A 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible and a 1963 Ferrari 250/275P won the Best In Show honors on Saturday, March 10, at the 23rd annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance (above, photo courtesy of Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance), which also honored the only double Formula One World Champion and two-time Indy 500 winner, Emerson Fittipaldi. The Concours was moved to Saturday again this year to avoid rain forecast for its original Sunday date.
This year’s competition drew more than 300 cars and motorcycles into 35 classes to the 10th and 18th Fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island, where the coveted Best in Show Concours d’Elegance Trophy was awarded to a 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible owned by Harry Yeaggy from Cincinnati, Ohio. This Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible has Murphy roadster-style coachwork that was restyled in period by Bohman & Schwartz of Pasadena, California. Styling changes included a lengthened hood, slotted fenders and more modern bumpers. One of the early owners of this car was Edward Beale McLean, who owned the Hope Diamond, and whose family owned The Washington Post.
A 1963 Ferrari 250/275P from the JSL Motorsports Collection in Redwood City, California, took home the prestigious Best in Show Concours de Sport trophy. The Ferrari won overall at the 1963 Nürburgring 1000K, with John Surtees and Willy Mairesse at the wheel, and the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring, with Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli driving — after it had been fitted with a 3.3-liter V12 and renamed 275P. This car also finished 2nd at Sebring in 1963, and won the first race at Quebec’s Le Circuit Mont Tremblant as a NART entry with Pedro Rodriguez driving. The car was campaigned as a NART entry in 1964 and 1965.
“I could not be more pleased with the judges’ decisions for the 2018 Amelia Island Concours winners,” said Bill Warner, Chairman and Founder of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “We are overjoyed to present the Duesenberg and Ferrari with these honors. These cars are prime examples of automotive prestige, and we are proud to recognize them.”
Concours honoree Emerson Fittipaldi was able to enjoy several of the cars from his career among the more than 300 cars on display. These included a Lotus 72-Ford from his first World Championship season, a McLaren M23-Ford from his second World Championship season, a Penske PC18-Chevrolet from his first Indy 500 win and a Penske PC22-Chevrolet from his second Indy victory, as well as two of his IROC entries, a 1974 Porsche 911 RSR and a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
Making its international debut at this year’s Concours was the sole Shelby Lonestar, created in secrecy a half-century ago as a replacement for the legendary 427 Shelby Cobra. Based on the GT40 chassis, the Ford V8-powered mid-engine coupe was assembled in England during 1968 and wore the name “Cobra III” in internal Shelby documents. Because Ford had acquired the Cobra name a year earlier. Shelby, a Texan by birth, nature and bearing, named his third-generation “Cobra” after his home state and the Shelby Lonestar was born.
Additional highlights on the field included a full class of the outrageous customs of “Big Daddy” Ed Roth. Roth was a legend and an iconoclast who created some of the most outrageous, reality-bending customs of an era that thrived on American individualism run delightfully amok.
Advancing in the power-driven age, a special class of electric horseless carriages highlighted the renewed enthusiasm for the 120-year-old technology. To complement the 2018 electric car class, The Amelia featured the newest electric and hybrid-powered cars from the world’s leading manufacturers along with a seminar hosted by top names in the automotive industry.
The event also celebrated IMSA’s Grand Touring Prototypes, racers from the 1981 through the 1993 IMSA seasons. A quarter century has passed since IMSA’s GTPs last raced in anger, but they were the spiritual descendants of the mighty, unlimited Can-Am racers of the 1960s and 1970s and the vanguard of a new generation of automotive performance and technology. By the end of the GTP era in 1993 they had eclipsed every major track record the fabled Can-Am racers set.
Also featured were the cars of Martini Racing, highlighting the machines that over the decades have carried Martini & Rossi’s readily recognizable red and blue striped livery.
“With every passing year, the Amelia Island Concours continues to grow,” Warner said. “It is magical to see the wide variety of vehicles that appear on the green each year. Their stories and history truly allow us to celebrate the automobile industry in a number of ways.”
The 24th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 8-10, 2019, on the fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. The show’s Foundation has donated more than $3.2 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996. In 2013 and 2016, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance won Octane Magazine’s EFG International Historic Motoring Event of the Year award.
A listing of Best in Class Winners follows, for complete information please visit www.ameliaconcours.org
Best In Class – American Classic (1930-1932)
1930 Packard 745 Roadster – Craig A. Kappel – Chatham, MA
Best In Class – American Classic (1933-1948)
1933 Packard 1005 Twelve Convertible Victoria – James and Nancy Scharfeld – Avon Lake , OH
Best In Class – American Classic (Pre 1930)
1925 Locomobile 48-9 – Jepson Collection – Savannah, GA
Best In Class – American Limited Production
1953 Buick Skylark – Lawrence and Ellen Macks – Owings Mills, MD
Best In Class – Auburn
1935 Auburn 851 S/C – Lehrman Collection – Palm Beach, FL
Best In Class – Bentley (Post-War)
1955 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback – Bruce Male – Swampscott, MA
Best In Class – Cars of Fittipaldi
1974 McLaren M23/8 – The Mouse Motors Collection – Chicago, IL
Best In Class – Concept Cars
1960 Plymouth XNR – Linda and Paul Gould – Pawling, NY
Best In Class – Duesenberg
1929 Duesenberg J-175 Dual Cowl Phaeton – Charles E. Letts, Jr. – Bloomfield Hills, MI
Best In Class – E-Type
1961 Jaguar E-Type FHC – Kent and Melissa Hussey – Atlanta, GA
Best In Class – European Custom Coachwork
1932 Isotta Fraschini 8B – Commodore – Blake and Lauren Atwell – Buda, TX
Best In Class – Ferrari Daytona
1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 – Beth and Ezra Gould – Brooklyn, NY
Best In Class – Ferrari Production
1951 Ferrari 212 Export – Thomas Peck – Irvine, CA
Best In Class – Grand Touring Prototype
1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo – Nissan North America Heritage Collection – Franklin, TN
Best In Class – Horseless Carriage (30+ Horsepower)
1915 Stanley 820 – OFF Brothers Collection – William Johnston and Ron Elenbaas – Richland, MI
Best In Class – Horseless Carriage (Electric)
1912 Rauch & Lang Town Car – John W. Rich, Jr. – Frackville, PA
Best In Class – Hunting Cars
1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Shooting Brake – T bar W Ranch Investments – Mineola, TX
Best In Class – Martini Racing
1988 Lancia Delta Integrale – John and Suzanne Campion – Jacksonville, FL
Best In Class – Mercedes-Benz (1947-1972)
1961 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL – John and Theresa Behrendt – Saratoga Springs, NY
Best In Class – Mercedes-Benz (Pre 1947)
1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet B – Mary and Ted Stahl – Chesterfield, MI
Best In Class – Motorcycles
1981 MV Agusta Magni 850S – Gale and Robert Lawrence – Riverside, CT
Best In Class – NART
1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61 – Scuderia N.E. – Stamford, CT
Best In Class – Porsche (Carrera)
1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A Carrera – Coriani Collection – Modena, Italy
Best In Class – Pre-War
1934 MG NA Special – Brenda B Benzar – Cincinnati, OH
Best In Class – Racecars (1946-1957)
1956 Chevrolet Corvette SR2 – Irwin Kroiz – Ambler, PA
Best In Class – Racecars (1958-1966)
1964 Alpine M64 Le Mans Prototype – Kim and Mitch McCullough – Pompton Plains, NJ
Best In Class – Racecars (1967-1980)
1972 Parnelli VPJ-1 – Chuck Jones – Stevensville, MI
Best In Class – Racecars (Pre-War)
1926 Bugatti T39A – North Collection – St. Michaels, MD
Best In Class – Rolls-Royce (Post-War)
1950 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn DHC – Guy Lewis – Pinecrest, FL
Best In Class – Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost – Douglas R. Magee, Jr. – Wolfeboro, NH
Best In Class – Sports and GT Cars (1951-1956)
1954 SIATA 200CS – Walter and Rosanne Eisenstark – Bluffton, SC
Best In Class – Sports and GT Cars (1957-1964)
1958 BMW 507 – Fort Family Investments – Jacksonville, FL
Best In Class – Sports and GT Cars (1965-1975)
1965 Aston Martin DB5 – Carl and Laurie Clark – Myrtle Beach, SC
Best In Class – Sports Cars (Pre-War to 1950)
1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 – Robert Bishop – Palm Beach, FL
