The 18th Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance, the most innovative Concours in the world, will be held on March 8-10, 2013, on Amelia Island, Florida. The gathering is only a month away and it is an event that you really need to try to attend, as it is quite special. The Concours is a mix three hundred of some of the finest racing cars, antiques, classics and pre 1975 post war cars to be found anywhere. The timing is perfect also, as it is a great way to treat yourself to an exceptional automotive adventure, at the end of a long winter.
This year the feature cars at the event are; the jewell-like racing cars built by Harry Miller, the Porsche 911, which is celebrating its 50th year since its introduction in 1963 and the Famous Ford GT40 which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive times, from 1966 to 1969.
The event officially opens on Thursday, March 7th, with the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Silent Auction and the Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) display at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Plaza.
On Friday there are driving events and seminars including; The Porsche Driving Experience, the Marque Car Road Tour which concludes in Downtown Fernandina Beach for a public display, the 50th Anniversary of Corvette Sting Ray Seminar - Design Analysis of the Revolutionary Corvette Sting Ray, a Porsche 911 Seminar presented by Porsche Cars North America -Porsche’s Flagship at 50 and on Saturday, the Ford GT40 Seminar presented by Kelly Services - Design and Development of the Most Successful American Endurance Racer.
On Sunday, The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance as can be seen (below) is held on the 10th & 18th Fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach. The event opens at 9:30 am and the drive throughs and awards ceremony start at 12:00 pm and conclude at 4:00 pm.
Just (below) is a video of the event, produced for the Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance, that we give you an excellent overview of what the Concours and all of the other events that are also going on over the weekend are all about.
Also featured this year are an assortment Cadillac prototype and Cadillac concept cars which are rarely seen anywhere and will be on display at the Concours as seen below.
Seven of Cadillac’s Concept Cars will be featured including; the 1949 Cadillac Fleetwood Coupe DeVille prototype (above), two 1953 LeMans roadsters, one seen here (below), the 1953 El Dorado Special, a 1956 Eldorado Brougham Town Car, the 1959 Cyclone and the 1961 El Dorado Chicago Auto Show car once owned by pro golfer Walter Hagen.
Created under the supervision of GM’s legendary styling chief, Harley Earl, the Cadillac Concept cars of the 1950s were created as the stars of GM’s Motorama shows. Many were created not to be driven but only to be shown and crushed afterward. Some early cars were sold to GM executives, celebrities, or people of influence. Happily, orders to destroy these spectacular harbingers of the future were often ignored or outright disobeyed.
The LaSalle show cars built for the 1955 General Motors Motorama. The two cars, an unrestored sedan and the newly restored roadster (above), will be seen in public for the first time in 57 years.
Unlike many show cars of the Fifties, Cadillac’s Motorama Concept Cars carried the future in their lines, options, trim and colors. The quad headlights of the 1955 Cadillac El Dorado Brougham Concept Car, were GM’s first use of the four headlight format that became standard GM styling practice in 1957. The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone (below), featured sliding doors. Photos courtesy of The Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance where you can find all the details about this exceptional event.
A bucket list destination for sure. Wish it weren’t so darn far away.
We will be there! It is our first trip to this Concours and we are looking forward to it.