Some of the thousands of fans who flocked to The Amelia concours d'Elegance check out a row of rare Denzel sports cars built in Austria. | Dan Scanlan, WJCT News 89.9
Published on February 28, 2024 at 3:36 pm
St. Augustine’s Hurley Haywood will be one of the estimated 20,000 folks attending the 29th iteration of The Amelia concours d’elegance this weekend in and around the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.
But unlike most of the people at the largest and longest-running classic car concours d’elegance in Florida, the veteran race car driver has one job when the high point of the weekend — Sunday’s classic car show — rolls onto the grass.
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It’s one he’s done at all 28 prior Amelia concours.
The five-time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with three more wins at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, is one of about 80 men and women who will be judging the classic cars, racing machines and other interesting vehicles arrayed Sunday on Golf Club of Amelia Island’s fairways.
Haywood said he can’t believe he’s been part of The Amelia since concours founder Bill Warner started it all those years ago. It’s now run by The Hagerty Group.
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“Amelia has become very special,” Haywood said. “It seems like yesterday, and I remember it very well. Bill Warner and the whole group have done just a great job, and now Hagerty has bought the rights to it and it just grows bigger and better every year. … They have some pretty spectacular cars coming, and I think everybody can look forward to it.”
Along with the Sunday concours showcasing 270 historic, classic and exotic cars, including some collected by NASCAR team owner and show honoree Rick Hendrick, there’s an auction Saturday and a Cars and Caffeine cruise-in, two racing seminars and other high-end car events.
Having two of Hendrick’s race cars win the Daytona 500 should draw in even more fans to the weekend and Sunday’s big show, said Concours Vice Chairman Matt Orendac.
“Every year it’s a challenge to pick the Best in Shows, and our judges do an incredible job,” he said. “You have a lot of cars that are special to Hendrick, or cars he was able to obtain. But you also have the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports, and you are looking at all of his championships cars. And you know, he just added a couple of wins with a first and second at Daytona — pretty exciting.”
Known as the racers concours, it was founded in 1996 by Warner, a Jacksonville businessman, car collector and magazine photographer. The automotive charity event is always held the first weekend of March at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and the 10th and 18th fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island. Warner remains chairman emeritus after Hagerty acquired the concours’ rights in mid-2021.
The event continues to annually honor a famous racer and his cars, from Stirling Moss and Richard Petty to Roger Penske and last year’s honoree, multiple NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon, plus showcasing classic marques, antiques and muscle cars to crowds numbering more than 25,000.
The event’s economic impact is estimated at close to $30 million-plus a year, filling hotel rooms from Jacksonville to Camden County, Georgia. The event also has seen more than $4 million in donations made to Community Hospice & Palliative Care, Spina Bifida of Jacksonville and Shop with Cops.
This weekend’s schedule includes:
- Friday’s Eight Flags Road Tour of Amelia Island with many of the classics that will be on Sunday’s show field. Escorted by the Florida Highway Patrol, they assemble at about 7 a.m. at the Ritz-Carlton, then drive to a free public display around noontime on historic Centre Street in Fernandina Beach.
- At 1 p.m. Friday at Main Beach Park in Fernandina, the Classic Motorsports Magazine’s Amelia Island Kickoff shows 150 local and regional cars, judged by Cobra Daytona and 1963 Corvette Sting Ray design team member Peter Brock, plus Warner and Pixar Animation Studios Creative Director Jay Ward. It is free for spectators. The Concours d’Lemons is also at the beachfront park at 14 North Fletcher Ave. This show celebrates “the un-best of the automotive world,” as its organizers say, from the weird and the orphans to the “what is that?”
- The Werks Reunion Amelia Island is the Porsche Club of America’s annual event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at the Amelia River Club, 4477 Buccaneer Trail.
- Broad Arrow Auctions is the official auction of The Amelia, with 130 lots on view and sale on Friday and Saturday, including the 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder “Lucybelle III” ($3.5 million to $4.5 million estimate), and a 1938 Delahaye 135 MS Figoni et Falaschi Coupe ($1.3 million to $1.6 million estimate). For information or to register to bid, click here. Additional auctions this week on the island include Gooding and Company and Bonhams.
- The Amelia show field becomes home at 9 a.m. Saturday for the annual Cars and Caffeine show, with 350 classics and customs from local and regional car owners. Nearby, the RADwood display will have 150 sports cars from the 1980s and 1990s. The Future Drivers Club has free automotive activities designed for kids. This event has a $55 admission for adults, and $30 for the “younger enthusiast” as well as military, Hagerty said
- Then there is The Hangar Amelia Island, from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Bent Wing Flight Services at Fernandina Beach airport. Along with a cocktail party in the hangar, guests can check out classic cars like a 1966 Ferrari 206 S Dino and 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, plus historic aircraft such as a 1938 Lockheed 12A and an Albatross N51ZD. New luxury jets will be on display at the party, produced by CarCoterie. The event will draw on the history of the airport and the Gold Crown Prix held there from 1961 to 1974, said CarCoterie co-founder Shamin Abassaid.
“We knew we didn’t want to come down and do the same-old, same-old, just find another golf course and put some cars out and do what’s already being done beautifully by the concours,” Abassaid said. “We thought it would be fun to launch something that had a unique flair, that had a story behind it. … It’s for people who love machines — cars, aircraft, watches, all sorts of machines. We thought it would very cool to bring back some of the vintage aircraft along with classic and rare cars.”
Hangar event tickets are $350 per person, a portion of sales benefitting Friends of Fernandina Aviation, and include food, drinks and live music.
The Amelia also hosts seminars featuring some iconic race car drivers, all at the Ritz-Carlton:
- Jeff Gordon (last year’s honoree seen above), Dale Earnhardt Jr., Terry LaBonte and Ken Shrader discuss “40 Years of Hendrick Motorsports” at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton; $50 admission.
- Indianapolis 500 winners Paul Tracy and Danny Sullivan will join Terry LaBonte and Ricky Craven to discuss “Close Finishes and Controversies” at 3 p.m. Friday; $44 admission.
- Racing drivers David Donahue, Jeff Zwart and Pikes Peak racer and organizer Fred Veitch host a discussion and viewing of “Pikes Peak Short Films” at 7 p.m. Friday; $20 admission.
Then comes The Amelia’s 29th edition from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, with the owner of Hendrick Motorsports as honoree. His team, with 14 championships and 18 combined NASCAR national series titles, just fielded the winning and second-place cars at the recent Daytona 500. And he is showing a some of his own car collection including the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that was prepared for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“For my entire life, I’ve loved automobiles and racing. The Amelia is truly a celebration of both of those passions,” Hendrick said in a news release. “The list of past honorees is filled with names I respect and admire, and it’s incredibly humbling to be mentioned in the same breath.”
Along with Hendrick’s collection, The Amelia’s Sunday display includes 35 classes of cars and motorcycles, including Cars of Pike’s Peak, Sport Customs, Japanese performance cars of the 90s and America’s Boulevard Cruisers.
The Porsche 911 class includes a 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 that took overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998. A row of Bugatti Grand Prix Cars, and the French carmaker’s 1920s and 1930s automobiles will include a 1938 Bugatti Type 57 raced in California. Two classes of Ferrari 250s include a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that finished second in class in the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963. There are also classes for Japanese Performance Cars of the 90’s, and another for Italian Motorcycles.
Aiming to draw in younger fans and teach them about classics and car collecting, The Amelia has Youth Judging Program that lets 8- to 14-year-olds judge some of the cars. The Radwood display and Cars and Caffeine also draw in families and younger fans, Orendac said.
“This is the next generation coming out, and next generation can be 80-year-olds bringing their 50-year-olds and 50-year-olds bringing their 20- and 30-year-olds, and 20-years-olds bringing their kids there,” he said. “Sustainability comes from family.”
Parking is banned on roadsides adjacent to the event but available for a fee of $20 to $40 a day at lots at the airport and the Golf Club of Amelia Island off Amelia Island Parkway. Tickets for the Sunday concours are $175 for adults and $70 for those ages 13 to 22, and the military.
The full schedule of events at The Amelia is here. And the awards ceremony, including the Best of Show awards, can be live-streamed here, starting at 1:25 p.m. Sunday.
