Thunderstruck in the Sunshine State
Despite a near-miss with the weather, this year’s Amelia Island Concours shone as brightly as ever
WHY ALL THE FUSS about the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance? It’s not huge, as car events go. There’s no history to its golf course location. It’s not in a known automotive area. And yet it’s won Octane’s award for best motoring event twice in six years, and is seen as a must-visit for collectors, specialists and enthusiasts from all around the world.
The secret? The secret is 50% in the charm of the event, as defined by good ol’ Southern gentleman and event founder Bill Warner. The other 50% is the sheer variety and eye-popping provenance of the vehicles on show.
We might normally have skewed some of the appeal towards the weather on the Florida east coast, just north of Jacksonville, as well. But not this year… With little more than 48 hours’ notice, Bill Warner and his team moved the concours forward a day to the Saturday, to avoid Sunday’s forecast thunderstorms. In Florida, the weather can get extreme, and why come out in the rain when it’s sunny most of the year round? Somehow they pulled it off, rearranging 320 cars and notifying the 30,000plus advance ticket holders and potential visitors plus sponsors, auction houses, etc.
So the show did go on, with all the planned highlights: an appearance by Al Unser Sr with a selection of his race cars; no fewer than 14 D-type and XKSS Jaguars; Porsches from local legends Brumos Racing and Hurley Haywood; 50 years of Camaro; Japanese race cars (how we love those BRE Datsun 510s); movie cars; motor scooters, and more. Let’s not forget, too, the five auctions, the automobilia displays, the seminars, the manufacturer drives, and all the sideshows that help make up the weekend.
And did it rain on the Sunday? Yes, it did.