Amelia Island 2020

AMELIA ISLAND 2020 PHOTOS: UNAI ONA

Some will think that elegance contests are often called concours d'elegance because of what they "French chic". However, the truth is that they were born in Gallic territory. Now perhaps others of you are thinking “but isn't it Italian? Villa D'este the dean, held since 1929? ”. And it is, but only if we mean cars. The truth is the first of these events took place in seventeenth-century Paris, celebrating the elegance of carriages. And well, the fact is that both vehicles share horses. Of different fur, yes.

However, despite the mechanical differences, the spirit is the same. While racetracks and circuits serve to reward the most efficient horses and mackerels, contests of elegance are to celebrate the aesthetics of saddles. The most pressing in this to give gas would despair in a pleasant walk through exquisite bodies and static sports cars on a meadow. But nevertheless, at events like Amelia Island 2020 is where you can best find fascinating jewels. One of those that deserve an extensive report each.

In this case we will opt for something much more modest, making a brief chronicle set with the photographs of Unai Ona. A summary of the Amelia Island 2020, in which over three days we find one of the biggest celebrations of the American motor although, as we will see, It is shocking how much the European classics are valued across the Atlantic. If you are passionate about unique pieces and vehicles only for connoisseurs… We are sure that you will enjoy all this.

CLASSICS IN MOTION. TOUR D'ELEGANCE

Just before we said that the most exasperating thing about an elegance contest is not seeing the classics giving their all on the asphalt. However, in this respect we have two objections. The first is that that's what the races are for. And the second is that it is not entirely true. Beyond the occasional ignition of an engine, at Amelia Island 2020 we had the opportunity to see many gems in motion thanks to the Tour D'elegance Friday, March XNUMX.

The Hot Rods coexisted in unexpected harmony with the great Duesenbergs, Bentley Coupé and Cadillac. Beyond this pass of American models, the European presence was guaranteed with a copy of the first GT of series production as such, the Lancia Aurelia GT B20 and a spectacular Ferrari 250 GT Boano, the first horse also manufactured in series.

However, it is not any of all these automotive stars that caught our attention. In fact, it is so far removed from them that it even has four wheels, if not only three.

We are talking about Mathis VL333 prototype. Today it belongs to the collection of the Tampa Bay Auto Museum, and thank goodness, because in its eventful history it was about to suffer the same fate as the other seven or eight prototypes, all of them lost at the end of World War II. And it is that this curious tricycle with aerodynamic shapes was born in the French region of Alsace in 1942. A very difficult time to start developing urban mobility solutions.

Mathis closed five years after the war unable to become a mass-market company, although the viability of the VL333 itself was already suspended after the limited success achieved at the 1946 Paris Motor Show. Its monocoque aluminum chassis creates a bubble in which two passengers are accommodated powered by a 700cc engine. We do not know about you, but on this side of the keyboard the Mathis VL333 seems to us, at least in terms of chassis, the grandfather of Smart. In any case, the appearance of this singular jewel among so many cars with an imposing presence is very curious.

AUCTIONS. AMELIA ISLAND 2020, THE KINGDOM OF BIDDING

One of the things that most attracts our attention about Florida is its contrast between the physical landscape and part of the economic landscape. We explain ourselves. Just taking a look at the tour of the Tour D'Elegance you notice a sweaty trickle down your back. Swamps in which only the water pumps were able to gain ground to the wetlands, of which there are still plenty of mosquitoes and sticky heat the kind that announces the end of a horror movie. In short, a pond infects with vermin and nightmares of the worst kind.

However, at the same time, the region has experienced successful economic development for decades thanks to being the vacation destination of many international fortunes. Quite a contrast that warns us about how certain empires of luxury are founded on mud pools. Metaphors aside, the truth is that This concentration of wealth made the 2020 Amelia Island auctions remarkable. The two most important ones took place on the afternoon of Friday, March XNUMX. They were Gooding & Company and RM Sotheby's.

In the first we saw a varied panoply of classics. From the 11.200 dollars paid for a 1971 BMW Bavaria to the 2.205.000 dollars in which the deck was lowered by a Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Torpedo Phaeton, the range of lots was very varied. We were also struck by a curious Alfa Romeo Giuletta Spider Veloce prepared a la barchetta and an elegant Bentley 3 ½ liter Drophead Coupé. Regarding the bids, note the 753.000 dollars in which the last Maserati Ghibi left the factory was sold (from which even more was expected) and the maintenance of the price of the Mercedes 190 SL, on the rise for a few years.

In the second, the level did not give rise to pause either. Of the nearly three hundred lots presented by RM Sotheby's we were most impressed by the radiant Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe in 1930's Green. Impossible to be more seductive. However, at the level of rare pieces we also liked to see the Ferrari 550 Barchetta prototype. A horse that we know very well but that, being the prototype ... It has that charm that lovers of chassis number genealogies always know how to see.

By the way, although RM Sotheby's managed to sell an Enzo for almost three million dollars, at the same time they ran out of selling an F40 and a Lancia Stratos HF Stradale without pedigree in competition but in perfect condition of competition. In short, things that happen in a high-end market that has both the Amelia Island and Peeble Beach auctions two of its main appointments in America. By the way, with batch catalogs where, curiously, what prevails is the European engine.

CARS & COFFEE. HAVING BREAKFAST AT AMELIA ISLAND 2020

Years of sobering speeches by parents and teachers were for nothing. Even in full adulthood, we still consider getting up early as a punishment. Waking up suddenly to the relentless beeping of an alarm can only be the beginning of a day where everything goes from wrong to the worst. Something from which, at the slightest opportunity, we voluntarily slip away. But nevertheless, at Amelia Island 2020 we had to get out of bed early to enjoy one of its most interesting events. And well, at least they had the detail of distributing coffee.

In fact, this section of the Amelia Island 2020 is called Cars & Coffe, being the best meeting place for fans. Unlike the rest of the exhibitions and passes, this event is free, bringing together numerous clubs in the surroundings early on Saturday 7th. Grouped by nationality, the numerous vehicles make up a fascinating motor world map. Although that yes, giving not a few headaches to photographers due to the American custom of displaying them constantly with the hood open.

Something that in some occasions the air intake of the radiator of a Pontiac GTO is finished off with a stuffed animal. Stylistic customs aside too It was interesting to take a tour of the official spaces of some brands. Mercedes had its own since in not a few years it has been an official sponsor of Amelia Island, but also BMW and especially Chevrolet. This sample served to continue presenting the new generation of the Corvette, the first with a central-rear engine.

A radical change that Chevrolet legitimized by bringing to Amelia Island a very rare Corvette that already in 1964 had the engine behind the nape of the pilot. We talk about Grand Sport IIBB, a prototype as fascinating as it is difficult to see that Chevrolet moved to the event from its official collection. Obviously he made a stir, fully justified if you remember his story as we told you a few weeks ago. More than 400CV, tops of 320 km / h, less than 700 kilos ... All with the aim of winning Le Mans. Of course, the reliability was failing. Essential to last 24 hours on the track.

ROGER PENSKE. THE STAR OF AMELIA ISLAND 2020

These last months Roger Penske has a tight schedule. And it is that at 83 years old tributes are beginning to fall everywhere. If last 2019 we saw in the oval office receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in this Amelia Island 2020 we have had him as the main protagonist of the event, being honored on Saturday morning. From a European perspective, Roger Penske is a little known name. In fact, this driver and motor entrepreneur has only two F1 races to his credit. One in 1961 with a Cooper and one in 1962 with a Lotus.

However, when it comes to his role as leader of various teams, the matter is quite different. Retired from driving in 1965, Roger Penske settles down as a Corvette salesman on the East Coast. Boosted by his business success, he decides to found Penske Racing, one of the most important teams in American motorsports, present in NASCAR, CART, Indy Car ... To be more specific we will only give one piece of information: 13 victories in the Indianapolis 500 from 1972 to 2003. A legend in the United States.

At the beginning of the afternoon, and after the rigorous photo session with Roger Penske, one of the most interesting moments of Amelia Island 2020 began. And it is that right here the dozens of cars from the elegance contest are being placed in the spaces of display. They enter one by one. And well, the level of rarities is so high that even a Ferrari 250 GTO passes more or less normalized. It seems incredible, but it is one of the few that you would recognize at first glance.

Among these rarities is even the OSCA 1500 Fissore. A 1961 design that seems to be a tribute to the first Lancia Fulvia, but is actually two years earlier.

SUNDAY IN AMELIA ISLAND 2020. THE HIGH POINT ARRIVES

If we go diving in each category we would need not an article, but a book. Just to give you an idea we will tell you the following: the complete list of winners in each section occupies eleven pages, within each there are twelve or fourteen sections. So imagine. Make a quick account. A truly overwhelming horizon from which we will choose the two overall winners and some interesting categories. So…. Let's start at the top. We are talking about 917 Porsche 30/1973 Can-Am Spyder and Duesenberg J-218 Town Limousine from 1929.

Two radically different cars but at the same time complementary. On the one hand we have what is possibly the most beastly specimen in the 917 saga. In fact, many assure that it is also the most powerful prototype ever presented. A somewhat risky assertion, but based on the 1580CV (!) Delivered by its 12-cylinder supercharged with two turbos at 2 bars of pressure. A madness that swept the Can Am in 1973, where he prevailed with streaks of up to six victories in a row under the hand, precisely, of the team of the 2020 Amelia Island honoree Roger Penske. Of course, this 917/30 was so spectacular that he died blinded by his own benefits and needs.

In the first place, when in the 1974 season those of the Can Am imposed a maximum fuel of 78 liters per 4 kilometers, this Porsche 100/917 had to abandon. Something that, secondly, was not a very sorry issue for the Penske team itself. But how could this be possible if just a few months before he had awarded them victory in the Can Am? Because mechanics no longer knew how to deal with turbos and the Porsche engine. Anyway, everything in this car was so excessive that it made it impossible to stay on the circuits.

In our opinion, this version of the Porsche 917 is the most mechanically interesting in the entire saga. A bestiality lined with an aerodynamic bodywork sitting on a chassis that, as was characteristic of all 917s, constituted a match at three hundred per hour. One of the most radical, dangerous and exciting vehicles in all of history. At the opposite end is the Duesenberg J-128 Town Limousine. The other absolute winner in this Amelia Island 2020 that, far from being a sports car to the umpteenth power, is characterized by its elegance, comfort and extreme quality.

Even at the risk of sounding cliché, we will say that this Duesenberg is one of the heights of motorsport. So, without a doubt. Why? Well, because in one of the golden ages of luxury cars, The Duesenberg J stood for the highest level of quality and exclusivity. Less than 500 units were built, of which a little more than 370 are preserved. Authentic jewels with 6'9-liter engines and 265CV. All this wrapped in a multitude of different bodies, made on a whim, which make each unit a unique piece.

33 DIFFERENT CLASSES. DIVERSITY OF AWARDS AT AMELIA ISLAND 2020

Not counting other types of awards given by different groups and museums for a multitude of different segments, only on Sunday we could see 33 different classes within the official contest. Thus, we believe that the best thing will be to make a selection with those that most caught our attention. And well, the truth is that it is difficult to decide where to start. So we're doing it for a vehicle related to this year's honoree, Roger Penske.

This is the 61 Porsche RS1961 Spyder winner in the category "Cars of Roger Penske". This is chassis 718-065. Driven by Roger Penske to victory in various races during 1961, this Porsche was lost for almost three decades. An absolutely delicious specimen, which represented the latest evolution of the 718 Spyder of the time with its four-cylinder engine.

Continuing with the Porsche / Duesenberg duality we cannot fail to point out the Duesenberg J Disappearing Top Torpedo Convertible Coupe from 1929 winner in "Best in Class Duesenberg".

The true celebration of the American engine came in all three American Classic categories. Through them a tour was made from 1915 to 1948, the winners being a Cadillac 452A, Cadillac V16 Roadster 1932 and a Aurburn 852 S / C Boattail Speedster. Although for tastes there are the colors and that of the V16 is really sober, the truth is that this is the one that most caught our attention of the three. Throughout the decade of the 30 this Cadillac was the top of the range of the brand, mounting 7 liter engines and sixteen cylinders.

If we go to more specific categories we find that of "European Coachwork American Cars Porst-War". Here won one of the cars with the most interesting history in all this Amelia Island 2020. And it is that the 300 Chrysler 1956B Special Boano It is a personal commission from… Gianni Agnelli. Yes, and it is because L'Avvocato insisted that Mario Boano - who before World War II worked for Stablimenti Farina until he bought Ghia in 1944 - wear a unit of the Chrysler 300 "Letter Series".

Introduced in 1955, this American was presented as a brilliant blend of power and smoothness. On the one hand, it fulfilled all the comfort arguments, but at the same time its V8 of almost 300CV made the model one of the first "Muscle car".

A formula as exotic as it is brilliant that was born as a car designed for NASCAR with the most powerful engine of the brand. Of course, from there it jumped to be one of the top of the range of the moment. A curious commercial and design operation that, in our opinion, created one of the first GTs in the American sense.

The bodywork of this unique piece is extremely stylish, with echoes of Raymond Loewy's Studebaker Starliner and even the Lincoln Continental Mark II. A true wonder that, however, it was barely driven by Gianni Agnelli. And all for an advertising decision. And it is that, how could the Americans use that the very manager of the FIAT used this Chrysler as a personal car? As it was, he ended up in the hands of his brother Umberto, director of FIAT in France.

MORE CONTRASTS AT AMELIA ISLAND 2020. BENTLEY, ABARTH AND A SPACE DESIGNER

We already mentioned that the two absolute winners make up a radical but complementary contrast. And well, as an epilogue to this coverage of Amelia Island 2020 we believe that it is best to continue with those same contrasts. Let's start with the one personified by the winners of two more categories. On the one hand we have the imposing classicism of the 1930's Bentley Speed ​​Six Sportsman Saloon winner in "Rolls-Royce / Bentley Pre-War".

Incredible aesthetics that exudes with that low ceiling, very much in line with what many Bentley have been: Rolls-Royce with a sporty point. On the other is the futurism of Abarth 1100SS from 1953. Based on a simple FIAT 1100, This exercise in style signed by Ghia is an Italian interpretation of the space obsession from America. The place that it actually ended up in, since it was acquired by Bill Vaughn.

One of the first bodybuilders to experiment with fiberglass across the Atlantic. A whole lesson in spatial design that links us perfectly with a name that unites many of the models that we have seen in this Amelia Island 2020.

We are talking about Harley Earl, one of the key names in the history of automotive design. Neither more nor less than the inventor of "Concept car", in addition to having been one of the key designers for the birth of the Corvette. With a continued career over decades, the designs are most remembered for Harley Earl They belong to the 50s.

Why? Well, because a good part of the aesthetics inspired by the space race came out of his pencils. It all started with his first tail fin designs, having milestones as spectacular as the General Motors Le Saber.

A 1951 prototype with futuristic aesthetic novelties, but also mechanical ones. For example, its body has aluminum parts, but also magnesium and fiberglass. Regarding the mechanics, a 8-liter V3 was mounted, capable of running on both gasoline and ethanol. It also mounted a revolutionary electrical system for the time, which included a rain sensor capable of automatically operating the hood. In short, an exceptional auction to Amelia Island 2020, which reminds us that the past has always been the best prologue to the future.