Curves that let the air roll around the car instead of meeting it like a barn door at speed. Deep air intakes meant to emulate jet aircraft intakes, directing massive amounts of much-needed air to cooling systems and the mighty mill that has a never-ending appetite. Fat gumball rubber at all four corners, the better to hit the apex with. And noises that no fuel-injected, computer controlled bit of technical marvel will ever be able to make. After the second World War, there was a boom in automotive innovation that kept bleeding into the automotive world for decades to come, and by the 1960s you could see the ultimate forms from that generation’s way of thinking: aviation-inspired, power-obsessed, striving to find the balance between light and nimble versus an absolute sledgehammer that had to make some compromises.

Little nimble machines came from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, with Ford of England, Jaguar, Ferrari and smaller shops. American tastes saw the unbelievably popular Mustang and it’s more reined-in sibling, the Falcon, pairing off against the psychotic creations that came forth from the workshops of Carroll Shelby. And you could see all of these machines dance with each other on the same track. Not in black and white, either…this is the Motor Legends Festival at Imola and it’s filled with mid-century awesomeness. Are you too young to have been able to have seen a Cobra Daytona sliding into a corner? Never heard a Ferrari from this era and it’s unmistakable V-12 wail? Click play below…you’re in for a treat.