oh, and it also has a Z06 fender badge—that helps too. (Image/OnAllCylinders)For 1997, 30th Anniversary Camaros received a special stripe package and houndstooth interior in an homage to the O.G. models. (Image/OnAllCylinders)Before the Subaru WRX officially came to the United States, we got the Impreza-based 2.5RS. This particular one was stripped down for racing, complete with a cage. (Image/OnAllCylinders)This 1998 Corvette C5 made our list of our Favorite Indy 500 Pace Cars. Do you agree with our list? (Image/OnAllCylinders)*Chef’s Kiss* (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Paul is the editor of OnAllCylinders. When he's not writing, you'll probably find him fixing oil leaks in a Jeep CJ-5 or roof leaks in an old Corvette ragtop. Thanks to a penchant for vintage Honda motorcycles, he spends the rest of his time fiddling with carburetors and cleaning chain lube off his left pant leg.
Comments