2015 Portland Vintage Racing Festival Mega Gallery

1960 Austin Mini Cooper

Words by Andy Lilienthal. Photos by Mercedes and Andy Lilienthal

One of my favorite events here in Portland is the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Portland Vintage Racing Festival. I love the variety of cars, the racing, and the memories associated with it. This was the first year in a while that I've been to the event since my father passed away; this was our annual event at Portland International Raceway. It was great to be there. This year I brought Mercedes and we had a blast checking out both old and new cars alike.

Although Mercedes and I were only there for part of the day on Saturday, we got to experience some outstanding vintage racing as well as some brand-new performance via the new Jaguar F-Type. What an incredible vehicle. I got to ride along in a 550 horsepower AWD, supercharged V8 Jaguar F-Type R as we lapped the course at Portland International Raceway. Afterward, I got to autocross the same vehicle. Needless to say, the acceleration was amazing; you could feel your eyeballs being pushed back in your head under full throttle. (Jaguar claims a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds, and I'd believe it.) Equally impressive are the car's brakes. In fact, the F-Type R's front brake rotors are the same size as the wheels on my Toyota Yaris—15-inches. The cost? $103,600. Yes please. Hey, if the Yaris blew up tomorrow, I'd certainly consider the Jag. I'd also have to consider selling my house and a kidney. Regardless of the price, the 2016 F-Type R is one hell of an automobile.

While the Jaguars were amazing, the event, of course, has fantastic vintage cars, many of which are out of the ordinary—just our kind of thing. Below you'll find some of our favorite vehicles from the 2015 Portland  Vintage Racing Festival. Enjoy.

1971 AMC AMX

1966 Volkswagen Beetle—the only VW Beetle to ever race at the Monterrey Historics.

Mint Ford Courier pickup

1970 Dodge Challenger

A Lotus Elan leading a pack of Datsun 510s

Land Rover Defender 90

1968 BMW 2

1972 Datsun 510

Yes, this is a veggie oil-powered Mini Cooper powered by a 1.5-liter Peugeot diesel.

1971 Volvo 142E

1959 MG MGA

Clean MG convertible

1969 Alfa Romeo GTV

Cool little roadster. MG?

Love this orange MG Midget

How clean and cool is this Mini Moke?

1968 Ford Mustang 427 (gold) vs. 1979 Ford Mustang GT1

Love this 1965 Ford Falcon road racer!

Classic Porsche Spyder

This Ford Pinto racer never hit the track, but it looked awesome. 

Jaguar F-Type R on the autocross course

Beautiful Jaguar XK120 racer.

Siata Spring

I've always loved 1964 Studebaker Daytona, which is a regular at the Historics. 

Clean Datusn Z car

This Morgan was one of many yellow cars at this year's event.

1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302

Triumph Spitfire 4

1970 Lotus 51

Datusn 280Z

1968 Titan MK 4 

1961 Austin Mini Cooper S

1962 Austin Healey Sprite