Miamisburg, Ohio – Located on the southern end of The Gem City, the Dayton Cars & Coffee consistently attracts hundreds of top-tier show cars, exotics, classic Detroit steel, late model muscle, and all-manner of motorcycles.
How diverse is the car crowd? Check out the guest list:
- Lancia Zagato? Yup.
- Volvo Amazon? Of course.
- Dodge Omni GLH? Oh man, totally.
- Flachbau 911? Obligatory.
The popularity of the massive event is all thanks to the planning, organization, and effort of the fine folks at Dayton Cars & Coffee.
…And believe it or not, due to a series of scheduling conflicts, we’ve never, ever been able to make the relatively short trip north from the OnAllCylinders Cincinnati Field Office to check it out—until last weekend.
Check out the photos below and you’ll get a good idea of the scope/scale of the event.
Let’s kick things off with a Lancia Zagato. It was based on Lancia’s Beta luxury car, but took a decidedly sporty turn in its convertible coupe form—which was called the Zagato (for the coachbuilding company that assembled it) exclusively here in the States. Yeah, this isn’t one we see often. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Several super rare VWs were in the mix too. This is a Volkswagen LT35 commercial van—the 35 denoted the largest variant with a 3.5 ton gvwr. Offered in chassis-cab configurations, the LT was used for things like service trucks, ambulances, and even small busses. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
On a smaller scale, this is arguably the cleanest Golf hatchback we’ve seen since Def Leppard was topping the charts. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
And winding the clock way back is this delightful little Type 3. We’ve seen some Squareback Wagons around lately, but the notchback coupe is an elusive sight. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
The Shelby American folks are still turning up the wick on late model Mustangs too—including optional supercharger kits that’ll take your Coyote to over 900 horsepower. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Speaking of Shelby, the telltale black/gold paint job (and corresponding rocker graphic) here tells us this is one of the interesting GT350H spec cars. The “H” denoted Hertz—yes, the rental car company—who ordered these cars direct from Shelby for its short-lived “Rent-a-Racer” program. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Oh, and since we’re on the Shelby subject, with a discreet 428 Cobra Jet badge on the fender, it was tough to overlook this GT500. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Shelby didn’t just focus on Fords, either. Dodge fans already know what the “GLH” acronym means here but, suffice it to say, this is no ordinary Omni. Shelby tuned these cars with an improved suspension and more power output, rechristening them the “Goes Like Hell” GLH models. Later, a more powerful variant, the GLH-S “Goes Like Hell Some More” joined the party. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
While Carroll Shelby is known for his involvement with the Omni, Dakota, and FWD Daytona, let’s not forget that he was a consultant on Dodge’s nascent Viper program in the early 1980s too. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Quick, count the intake plenums here—this is a legit V12-powered BMW 8-series coupe. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
As a result of FIA homologation rules, automakers had to offer street-oriented versions of its race cars to the general public. Subaru’s biggest contribution was perhaps the WRX. Though the ‘Rex took a while to get to the United States, this 2.5RS coupe whetted our appetite. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
And Subaru’s Japanese rival had to offer homologation specials of its Lancer Evolution as well—to the joy of gearheads around the world. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
A Z club brought a fleet of classic Z cars to Dayton too. This is a later 280Z, denoting the larger 2.8L six that arrived a few years after the original 240Z debuted. If you’re into these Datsuns, read more in our retrospective here: A Quick History of The Nissan/Datsun Z Sports Cars (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Maybe its the late-GenX nostalgia talking, but it’s always nice to see a clean ED Civic hatch. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
In contrast to that compact Honda is this massively spectacular 1970 Pontiac Executive sedan. The Executive was around briefly at the tail-end of the 1960s, and straddled the middle-ground between the luxury Bonneville and the more austere Catalina models. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Here’s another interesting Pontiac: a 2003 Grand Am Limited Edition. While the options package offered a few sporty appearance bits, the fun trivia part is that this was the last GM car to be offered with an analog odometer. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
In the mood for some more 1990s magic? Here’s a Dodge Stratus R/T coupe, which bears the distinction of being the last of the famous Chrysler “Cloud” cars, after its contemporaries like the Cirrus and the Breeze were discontinued in 2000. The Stratus coupe would eventually be produced under the DSM umbrella before ultimately getting replaced by the Avenger. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
While the Stratus coupe was tangentially related to the famous Chrysler-Mitsubishi DSM joint venture, the Eagle and its cousins, the Laser and Eclipse, are icons of the Diamond Star Motors alliance. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
On a previous episode of The OnAllCylinders Podcast, our pal Ross Esposito from RIPP Superchargers referred to those aforementioned DSM cars as “Cheat Codes” on the dragstrip, thanks to their grip, tunability, and featherweight chassis. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Want to talk about interesting automotive alliances aside from DSM? Well…Volvo partnered with Yamaha to develop a V8 engine and the resulting 4.4L was built in Japan before heading to Sweden. The S80 seen here remains the only V8-powered sedan model that Volvo ever made. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Amazingly, that S80 wasn’t even the most interesting Volvo at the show. This is a 1966 Volvo Amazon, and it was available in the United States briefly in the 1960s. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
…and there were TWO of them! (Image/OnAllCylinders)
If you’ll note the intercooler tucked in the bumper, you’ll realize this isn’t an ordinary Mazda—it’s a Mazdaspeed 3 hot hatch made by Mazda’s in-house performance arm. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Or course, if you prefer your Mazdas to be Wankel-powered, there was plenty of that going around (PUN!) too. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
“It’s Australian for Pontiac.” The LS V8-powerd Holden Commodore came Stateside first as the G8 sedan… (Image/OnAllCylinders)
…And then when Pontiac was shuttered, it became the Chevy SS. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Together with the S-Cargo and the Pao, the Nissan Figaro was one of three retro-styled cars made by Nissan exclusively for the Japanese Market. They’re slowly coming Stateside thanks to the rolling import window—and we couldn’t be happier about that. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Don’t be confused by the grille here—though essentially a rebadged Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow to begin with, the owner’s literature confirmed that this is actually a 1970 Bentley T1. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Of course, the British know how to make small cars pretty well too. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Ask any Corvette fan what their three favorite numbers are, and there’s a good chance they’ll say four, two, and seven—in that order. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
Want to learn everything about the K-Series engine? Start here: Talking Hondas, Motorsports, K-Series Engine Swaps & Import Performance (Image/OnAllCylinders)
The distinct “Flachbau” Slantnose Porsche was a special order—and very expensive—option available exclusively on the 930 Turbo cars. Derived from the Porsche 935 race car, the Slantnose offered improved aero and cooling. At the time, those features made it the fastest street car in the Porsche fleet. (Image/OnAllCylinders)
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As always, if this sort of thing appeals to you, do an internet search for the “Cars & Coffee” term combined with your local town—there’s a good chance one of these events will be going down nearby.
