Amelia Island is revving up for the 2015 Amelia Concours Week, when automotive aficionados from around the world will race to Amelia Island for seven spectacular events offering pure carbureted sophistication. Here’s a rundown of what to expect this year. For full details, check out ameliaconcoursweek.com.
On Thursday, March 12, for the first time ever, Fernandina Beach Golf Club will host Bonhams Auction on Amelia Island. Among the many fabulous cars up for auction are the rare 1911 EMF Model “30” Factory Racer, a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformable Phaeton once owned by silver screen goddess Marlene Dietrich and a rare 1932 Stutz DV-32 Super Bearcat. Viewings begin on March 10.
The Gooding & Company Amelia Island Auction will be held at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation on Friday, March 13. Ideal for collectors and enthusiasts of fine automobiles, the event will feature more than 80 rare-to-market discoveries. Since joining the Amelia Island experience in 2010, Gooding & Company’s auction has more than doubled in size.
Also on March 13, the duPont Registry Live Aeroport Reception will offer an exclusive event in an airport hangar at the Fernandina Beach Airport. An official Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance event, the reception invites guests to feast on exquisite foods and premium beverages among the world’s most exotic cars, aircraft and high performance boats.
The Festivals of Speed peel out March 13 and 14 at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, beginning with a luxury lifestyle cocktail reception Friday night. Guests will be able to fawn over an incredible display of the world’s most exotic cars, custom motorcycles and luxury lifestyle products. The reception includes live music, cocktails, gorgeous food displays and a live and silent auction. On Saturday, March 14, the Festivals of Speed will showcase an array of vintage and contemporary vehicles of all makes and models, with the chance to view some of the world’s most exotic supercars, custom motorcycles, watercraft and other extraordinary vehicles.
The official auction house of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, the RM Auction will reach full throttle on March 14 at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. Last year, the auction produced nearly $36 million in sales, including a 1937 Delahaye 135 Competition Court Torpedo Roadster, the most valuable car in Amelia Island auction week history at $6.6 million.
Also on Saturday, March 14, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will offer Cars and Coffee at the Concours, presented by Heacock Classic. Guests can view more than 250 classic and exotic cars from local car clubs, displayed on the 10th and 18th fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island. Admission is free.
The Amelia Concours Week concludes Sunday, March 15 with a grand finale as the 20th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance opens the International Concours season on the fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island, adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. The three-day event includes the Passport Transport Eight Flags Road Tour, seminars on Friday and Saturday, the Automotive Fine Arts Society’s annual show, an automotive photography exhibit, silent auction, Guardians of Porsche Wine Maker’s dinner, BMW dinner, Mercedes-Benz USA black tie gala and the new MotorXpo. The 2015 event will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz World Sports Car and Formula 1 Drivers Championships, Stutz, the BMW328, Chrysler’s legendary Town and Country and the Porsche 914. In celebration of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance’s 20th anniversary, Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, the first honoree from 1996, will return to Amelia for the event. More than 20 of Sir Stirling’s racing cars will be on the field on Sunday, March 15, among nearly 300 rare vehicles from collections around the world. Vehicles on display will include rare classics and prototype cars as well as a selection of significant race cars.
Get it in gear and visit ameliaconcoursweek.com to start planning your trip to experience Amelia Concours Week!