2011 Amelia

[Raymond]

Last weekend we again enjoyed stunningly glorious spring weather at The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.  Approximately 18,000 people enjoyed the show on Sunday.  It was great to be among that many people admiring 250 cars and everyone was polite and in a good mood.  Everyone seemed to be deferential to each others photography and mostly patient with the lines for food.  It was a great event for Community Hospice and Spina Bifida.  I'll wager there is no better car show in the US.  

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the owner of the Pininfarina SL.  Mr. Hook and I had a great conversation about how his late father acquired the car and retuned it to it's original color.  The car won Best in Class among sport coupes, beating out some Ferraris, Alphas, and an Aston-Martin.  

[douglas dees]

Raymond: That 230Sl was repainted black at one time. I knew Mr Hook Sr. He as the  honourary sherriff of San Diego California He was on the MBCA Route 66 tour in 2008. A very nice man. His son was being interviewed by a news crew and I did not get the opportunity to speak to him . I am glad you did. It was a great show and the only pagoda there was the Pinnafarina.
Doug Dees

[Raymond]

Oh! Gee, I'm really sorry.  I think I was the "news crew".  I interviewed him as part of a documentary for Bill Warner.  My shooter got some really nice close ups of the car.

[mdsalemi]

I'll wager there is no better car show in the US.  

Ray, the Concours "formerly known as Meadow Brook" is today known as the Concours of America at St. Johns.  It will be this summer, Sunday July 31.  Like the other nationally recognized Concours (Pebble Beach, Amelia and perhaps a couple of others I won't mention simply because they would be second tier to these three) there are a whole series of events leading up to the actual Concours.  This will be the 31st year.

http://concoursusa.org/

ALL of these top three attract cars from the same group of collectors.  So you will see cars from Ralph Lauren, Joseph Cassini, Arturo Keller and their like at these events.  Yes, the Talbot-Lago, Delahaye, Delage, and so many other super elegant pre-war cars will be there.

I don't know what metrics one would use to evaluate a Concours, but I can tell you this: like most things in Michigan, this event is without pretension, and affordable.  One could attend this, and the events leading up to it, for a fraction of the cost of going to Amelia or Pebble Beach.  The crowds will be less for sure, and rebuilding a support structure* is ongoing--but the same level of, and quality of cars will be there--

*note, for years it was the big three and local suppliers that provided much of the support behind the Concours.  With the realignment of the auto industry, much of this support has gone, so a rebuilding is ongoing, a natural event to today's challenges.

[douglas dees]

Raymond: I am glad that you did the interview. I was standing behind you when the racing car started up and you had to stop the interview. I didn't want to interrupt you. Was that you ?
Doug Dees

[Raymond]

Doug,
I was wearing a straw hat and Blazer.  I regularly have to pause interviews for race cars and airplanes so I don't remember that particular instance.

Michael,
I said I would wager that there is no better car show, in the US.  That is, of course, a matter of opinion.  I agree Meadowbrook has a case to be in the top 3.  Tickets to Meadowbrook are $25 and Amelia are $45 in advance.  So, I guess $20 is a fraction.  Pebble is $175.  Pebble is 60 years on, Meadowbrook is 31 and Amelia is 16. 

The Amelia attitude is fun.  Classes like "Yellow Italian Sportscars", "One Man's Dream", and "Alternative fuel vehicles", make the event approachable for people who have never heard of a Delahaye.  The Seminars on "The Cannonball Run", "Hot Rod Life", and "Women of Racing" spread it around too.  Last year's Honoree, Richard Petty, or this year's Bobby Rahal, just wouldn't receive the same appreciation at Pebble Beach.  The Amelia had 3 custom built Mercedes 600s.  One built for Pavarotti, one for Hugh Hefner and one for the Pope displayed as: "The Singer, the Sinner and the Saint".  It's the diversity, the quality, the attitude, and the fun that makes me believe The Amelia is the best.  I won't use them but I have recordings with at least 10 people, many whose names you'd recognize, who attend all three and say Amelia is the best.

It's great that are events around the country that give everyone an opportunity to enjoy the hobby.  And, it's wonderful that they each strive to get better each year.  So, all, hail, Meadowbrook.  If anyone wanted to take my wager, I don't know where we'd find impartial mediator.  I suppose this will just has to live on like college rivalries.      Even if I am right 

[thelews]

An up and coming venue is the Milwaukee Masterpiece.  Great show, great location, great cars.  I'm always surprised the quality and quantity of cars we're able to attract.  This year my friend and I are introducing and judging the Survivor Class, unrestored classics in impeccable condition.  We have much to learn and grow, but the Masterpiece is beginning to develop a strong following.

www.milwaukeemasterpiece.com

It was at RM Auctions at Meadowbrook that I bought my Porsche 356 in 2007

[mdsalemi]

My guess on the cost was not just the tickets, but on the overall cost picture.  Amelia Island (the show) is in a resort destination, at the height of the tourist season.  St. Johns (the show) is, frankly, just another destination in the summer in Michigan.  No "high season" or anything like that.  BTW, if you look in the most recent STAR issue, you will see an advertisement for a combination event that our local MBCA section is putting on at St. Johns.  There will be a Mercedes class this year as well, hoping to celebrate the 125th.

Most of the shows, as you point out, have fun things.  The classes you mentioned are fun.  Some years ago, we had a really fun "hangar party" at Oakland Airport, with a B24, some old airmen who flew it, some Tuskegee Airmen, Bob Lutz in his Czech Fighter, Jack Roush in his P51.  All kinds of fun things with the display classes, too.  There were some of the character cars from the "Cars" movie for the kids.  I would like to think that every year there is something new and interesting.  A couple of years ago there was a "Afrika Korps" motorcycle that someone had on display, with a long trailer of EVERY TRAILER ever made for the Wehrmacht in WWII North Africa Campaign. 

Personally if I never saw another Delahaye or Delage, I'd be fine.  It is the more interesting vehicles in the hands of normal people (as opposed to millionaire collectors) that are attractive to me.

[douglas dees]

Raymond: That was you with the straw hat. Too back we didn't meet but I didn't want to interrupt and the racing car was so noisy I left. Great event and great cars
Doug