Amelia Island: What a Deusy of a Show
By Dave Hutchison
Incredible Cars. Big crowds. Spectacular weather.
That pretty much sums up the 16th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, held March 11-13 this year. Now in its second decade, the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is among the top automotive events in the world.
Always held the second full weekend in March, 'Amelia" drew a record 280 rare vehicles from collections around the world to The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach and The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island for a celebration of the automobile like no other. More than 20,000 people attended Sunday's show.
This was my fifth trip to Amelia since we were invited in 2003 to show my Vignale-bodied 1961 Italia 2000, and my third in a row. I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Amelia" is the best Concours on the East Coast, bar none. What makes it special, above all, is the quality of the collector vehicles that are on display. With connections all over the country and in Europe, show Chairman Bill Warner and crew attract a diverse collection, from brass up to modern super cars on display.
Bill's roots are grounded in sports car racing from the 1950s and 1960s. He has a definite appreciation for racers and their cars and always brings a good number of them to Amelia Island every year. No other Concours fields such a strong element of racing. With racing comes its champions and this year was no exception.
Former Indy winner Bobby Rahal served as Honorary Chairman this year. It was good to see many of the cars he raced during his illustrious career on display. I have followed his career since his early SCCA days and always admired perseverance and his quite style.
This year, featured marques were Dusenberg, Allard and Kurtis. The row of 35 Dusenburgs around the lake, from the early Model A through the last super-charged version, was impeccable. There was even a collection of racing Dusenbergs, one of which was shown by local Philadelphia collector, Fred Simeone.
As usual, the Amelia Concours d'Elegance is more than just a car show. Since 1996, the show's Foundation has donated nearly $1.7 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other deserving charities on Florida's First Coast.
It's not too early to mark your calendar for next year: the 17th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is scheduled for March 9-11, 2012. For more information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org or call 904-636-0027.
Day 1: Friday, March 11
We arrived on Amelia Island ready for a big weekend after delivering a 1914 H.A. Moyer touring car to a client in Atlanta.
Our first stop was the "Ladies of Racing Seminar." Every year, Bill Warner and company put on talks by people who played important roles in motor sports history. The "Ladies of Racing Seminar" featured a panel discussion moderated by Lyn St. James and including Denise McCluggage, Janet Guthrie, Jessica Brunelli, Jutta Kleinschmidt and Judy Stropus. It was interesting to hear their experiences in a male-dominated sport.
After the seminar, we headed over to the Gooding & Company auction, a truly first-class operation based in Santa Monica, California. The tag line on their auction book tells it all: "Quality is our Style" as their presentation of each lot was top notch, complete with full video distribution so you couldn't miss a bid.
In the preview tent, I came across a stunning 1930 Packard 120B Convertible Coupe, with only 50 miles since its recent restoration, finished in almond green with tan Italian leather. Beautifully done this car brought $132,00, right in the middle of the expected $110,000-$140,000. Well-bought given the recent effort.
Another interesting car in the auction was a 1941 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible with black paint, a red interior, and a "signal-seeking radio and automatic heating system" that sold for $77,000. It was reported that his car was shipped directly from the plant to Victoria, British Columbia, where it was used as a parade car in the famed Canadian Tour of the Queen of England. It's most notable feature is a fabulous aluminum frame transparent top manufactured in a week by the DeHaviland Aircraft Company and shipped to Winnipeg so the crowds could catch a glimpse of the future Queen Elizabeth II. The vehicle is instantly recognizable in photos of newsreels that captured the event.
Another very interesting car in the auction was a one-owner, 1961 Aston Martin DB4 Series 4, with Superleggera coachwork by Touring. A left-hand drive car, it features the rare combination of Caribbean Pearl over dark blue Connolly leather with just the right patina. A very original car, with some with careful detailing, it could be brought back and enjoyed as wonderful preservation car. Brought in from Toronto, it sold for $440,000.
I was gratified to see a 1958 MGA 1500 Roadster that sported a Ragtops & Roadsters (the sister/parent company of Pollock Auto Restoration) windscreen that is made exclusively here in the states. The right-hand drive beauty, with British racing green paint and tan interior, sold for $27,500.
Someone also drove away with a beautiful 1949 Jaguar XK120 Alloy Super Sport for $385,000. One of only 229 made and reported to be the only XK 120 finished in Blue Sheen, it was a Watkins Glen Parade Car in 1949 when it was owned by fame Manhattan car dealer Max Hoffman. In fact, it was the first XK delivered to his dealership.
Goodings tireless auctioneer, Charlie Ross, finished up by selling 82 of 85 lots for a total of $17.9 million, an 11-percent increase over last year's numbers, all while setting seven world records at this auction.
The highest price paid - and the biggest surprise of the auction - was $1.87 million for a 1951 Ferrari Vignale-bodied 212 Export Cabriolet, a world-record price for a 212 that was expected to bring between $800,000 and $1.1 million.
One of my favorites when growing up was a 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV, this one the "one-off" prototype that also sold for a world-record price of $1.7 million, followed by the 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider at $1.32 million. While the high-value cars drew strong numbers, the middle-value cars seemed to land where most people expected. Overall a very well done event; no signs of recession were evident at this auction!
Day 2: Saturday, March 12
The highlight of the day was the "Cannonball Run Revisited Seminar" featuring 10 former participants celebrating the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the outlaw race. It was hysterical!
The session opened with two stern-looking California Highway Patrol standing on either side of the empty stage with their arms folded, just itching to make an arrest.
"We can tell these stories now because the statute of limitations has passed," said Brock Yates, who came up with the idea for the "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash" in 1971 to protest the pending national 55 miles-per-hour speed limit and other traffic laws designed to slow down the American driving public.
For the next two hours, Yates and his wife Pam, Dan Gurney, "Father" Pete Brock , Oscar Kovaleski, Dick Gilmartin and other racers keep the audience entertained as they recounted their adventures during these cross-country races.
Oscar lit up the room as he recounted how they built a racing engine with a 13.5-1 compression ratio and dropped it into a Chevy van that became known as the Can-Am-Van. They also mounted four 55-gallon drums filled with gasoline in the back of the van and put a piece of plywood and a mattress on top so they'd never have to stop. He also calculated that each pint of fuel was the equivalent of a stick of dynamite.
"We would have gone halfway to the moon if it exploded," he laughed. He did finish second on the first Cannonball in 1971.
An F1 driver, AAR team owner, and Le Mans winner, Gurney admitted he had reservations about participating in the Cannonball Run for fear it would harm his successful racing reputation. He went ahead anyway, teaming up with Yates in the 1971 race and won it by driving a Ferarri Daytona Coupe 2,863 miles in 35 hours and 54 minutes, a record that still stands.
Bill Warner also had the opportunity to drive his Porsche 911 that became known as the "Bondo Special" as his car was crashed and repaired the day before the race. Known as Captain Marvel on the CB, he tore his way cross country to finish 14th in the 1975 race.
As the 70s drew to a close, race founder Brock Yates recognized that the cars were getting faster and the competition more serious. Without ceremony, the race quietly ended in 1979 after four successful runs without anyone ever being injured.
The stories went on and on, each one funnier and more entertaining than the one before as we all enjoyed the reminiscing of motoring days of the likes will never be seen again!
Saturday's activities also included RM Auction's event, in which 96 percent of the 103 lots offered sold for a total of $24.3 million. It was reported that the top sale of the weekend and this auction was a stunning 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale Couple that sold for a staggering $4.29 million - another world record.
Day Three: Sunday, March 13
Brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures greeted us for the final day at Amelia. Bobby Rahal kicked off the day by driving his classic March 82G-1 that he put on pole at the 1982 24 Hours of Daytona onto the field and parking it among his other racers. Goosebump time as a flyover by bi-planes roared overhead to greet the huge crowd.
It was the first time I can recall seeing cars on back side of the lake: a wonderful collection of Indy cars. My favorite was the 1965 Lotus driven by Jimmy Clark, the first rear-engine car to win Indy. It changed Indy as we know today. Classic Team Lotus in England recently restored the car, which is owned by the Henry Ford Museum.
A car that stood out for me was a 1937 BMW Mille Miglia, a high-performance 328 that ran Le Mans in 1937 and won the 2-liter class at the 38 Mille Miglia. From the experimental department at BMW, now owned by Oscar Davis of Eliabeth NJ, this successful racecar was shown in "original condition" that had been re-bodied by BMW in 1939 to run the Mille Miglia in 1940. It was nicknamed Buegelfalte (the trouser crease) referring to it's creased fender tops. Well-deserved, for a design way ahead of its time, this car won the Art Eastman Award for the Most Beautiful Racecar.
Pennsylvania car owner Don Bernstein (Clark's Summit) did very well with his 1931 Marmon V Sixteen Convertible Coupe, which won Best in Class of the American Classic Open Pre-1931.
A not-so-shiny car that caught my attention was a 1931 Dual Cowl Phaeton Packard model 833. The car is also known as "The Birthday Packard" because it was given to 17-year-old Josias Homer Edwards of Lewistown, Maine on his 17th birthday. With just over 29,000 original miles on the odometer, it remains to be one of the last completely untouched, unrestored Packards in the United States today, thanks to a "gentleman's agreement" among the car's seven previous owners not to touch or restore it in any way, other than normal maintenance.
In addition to original paint, striping, monograms and as-new side curtains, the car comes with the original canvas top, original leather key fob with Packard logo, a State of Maine spring inspection sticker from 1938, the original marketing form to be filled out by the new owner (who never did) and mailed to the Advertising Manager of Packard Motor Car Company in its two-cent imprinted stamped envelope, the original owner's manual and Packard Tool Equipment inventory list - even the original wax paper filler in the suitcases in the canvas covered leather trunk and, of course, all of the original tools.
This car is for sale again and if anyone would be interested in "carrying the torch" on this one please get in touch with us and we can contact the current owner!
Two very deserving Duesenbergs took both "Best In Show" awards. Warner said it was one of the hardest choices to make that he can remember.
The Concours d'Elegance award went to the 1933 Duesenberg SJN Arlington Torpedo Sedan from The Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, Calif. Dubbed the "Twenty Grand" for its unheard of price tag in the 1930s - $20,000 - the car was originally built for the Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair.
Gordon Buehring, Duesenberg's legendary stylist, was consulted on the car's restoration when the Nethercutts purchased it back in 1978 and the car is exactly as it was when it left the factory for its World's Fair appearance. It was the Nethercutt’s third time winning "Best in Show" at Amelia.
The famed "Mormon Meteor," the Concours de Sport winner, is a vehicle that requires no introduction. Now owned by Harry Yeaggy, the car made its third visit to Amelia and was freshly restored to its original speed record trim. Once dubbed the "fastest, most powerful car in the world," the Duesenberg Special/Mormon Meteor is the definitive pre-war racecar and it is still considered the ultimate Duesenberg by collectors worldwide.
So many wonderful stories to tell, with almost too many cars to see in one day, and my neck was sore as the day came to a close. We are told that the show will be limited to 250 cars next year, so this year's show might have been the biggest and the best so far...a celebration of the iconic Ferarri GTO in 2012... Hmmm? How many can Bill get of the original 39 cars built? If anybody can do it he is the one!
With that said, another memorable visit to Amelia Island came to a close. For the trip home, we trailered the one and only surviving (of 1,500 built) 1905 Queen that was purchased at the Gooding Auction, back to Bucks County for local collector.
Who wants to go next year?