Amelia Island Concours 2022
The favor of the hour
Amelia Island Concours 2022
© press-inform – the press office
Pebble Beach, for years the undisputed best car event in the world, is facing serious competition for the first time this spring. The Amelia Island Concours is expanding small and fine; meanwhile a real alternative to his Californian counterpart.
Car fans crave events to indulge their passion and a spring event like the Amelia Island Concours comes at just the right time, even though the war in Ukraine is a topic of much conversation. Amelia Island has always been exclusive and noble, while the early date in the annual calendar does the rest to make the event popular not only on the Florida west coast and the USA. After the pandemic travel restrictions have largely been lifted and automotive Europe has not yet completely shed the end of winter, an exclusive event like the Amelia Island Concours comes at just the right time. People meet in one of the most prosperous regions of the USA on the north coast of Florida and indulge in a shared passion for cars, from classic cars to new ones.
With its broad program and many events in a small area, Amelia Island is slowly becoming a real alternative to the Monterey Autoweek with the highlight Pebble Beach Concours, which takes place every year in the third week of August on the Californian west coast. It’s a good thing for many car fans that they don’t have to choose, because there’s enough content and car fun to start the season perfectly in Amelia Island without getting in the way of the annual highlight of Pebble Beach. But those who are self-reliant don’t wait until sunny August and are only too happy to leave wintry Europe behind to marvel at Hispano Siuza, Jaguar XJ 220, Hummer EV, Cadillac CT5 V or Porsche Cayman GT4 RS or with Cameron Glickenhaus to chat personally about his latest super sports car. The first electric models are slowly mixing with classics and youngtimers. Here a Porsche Taycan, there a converted Land Rover Defender, the polarizing Hispano Suiza Carmen or the BMW iX M60 – here in Amelia they all go side by side quite casually, even if the up to 35,000 visitors are mostly interested in the four-wheeled cultural asset.
You don’t have to look far for the similarities between Pebble Beach and Amelia Island. When driving on the peninsula in the northernmost tip of Florida, it is noticeable that money hardly plays a role here either. The residences on the sunny coast are chic and classy. The cars make no difference. And even if everything is a bit smaller than in Pebble Beach, the content makes the numerous car fans at least as much fun. There are the auctions of the big auction houses RM Sothebys, Goodings or Bonhams, where rare valuables, racing cars and sports cars find their new owners a popular meeting place to exchange information about the latest trends.
The highlight of the entertaining days is the Amelia Island Concours on Sunday, where the most spectacular vehicles imaginable are awarded – Duisenberg, Peugeot 302 Dal Mart, Toyota 2000 GT or Porsche 907 – everything is included. Nevertheless, many fans prefer to go to Cars & Caffeine on Saturday, when the vehicles are parked in greater numbers and no less impressively on the Ritz Carlton golf course. The most unusual cars are a few minutes away at the Concours de Lemons, where wrecks and run-down vehicles are presented far from any exclusivity. In between there are fan and club meetings, PS talks, old classics and new stars. BMW is starting the celebrations for the 50th birthday of its M GmbH with the launch of the new 8-generation right here in Amelia Island, and fans aren’t just coming to Amelia from the USA – on the move with classic M models from the M5 series E28 and E34, the M3 models E30, E46 and E92 or the charismatic Z3 Coupé sneaker. What’s missing in Amelia is the noblesse of The Quail, the motorsport dynamic of Laguna Seca and the unique fan spectrum of Legends of Autobahn or the motley Concorso Italiano. However, this is skilfully balanced by the family character at Cars & Caffeine and the auctions, which do not have to hide in comparison to the big events in Monterey and Scottsdale.
It’s no wonder that car manufacturers such as BMW, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Hummer and Porsche also show their latest vehicles to interested customers, because the money is just as loose as the opposite on the Pacific coast. A 1974 Porsche 930 Turbo changes hands for 450,000 euros or a 1994 Ferrari Testarossa is auctioned for around 280,000 US dollars, while only half was planned. In general, it seems as if the very expensive sports cars are struggling at the upper end of the price range, while the cheaper vehicles sometimes achieve impressive prices at Goodings, Bonhams and RM Sothebys.