Are you familiar with the Matford Victoria and Bosley GT Mark I, the Siebler Special, the Victress C3 and the Thor TH-1A? The Almquist Sabre is as familiar to you as the Crane Model 3 and the Peerless GT, and even an Arnott Sports 1100, a Bucciali TAV-3 and an open Apollo 3500 GT won't throw you off track? Then you don't need to read any further. Oh, you don't know some or all of the models mentioned? Well, then you're ready for the island. To be more precise: for Amelia Island, Florida - and thus for this colorfully illustrated report on the 2023 Concours d'Elegance there.
First of all, we need to dispel a common cliché. It is said that Amelia Island is the US East Coast's answer to Pebble Beach. In fact, the main similarity is that both events take place on golf courses. But here, on the 47-square-kilometer coastal island in Florida's far northeast, the automotive beauty contest is more of an exotic event. It is more laid-back and fun, the atmosphere considerably more relaxed, the arrangement less corsetted.
And the candidates are less valuable - at least those at the lower end; because here, too, there is a rendezvous with cars that sometimes change hands for eight-figure dollar sums. In this respect, the 2023 overall winners are also impressive: The judges chose the Ferrari 250 LM as "Best in Show Concours de Sport", while the "Best in Show Concours d'Elegance" went to a Voisin C25 Aérodyne that was fascinating to kneel down in.
The founder and host of the classic car show, which has been held annually since 1996, was Bill Warner, a retired motoring journalist and photographer, car collector and philanthropist in one. And he did so until 2021, when Hagerty - a classic car lifestyle group and the world's largest provider of classic car insurance - took over the reins. This makes everything a little less familiar, a little more regulated and a little more commercial. But this does not noticeably tarnish the "Amelia Concours". At least not yet.
The brave new world was particularly evident in the vehicle description boards: in 2023, they no longer contained everything worth knowing about the respective car body, but instead a fully contemporary QR code. A media bridge that visibly overtaxed the predominantly older audience: mature gentlemen, wearing baseball caps at the top, white tennis socks at the bottom and uniformed in graphic tees and shorts in between, tried more or less desperately to find out more than the year of manufacture and model designation via smartphone in front of each Concours candidate - kneeling, slouching, crouching, lying down. An almost tragicomic spectacle. Will the people at Hagerty realize what a disservice they have done visitors? We'll see; we'll be smarter in 2024...
Highly unpleasant for fans taking photos and frowned upon for good reason at Pebble Beach, which tends to be more stylish: the exhibitors' souvenirs and mobile paraphernalia. Not in front of, but often next to and always behind the vehicles, colorful mountains of cooler bags, food bags, paint care products, balls of tarpaulin, garbage bags and sun-shaded camping chairs pile up, ruining every photo even more than the obligatory baseball caps and tennis socks. From here: Sorry, dear readers, for this annoying circumstance - you can believe us that we would have preferred to have photographed the Q-tip-worn rarities outside of this tiresome open-air pop festival atmosphere. This is where the most urgent need for renovation of this event is revealed.
We very much hope that you will still enjoy our colorful picture gallery. And thus whet your appetite for a personal visit to next year's Concours d'Elegance, which will take place on Amelia Island within throwing distance of the ugly city of Jacksonville, home to almost a million people, on the first weekend in March 2024. It is safe to say that the 29th edition will once again be an exceptional event among the beauty contests for the most exotic cars. It is no less likely that the legendary Florida climate will be back. This year we measured between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius. Shorts are therefore welcome. Unless you want to stand out from the crowd.
Award winners
| Prize/Award | Class | Brand | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best in Show Concours d'Elegance, Best in Class |
Pre-War French Coachwork | Voisin | C25 Aérodyne | 1935 |
| Best in Show Concours de Sport, Best in Class |
Le Mans Winners | Ferrari | 250 LM | 1964 |
| Best in Class | Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost | Rolls-Royce | Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Springfield Oxford Touring Car | 1925 |
| Best in Class | Race Cars Pre-war | Alvis | 12/50 FWD TT- LeMans Alvis Works Team Car WK5492 | 1928 |
| Best in Class | Ferrari Supercars | Ferrari | Enzo | 2003 |
| Best in Class | Denzel | Denzel | Series Super | 1960 |
| Best in Class | Sports and GT Cars 1946-1950 | Ferrari | 195 Inter | 1950 |
| Best in Class | American Classics 1931-1932 | Chrysler | CL Imperial | 1933 |
| Best in Class | Ferrari GT Berlinettas | Ferrari | 400 Superamerica | 1961 |
| Best in Class | Horseless Carriage | Simplex | 50 | 1914 |
| Best in Class | American Classics 1934-1948 | Auburn | Speester | 1935 |
| Best in Class | Supercars Limited Production | Bugatti | EB110 | 1996 |
| Best in Class | Sports and GT Cars 1960-1972 | Ferrari | 275 GTS of Stéphane Sertang | 1965 |
| Best in Class | Pre-war European Custom Coachwork | Lancia | Astura | 1938 |
| Best in Class | American Limited Production | Ford | Thunderbird | 1957 |
| Best in Class | Fiberglass Dreams | Bangert | Teverbaugh-Kirkland Bonneville Special | 1957 |
| Best in Class | American Classics 1920-1930 | Rolls-Royce | Phantom I | 1928 |
| Best in Class | Board Track Racing Cars | Miller | 122/91 | 1924 |
| Best in Class | Race Cars 1966-1974 | Datsun | 240Z | 1970 |
| Best in Class | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | SJN | 1936 |
| Best in Class | Board Track Motorcycles | Reading | Standard Racer | 1909 |
| Best in Class | Race Cars 1956-1965 | Arnott | Sports 1100 Climax | 1956 |
| Best in Class | Historic 50's Customs | Mercury | Hirohata | 1951 |
| Best in Class | Le Mans Corvettes | Chevrolet | Corvette | 1960 |
| Best in Class | Sports and GT Cars 1951-1959 | Delahaye | 135MS | 1953 |
| Best in Class | Porsche 2.7 Carrera | Porsche | 911 Carrera 2.7 | 1974 |
| Best in Class | Race Cars 1946-1955 | Fiat | 8V | 1952 |
| Best in Class | Porsche 959 | Porsche | 959 | 1988 |
| Best in Class | Porsche Fiberglass Racing Spyders | Porsche | 908/02 LH Flunder Spyder | 1969 |
| Best in Class | Cars of Gordon | Chevrolet | Monte Carlo #24 Jeff Gordon DuPont NASCAR Race Car | 2005 |
| Best in Class | Le Mans Winners | Jaguar | C-Type | 1953 |
| Best in Class | VW Transporters | Volkswagen | Deluxe 15 Window Transporter | 1951 |
| Best in Class | Lamborghini Supercars | Lamborghini | Miura | 1967 |
| Best in Class | Sports and GT Cars Pre-war | Jaguar | SS 100 | 1936 |
| Class Award | Horseless Carriage | American Underslung | Traveler | 1914 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars Pre-war | BMW | 327/328 | 1939 |
| Class Award | Ferrari GT Berlinettas | Ferrari | Europe GT | 1955 |
| Class Award | Race Cars Pre-war | Bugatti | Type 51 Grand Prix | 1931 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1956-1965 | Ferret | H Modified | 1959 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1966-1974 | Parnelli | VPJ-1 | 1972 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1960-1972 | Apollo | 3500 GT Spyder Prototipo | 1964 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1934-1948 | Cord | 812 Supercharged Phaeton | 1937 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1931-1932 | Packard | 845 Convertible Roadster | 1931 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1960-1972 | Maserati | Ghibli | 1968 |
| Class Award | Porsche 2.7 Carrera | Porsche | 2.7 RS | 1973 |
| Class Award | Denzel | Denzel | Super Series | 1957 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1920-1930 | Pierce-Arrow | Model 125 | 1929 |
| Class Award | Fiberglass Dreams | Almquist | Sabre | 1956 |
| Class Award | American Limited Production | Studebaker | Avanti | 1963 |
| Class Award | Denzel | Denzel | WD Super 1300 | 1958 |
| Class Award | Ferrari GT Berlinettas | Ferrari | 250 GT Lusso | 1964 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1951-1959 | Mercedes-Benz | 300SL | 1954 |
| Class Award | Horseless Carriage | Stanley | Steam Car 87 Seven Passenger Touring Car | 1912 |
| Class Award | Fiberglass Dreams | Bosley | GT Mark I | 1953 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1946-1950 | Delahaye | 135MS | 1949 |
| Class Award | American Limited Production | Chrysler | Windsor | 1956 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1934-1948 | LaSalle | #168 | 1934 |
| Class Award | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | Model J | 1929 |
| Class Award | Porsche 2.7 Carrera | Porsche | 911 2.7RS | 1973 |
| Class Award | Ferrari Supercars | Ferrari | Enzo | 2003 |
| Class Award | Le Mans Corvettes | Chevrolet | Corvette C5R | 2001 |
| Class Award | Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost | Rolls-Royce | Ghost Torpedo Phaeton | 1912 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1946-1955 | Cisitalia | D46 | 1946 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars Pre-war | Talbot-Lago | T120 | 1938 |
| Class Award | Porsche Fiberglass Racing Spyders | Porsche | RS Spyder | 2007 |
| Class Award | Race Cars Pre-war | Chalmers-Detroit | Model 30 Racer | 1908 |
| Class Award | Porsche 959 | Porsche | 959 | 1988 |
| Class Award | Pre-war European Custom Coachwork | Mercedes-Benz | 540K | 1938 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1946-1955 | Cooper | MG Barchetta sport racer | 1951 |
| Class Award | Historic 50's Customs | Oldsmobile | The Polynesian | 1950 |
| Class Award | Board Track Motorcycles | Harley-Davidson | DAR 750 | 1929 |
| Class Award | Pre-War French Coachwork | Delahaye | 135M | 1937 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1946-1950 | Alvis | TB14 | 1950 |
| Class Award | Supercars Limited Production | Aston Martin | Valkyrie AMR Pro | 2022 |
| Class Award | Ferrari Supercars | Ferrari | Enzo of Peter S. Kalikow | 2003 |
| Class Award | Board Track Motorcycles | Indian | Boardtrack Racer | 1912 |
| Class Award | Le Mans Corvettes | Chevrolet | Corvette | 1967 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1966-1974 | BMW | 3.5 CSL FIA Group 2 | 1972 |
| Class Award | Pre-War French Coachwork | Delahaye | Type 135 | 1937 |
| Class Award | Supercars Limited Production | Ferrari | Monza SP2 | 2020 |
| Class Award | Le Mans Winners | Ford | GT40 | 1966 |
| Class Award | Historic 50's Customs | Chevrolet | Bel Air | 1955 |
| Class Award | Race Cars 1956-1965 | Cooper | Monaco (Carroll Shelby) | 1963 |
| Class Award | Porsche 959 | Porsche | 959 S | 1987 |
| Class Award | Sports and GT Cars 1951-1959 | Porsche | 356A | 1958 |
| Class Award | Pre-war European Custom Coachwork | Rolls-Royce | Phantom I Riviera Town Car | 1931 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1931-1932 | Lincoln | KB | 1932 |
| Class Award | Board Track Racing Cars | Miller | Milton-Durant Special | 1921 |
| Class Award | Le Mans Winners | Jaguar | D-Type | 1955 |
| Class Award | Board Track Racing Cars | Miller | 91 | 1927 |
| Class Award | Porsche Fiberglass Racing Spyders | Porsche | 908 | 1969 |
| Class Award | Cars of Gordon | USAC | Race Car Midget | 1990 |
| Class Award | Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost | Rolls-Royce | Silver Ghost | 1913 |
| Class Award | VW Transporters | Volkswagen | Type 2 | 1955 |
| Class Award | VW Transporters | Volkswagen | Deluxe | 1967 |
| Class Award | Lamborghini Supercars | Lamborghini | Countach | 1989 |
| Class Award | American Classics 1920-1930 | Packard | 3-35 Twin Six | 1920 |
| Class Award | Duesenberg | Duesenberg | J Lagrande Dual Cowl Phaeton | 1935 |
| Class Award | Cars of Gordon | Cadillac | DPI | 2017 |
| Class Award | Lamborghini Supercars | Lamborghini | Diablo of The Cultivated Collector | 1994 |
