The 10th Annual Coronado Speed Festival - U.S. Navy Hosts Vintage Speed

In '70, Ford won the Trans Am racing series with its Boss 302 Mustangs. John McClintock owns the #70 '69 Boss 302 Mustang that helped tear up the Navy's tarmac throughout the Coronado Speed Festival.

Reid Jensen, in the leading #219 '66 Shelby GT350 Mustang, was getting his lean on with the other Shelbys and Cheetah playing "follow that blue-over-white car up front."

Each of the two days, the last group to race was Group Eight, the Brecht MINI Cup class, filled with the ever-popular Trans Am race series cars of the late '60s and early '70s. Number 77, a '70 Dodge Challenger owned by Ken Epsman, made its way to the pre-grid for the first practice of the weekend.

Did you think we wouldn't let you get a closer view of Nick Colonna's spectacular Ford GT40?

Stephen Sorenson's #76 '69 Camaro fared well the entire weekend. Camaro won the Trans Am championship for GM in '69.

Not to be outdone by its V-8 competition, Tim Brecht drove his '67 BMW 2002 in the Group Eight class. On the tight Naval Airbase course, he performed admirably well.

One of the most successful race cars of all time, the Ferrari 250 GTO, had a seductive, curvaceous design. Tom Price, with his '62 Ferrari 250 GTO, was in excellent company in the Group Three DRS Technologies Cup-sponsored class.

Patriotic-hued '65 and '66 Shelby GT350 Mustangs comprised much of Group Six, the Solar Tubines Cup-sponsored class.

The cars in Group Six all looked equally sensuous coming or going. A plastic fantastic, two Tigers, two Shelby 'Stangs, and a Snake negotiated the second turn onto the tarmac.

Race cars of the fabulous '50s comprised the SRT Cup class in Group Two. MG TDs, Jaguar XK120s, a Jag C-Type and D-Type, a '55 Austin Healey 100S, Allards, a '54 Ferrari 500MD, a '55 Cooper Bobtail, a '54 Kurtis 500S, a Triumph TR2, a Maserati A6GCS, a '54 Nardi Crosley, a Porsche 356 Speedster, a '54 Warrior Bristol, and a '55 Mercedes 190SL--all were in the running.

Group One, the Captain's Cup class, had a range of small-displacement-engine cars that spanned a 1925 Vauxhall 30-98 driven by owner Gary Byrd all the way up to a '65 Miller-Crosley Special piloted by owner Franklin Rudolph. An early-'30s vintage Alfa Romeo was the author's favorite, in the Captain's Cup.

A local Corvette owners' club enabled C2 fans to appreciate the '63-67 Corvettes on hand.

We saw several Ford GT40 replicas.

Several times throughout the weekend, the Navy gave demonstrations by deploying fighter jets, hovercraft, and helicopters. Planes from World War II, including some flying P51 Mustangs, wowed the crowd. Spectators could also look at some of the land and air vehicles up close and personal.

In addition to the races on the tarmac, spectators had plenty of show cars to admire. Here was one of the many Cobra replicas on display.

Some scintillating high-dollar vintage sports cars were on display underneath a large awning protecting the paintwork of the precocious machines. A '55 Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing showed superior panel fitment.

Jet-black paint on someone's incredible '53 Jaguar XK120 Special Equipment Fixed Head Coupe had us wanting to find a XK120 roadster we could afford and restore (two mutually exclusive items--afford and restore).

Being a Pisces, the author thought the Naval deep sea breathing apparatus/mask would fit him perfectly. Who was that masked man taking all the photos, anyway?