The priceless actually do have a price
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
For the 22nd annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, organizers moved the show from the traditional Sunday to a Saturday to avoid an incoming storm off the Atlantic. Good call. Hundreds of spectators took in the dizzying array of sparkling metal, most of it rare, historically significant and yes, priceless.
Okay, maybe not priceless. The accompanying RM Sotheby’s auction posted a record US$ 70.9 million in sales, with the top price being US$7.7 million for a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Cabriolet.
Larry Titchner of Toronto brought his gorgeous mint green 1956 Austin Healy 100M to the event. One of only 640 produced, the “M” sports modifications that made it suitable for track work. Titchner had another pressing matter on the go: his 1971 Ferrari Daytona Berlinetta Competizione Conversion was going up for auction next door at RM Sotheby’s. Titchner said he was 50/ 50 on whether it would sell or not, but admitted, “I’ ll have no problem parking it back in my garage.” As the Daytona didn’t meet its US$1.25 million reserve, that’s exactly where it will end up. For now.
Just across the fairway was t he Marmon Wasp which won the inaugural Indy 500 of 1911 with a blistering average speed of 74.6 mph. Bucking tradition, driver Ray Harroun was the only racer there without a riding mechanic. Since riding mechanics served mainly as ballast and lookouts, Harroun fashioned what is acknowledged to be the first rear- view mirror ever at- tached to an automobile.
Perhaps the most jawdropping display was the assemblage of Jaguar D-Type race cars. Seeing 11 of these aerodynamic felines in one place is a once- in- a- lifetime occurrence, the occasion bringing t hem t ogether the 60th anniversary of the D-Type sweep at Le Mans, where they placed first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth.
A huge part of the D-Type’s success can be attributed to one diminutive fellow who served as Jaguar’s development test driver for 36 years: Norman Dewis. Now 96 and still as sharp as the D-Type’s shark fin, Dewis was at Amelia as an honoured guest and judge.
I was lucky enough to sit with Dewis at dinner, and between teasing the waitress and cracking jokes, he regaled me with tales of a time gone by. Dewis was instrumental in determining the driving characteristics of the C-Type, D-Type and iconic E-Type road car. On the track, he was as fast as the hired hot-shoes (Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn) and indeed raced at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia. But Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons kept him off the race team because he was irreplaceable as a development driver. “What would I do if he crashed?” Lyons famously asked.
Dewis tells the story of the E-Type’s unveiling at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. Dewis had to deliver the media car that had just been completed in the Coventry factory. He drove it to Geneva, arriving with 10 minutes to spare.
Enzo Ferrari leaned in to Dewis and said, “This is the best car in the world. I could never build a car like this. But you made one mistake.”
Dewis looked at Enzo and asked, “What could that be?”
“You didn’t put a Ferrari badge on it.”