Traffic jams rarely occur in this town. That wasn’t the case Saturday, Feb. 11, when exhibitors and spectators clogged streets around Fountain Park early morning and mid-afternoon to attend the Concours in the Hills.

More than 630 vehicles from racing to muscle cars, high performance autos to military equipment covered the park lawn for the fourth annual event. Scuderia Southwest, one of the state’s largest car clubs, acquired the show earlier this year from founder and 12-year resident Peter Volny.

Some 20 Shelby Cobras from the Cobra Car Club parked near a Vietnam-era AH-1F Cobra gunship helicopter. Fountain Hills resident Mark Metzger flew the ‘copter in Friday afternoon.

He is a member of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, a national non-profit, all-volunteer organizations pf veterans, families and civilian supports preserving the military flight legacy. The Arizona chapter is based at Falcon Field, Mesa.

Volny estimated attendance around 15,000. The surge of visitors spilled into close by restaurants, where waiting lines to get a tab formed.

The free admission makes it difficult in determining an accurate attendance count. Sponsors and car owners raised about $90,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale, which includes the local McKee Branch, said Volny. Owners paid a $50 minimum to display their car.

Legendary motorsports figures participated in the 10 a.m. opening ceremony. Two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk and 2003 Indy 500 driver Paul Tracy joined Bob Bondurant and Peter Brock in telling the “Gentlemen, start your engines.”

Bondurant is the only American to win the International Manufacturers Championship in an American car, a Cobra Daytona coupe. Brock designed the Corvette Sting Ray and has been involved in the automotive racing sport.

On the “ladies” side giving the same command was Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Pat Bondurant, president of Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and wife of Bob; Ms. Arizona Woman Arizona Christina Wagner of Mesa and Mrs. Arizona Andrea Brower of Chandler.

Best of Show and Best Import was a 1963 Bentley S3 owned by Brent Broaderip of Scottsdale. Participants selected a 1956 Dodge D500-1 Custom Royal Lancer owned by Leon Rossiter of San Tan Valley as the Best Domestic vehicle.

Volny has already booked the fifth Concours in the Hills for Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018.