Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Showcases Ferraris
The 23rd edition of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance on March 10, 2018 once again occupied the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island, adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, with over 300 cars and motorcycles for the attendee’s delectation. They say that "lightning doesn’t strike twice," but this seemed to be the case as the weather forecast for the traditional Sunday show was ominous, as it had been last year, and the decision was made once again to bring the show forward to Saturday. As it turned out, lightning didn't strike twice, as the forecasters were awry in their predictions, with Sunday's weather being equally as good as that on the Saturday, but the deed was done and Saturday it was.
As a prelude to the main event, three major auction companies hold significant auctions, the official auction company of the concours, RM Sotheby’s, on site at the Ritz-Carlton, Gooding & Company at the nearby Amelia Island Plantation, together with Bonhams at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club, with others from Motostalgia and Hollywood Wheels also taking place in the locality. (Results plus chassis numbers in Cavallino 225, June 1.)
Each year, a motoring, or motor sport personality, is chosen as the honoree of the show, with the recipient this year being the 1972 and 1974 F1 World Champion Driver, and the two Indianapolis 500 winner, Emerson Fittipaldi. When he won his first World Championship he was the youngest ever champion at 25 years of age, a record that he held for 33 years, until usurped by Fernando Alonso in 2005 at the age of 24.
The Concours always has a number of special features amongst the various classes, of which there were 35 this year, ranging from a pair of Horseless Carriage classes to a GTP class. The feature classes included a 70th Anniversary of Porsche celebration, a celebration of the red and duo tone blue colors of Martini Racing, a hunting car class, and a class dedicated to the wild custom creations of “Big Daddy” Ed Roth.
For Ferraris, there was a class honoring the 60th Anniversary of Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART), and the 50th Anniversary of the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona." In addition, there was a Ferrari Production class, and Ferraris were seen on the two Race Car classes and the two Sports & GT Cars classes.
A 1963 Ferrari 250/275 P, Chassis s/n 0812, from The JSL Motorsports Collection, was awarded the prestigious Best in Show Concours de Sport Trophy. This car won the 1963 Nürburgring 1000 Kms Race, driven by John Surtees and Willy Mairesse, and the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring with Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli driving. The equally prestigious Best in Show Concours d’Elegance Trophy was presented to a 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible owned by Harry Yeaggy.
Info and images from Keith Bluemel.
A longer report, plus a chart of Ferrari entrants with chassis numbers will be in the June 1 issue of Cavallino, No. 225. Subscribe today.
