2011 Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance Report - VIDEO ENHANCED

AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE 2011
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Mid March is a great time to be hanging out at the 5-Star Ritz-Carlton Resort on Amelia Island near Jacksonville, Florida. In just a few years (this one makes 16) this Concours d’Elegance, founded by Bill Warner, has grown to be one of the finest shows of its kind in the country.

A Concours d’Elgance, for those unfamiliar with the format, is an invitational, judged classic and collector car show usually presented in a spectacular setting. Featured marques, a theme and a variety of classes define this kind of show. In this case the venue is the 10th and 18th fairways of the golf course at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island within a stone’s throw of the Atlantic Ocean.

This year’s featured marques are the American classic Deusenburgs, the rare British racing breed Allard and the race and street cars of Frank Kurtis. A few dozen other classes accommodate close to 300 cars and motorcycles.

Before we talk about the show please allow me to talk about some of the supporting events the popular Mr. Warner and his team have put together to entertain their guests.

On the lawn behind the resort, facing the big water, the RM Auction folks gathered a variety of featured cars in and around a large white tent. A beautiful ’57 DeSoto convertible was hitched to a matching speedboat. Ferraris, full classics, brass era cars and even a bevy of little Fiat 500 derivatives made up a few of the 100 or so cars to be auctioned.

The auction drew perhaps a thousand bidders with deep pockets and eclectic tastes all day Saturday. In fact, the large ballroom at the Ritz was bursting with bidders and spectators. I was barely able to squeeze in to watch the Ferrari Mexico sell for 3.9 million dollars, just before a rough, unrestored Ferrari went for 600 grand. Wow!

Nearby the Gooding & Company presented another auction attempting to reel in any loose money. I didn’t get a chance to get over to that one, but our friend, Ken Lingenfelter, who collects muscle cars, corvettes and modern exotics, assured me that that it was a good one too.

The seminars began with one called Women in Racing featuring our favorite auto gal Denise McCluggage who was the first women in sports car racing in the 1950s and one of the founders of what we now know as AutoWeek magazine (originally Competition Press), for whom she continues to write to this day. Lyn St. James moderated the seminar while Denise, Janet Guthrie and Judy Stropus provided the historical perspective of being women in this male dominated sport. Two youngsters, Outlaw champ Erin Crocker, and Jessica Brunelli, age 18, who is pursuing a NASCAR ride, provided the modern perspective. Of course, women in this sport are still as rare as a TSA guy with a sense of humor, but the panelists all expressed optimism that we would see more women making it there.

The Hot Rod Lifestyle Seminar packed the ballroom as well. The guys who were building and promoting this classically American art form that defined an enduring lifestyle formed an auspicious panel. They spent their time chiding one another and telling stories about the old days. To continue that theme the Concours featured a class of cars that graced the covers of Hot Rod Magazine in the early days, from drag racers, to full customs to traditional rods.

The Cannonball Run Revisited Seminar was by far my favorite and the public’s favorite as well judging from the packed ballroom. As some readers will know I’m a veteran of the infamous Cannonball events – not, I’m sorry to say, the old Cannonball Runs, but the subsequent Cannonball One Lap of America Rallies. The former is what we’re reminiscing about here.

It was really called the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash and it had a simple format. Cars left the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan one minute apart and literally raced to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. The only rule was, there are no rules. Brock Yates, irreverent auto writer and miscreant of the first order, created the races as a reaction to the hand-wringing, overzealous bureaucrats, politicians and activists who imposed the 55-mph speed limit on the unwilling American public. The Cannonball Runs became a symbol of defiance.

Yates was there but because he’s suffering from Alzheimers didn’t say much. He beamed, though, as his old pals, Dan Gurney, Toly Aruntonof, Dick Gilmartin, Peter Brock, William Jeanes and others, told some of the wild stories, as did his equally adventurous wife, known to us all as The Lady Pamela. The warmth and affection from the huge audience for this gaggle of aging miscreants was palpable.

But we’re here for a car show, are we not? So much more was going on here that it’s easy to forget about the show itself.

The show cars begin positioning themselves on the expansive green fairways just as the morning light came up on a clear, cool March Sunday. That’s when I like to be on the field to greet them so I can get photos while the light is soft, and so I get a chance to hear the cacophony of motor sounds and I can smell the variety of exhaust aromas. Some smell of incompletely burned fuel, some of spent racing fuel. In fact, I think each has its own distinct aroma. After all, these are dynamic, multi-sensual artifacts like no others.

Around the large pond, where, I expect, alligators hang out in warm weather, the Duesenbergs gathered – 31 of them according to the program. I didn’t count them. I just watched as those massive, custom-bodied classics moved into place with a soft, muffled rumble. Certainly the most attention-getting one of the bunch was the big, yellow Morman Meteor, an open car with long high hood displaying unique “Duesenberg” lettering on both sides.

Around the corner of the pond we strolled through rows of more classics of the 20s, 30s and 40s – Bentleys, Bugatti, Rolls, Talbot Lago and lots more exclusive-for-their-day cars that were all hand-built and beautifully designed.

Further behind the pond we found a thrilling display of Ferraris along with an array of what are known as “one-off” cars build by enthusiasts and designers as expressions of their automotive lusts. On the hill were a half-dozen restored examples of cars that raced at Indianapolis, including one diesel. Across the foot bridge (cart path actually) were some remarkable Mercedes including the Pope’s 600 limo. Then a class called “Orphan concepts” where my favorite was a soft green Plymouth Explorer, one of the last cars designed by the iconic Virgil Exner and built by Ghia.

Much of the rest of that side of the field was devoted to the featured Allard and Kurtis displays - marques having much in common being post-WWII racing cars adapted for the street – along with many other racing classes. The Amelia Island show is known for featuring nearly as many racing classes as conventional ones. On that side of the field I often smelled the familiar, pungent, sort of spicy aroma of spent racing fuel as these cars came and went. What a treat.

Included in the racing theme this show always honors a special person from the racing community. This year’s honoree is Bobby Rahal, a central figure in the racing community for 40 years beginning with SCCA competition in the early 1970s and continuing through Can-Am, IMSA, IRL, CART, ALS and even NASCAR. He has been a driver, team owner, series boss and has been called “racing’s Graceful Champion.”

The other side of the field accommodated a variety of classes, from Joe Bortz’ unique green Biscayne Motorama concept car to Corkey Coker’s 1911 Mercer. Corky, who is a premier purveyor of collector car tires and his crew, all from Chattanooga, were dressed in period costumes. Packards, Cadillacs, Chryslers, Stutz . . . the most beautiful cars were there.

Please forgive me for not describing every one of the magnificent, unusual cars on display at the Amelia Island show. I could probably go on for another 10,000 words, if you’d let me. Just know that our friend and colleague, Ed Lucas, who MCs this and most of the other premier Concours events around the country, described the show as “over the top.”

Best in Show Concours d’Elegance is the 1933 Duesenberg SJN Arlington Torpedo Sedan commonly known as “ The Twenty Grand” referencing its original cost, owned by Helen and Jack Nethercutt of Sylmar, California. It’s an imposing, big, luxurious, silver car with outside exhaust, dual side mounts, what looks like a padded roof and multiple external door hinges.

Best in Show Concours de Sport honors go to the big, yellow 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster known as the “Morman Meteor” owned by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio. This car was built to set speed records on the Bonneville salt flats. It features just one headlight down low to light up the line along the salt that defines the track. Large chrome letters spell out “Duesenberg” along both sides of the hood and a big, long exhaust pipe emerges from the right side of the hood projecting all the way to the rear gaining diameter as it flows rearward.

Click PLAY to watch the Jaguar at Amelia Island video

You might want to include the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in your plans for next March. I know I will.