The 2012 edition of the Amelia Island Concours,which was held on March 11th on the grounds of the Ritz Carlton hotel, did not disappoint. Featured cars included the Ferrari GTO, Shelby Cobra, cars driven by Vic Elford, 60th Anniversary of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1952 Mercedes Benz victory at LeMans. The weather, which had been less than ideal on Saturday, cleared for a partly cloudy day with mid-70’s temperatures. Brad S was there and took plenty of photos for everyone to enjoy.
The Amelia Island Concours adopts the mantra that “Bigger is Better”. This Concours puts together a show each year that involves approximately 300 vehicles and awards two Best in Show trophies – one for Concoursd’Elegance and one for Conours de Sport. There is always something for everyone at this event and an event that should not be missed.
The 50th Anniversary of the Ferrari GTO is well underway and Amelia Island had 12 of these amazing vehicles on hand. It would be easy to spend hours looking at each car and their subtle differences if it wasn’t for all of the other great machines to see. One of these great cars recently traded hands for more than $30M!!
The Shelby Cobra area featured several of the great original Cobra’s and a display of current Shelby models available. The highlights were the very first production Cobra (CSX2001) as well as the second Daytona Coupe (CSX2299) built to compete against the Ferrari GTO.
The Best in Show awards were given to a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C (Concours d’Elegance) and a 1962 Ferrari 330LM (a “hotrod” GTO with a 4-liter motor). Both of these cars were stunning to see. Other notable cars included:
Porsche 917
Vic Elford Porsches
Supercharged Auburn
Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
Siata
Barn Find Horch
Bruce Meyer and Cobra CSX2001
Ferrari GTO engine
Best in Show winners
From behind
Closeup
Best in Show GTO
Best in Show Bugatti
I hate Bruce Meyer….(not really)….I had a customer in yesterday who’s 1958 Pontiac convertable, fuel injected car won first in class at Amelia……..needless to say, he was “estatic”…….
The 330 GTO was a special edition and only a few were made, really just for Lemans. I think only one survived.
Congrats on getting these wonderful photos from the Amelia Island Concours. These cars are some of the most desirable on the planet, and they sure are a treat to see.
People sometimes call the car that looks like a GTO with a 330 (4 litre) engine a 330 GTO but it’s really a 330 LMB (Le Mans Berlinetta). Surrounded (conceptually) by a relative sea of 250 GTOs (well, 36 of them), this car is distinctive because it has the front half of a 250 GTO and the rear half of a 250 GT Lusso, roughly speaking. There are photos of this design here:
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/623/Ferrari-330-LMB.html
There was also one 250 GTO with this same body treatment. I was once at a meet at Watkins Glen and I was lucky enough to be a riding passenger in another car when this unique GTO went whistling by and disappeared around the next corner. The mellow-raspy sound they make is wonderful to behold. I guess if any car is worth 30 million a GTO is.
I remember seeing a short writeup in Road & Track years ago of the 330 LMB on test by Mike Parkes, who was a development engineer for Ferrari. He tested the car on the Italian Autostrada near between Modena and Bologna I think it was—in other words, on a public road. A photo shows him sitting in the car afterward doing his “sums” to figure out how fast the car would go, which was an empirical indication of how well the aerodynamics were working on the car. This was many years before car designers used wind tunnels.
Anyway, the way Parkes did this was to have a stopwatch in one hand and time how long it took to travel from one kilometer post to the next. His sums told him that his speed had been 177 MPH. On the public roads. I guess the gendarmes cut Ferrari a LOT of slack because, well, Ferrari was Ferrari, and probably Italy’s most famous entity.
That was probably Ferrari’s fastest GT car at the time. I have always felt a bit of awe at the way Ferrari translated racing technology to the road in the cars he sold to the public. Altho the details and engines are different, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona came along only about 5 years after the 330 LMB and could almost match its speed—173 MPH in the case of the Daytona, which stood as the fastest production road for for a long time.
No doubt there are stories for every car at Amelia Island. I just wish I knew them all.
Hello,
Does anyone know the location of GTO chassis nbr. 5111GT?
Thanks……
I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WITH A GUY….BRUCE G. WHO RACED A GTO IN FLA IN THE LATE 60S. BOUGHT IT FOR 10K. SOLD IT FOR 10K IN 1970.
OH WELL…..
Ferrari’s are great but I LOVE Bugatti’s! Just astounding cars!
Compliments to the photographer for creating images of cars as art. More please.
I have attended this event for 8 years and every year the cars are more unique. Bill Warner and his group of volunteers, I’m one, know how to put an event together. For you left coast fans, this event draws more attendance than Pebble Beach and the cars are better! At this event, one can look inside the car, talk to the owner and even watch the celebrity judges and staff go over a car; all something that can’t be done at PB!
On Saturday there is an RM auction and usually two question-and-answer seminars with the likes of Stirling Moss, Richard Petty, Carroll Shelby, and Chip Foose. .
Put this event on your bucket list!
Jerry,
I do agree with your comments on the recent event at Amelia, it was great. Bill does an excellent job of having vintage and classic cars along with a notable racing driver to cover many aspects of a car lovers world.