Dealing with adversity is essential to surviving a week of automotive delights. The weather of Amelia Island has more in common with Mid-Atlantic states because it is the northern-most part of Florida. Being a native, I can attest that rain is a way of life during Winter and Spring. duPont REGISTRY has been a sponsor of the Amelia Island Concours d’Eleagance since it began 22 years ago. In those two decades, the main event on Sunday has been host to bad weather, but nothing like what was in the works for last weekend. As the forecast deteriorated, founder and chairman Bill Warner made an unprecedented decision to move the show to Saturday.
Saturday is normally host to a large Cars & Coffee show along with Festivals of Speed. Gooding & Company, RM Sotheby’s, and Bonham’s had planned for a day of auctions and fun as everyone prepared for Sunday. So once the announcement was made, everyone was sent in hopes of making Saturday one for the record books. We are not new to car shows, so with slight adjustments to the itinerary, we spent Friday showcasing the Aston Martin One-77. Taking place next door to us was a Porsche Werks Reunion with more air-cooled goodness than we have ever seen.
Due to the accelerated schedule, our publisher decided to place our show cars directly on the field as they arrived. Confederate Motorcycles arrived with the latest P51 Combat Fighter and it has a few nice improvements from the prototype we saw at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale. Airstream arrived with a Mobile Lounge version of their Interstate, and it was nice to have seating for nine with Bluetooth on the 1st fairway. Next to it was a pristine Porsche 911L from our collection. While most of Friday was spent getting ready for the show, we still found time to check out the auctions and reconnect with our fans. The sun tried to make an appearance Saturday morning, but the winds of change were blowing.
The foreboding weather didn’t keep the public away, as this year’s show had incredible attendance. We were given a prime location next to the entrance to make sure everyone received our latest issue. By noon the clouds gave way to cool and windy weather, which made for a perfect event. The meteorologists were correct as Sunday was dark & stormy. We were able to think on our feet and make the best of a compressed schedule, and it turned out better than anyone anticipated.
