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28.3.2006
Indy racing great Johnny Rutherford headlined the 2006 Amelia Island Concours d’Elégance. During his career, Rutherford notched 27 victories in Indy car racing including three Indianapolis 500 wins. Even though he hung up his helmet over 10 years ago he still remains one of motor sports’ biggest stars, said event organizer Bill Warner. The Concours was held on the weekend of March 10-12. The featured marques were Jaguar and Stanley Steamer. The show’s foundation has donated nearly US $1.4m to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. since 1996. The Concours is one of the nation’s most innovative vintage auto shows and featured over 250 rare classics from seldom-seen private collections nationwide. People come to Amelia Island to see the unique and the unusual. After a 50-year absence, General Motors’ Futurliner returned to Florida for the Amelia Island Concours. Jet engines, stereophonic sound, microwave ovens, television. All of these “modern advances” were part of General Motors’ “Parade of Progress” and were displayed in the famous 1940s Futurliner bus. Twelve Futurliners were built by GM in the early 1940s and they traveled coast to coast touting the latest technologies and dazzling audiences wherever they went. One of these Futurliners was shown at the Amelia Concours. Recently, at the famed Barrott-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, enthusiastic bidder Ron Pratte of California paid a whopping US $4m for a Futurliner. The Futurliner was unlike any vehicle ever seen on Amelia’s 2006 field of dreams. Steam-propelled vehicles of Stanley Steamer fame were featured at the 11th Annual Concours and joined nearly 30 other classes ranging from sports racing cars to classic European coachwork for the three-day celebration of the automobile on Florida’s northeast Atlantic coast. Renowned auctioneers RM held one of their well-attended auctions on Saturday. Among the highlights of that sale was a 1938 Talbot-Lago Teardrop with Figoni-Falaschi coachwork, a Chrysler Thomas Special with Ghia body and for the Ferraristi a gorgeous red 250 GT SWB Competition Berlinetta 1960, the fifth of a total of only 165 units built. Chassis number 1757 GT has matching numbers and a confirmed racing history and achieved an amazing price of US$ 2,750,000 including buyer’s premium. It was sold to a renowned collector in Elizabeth/NJ. Saturday’s auction at the Concours always draws together elite car aficionados and multi-millionaire collectors from all over the globe. This year’s auction offerings could best be described as eclectic and featured more than 100 cars from nearly every decade of motoring history. Ferraris played a very significant part in this year’s Amelia Island Concours. All together the author counted no fewer than seventeen Ferraris on the lawn on Sunday. The oldest was a 212 Export with typical Barchetta design by Touring. This deep red Spider dates from 1952 and was originally delivered to Baron Luigi Bordonaro di Chiaramonte of Palermo. He raced it extensively in Sicily until 1953. Today the car is owned by Bill Jacobs of Illinois. The second oldest Ferrari was Bud Lyon’s ivory 250 Europa Coupé, an extremely genuine and unrestored Pinin Farina-bodied Ferrari. The Ferrari race car class also included a 500 Mondial Spider and naturally Brian Ross’ sensational 410 Sport, a yellow monster Ferrari, painstakingly restored by Motion Products in Wisconsin. Parked right next to it was the metallic silver grey 250 GT Berlinetta with double-bubble roof, a trademark of Carrozzeria Zagato. Only three were built and this one is owned by Lee Herrington. Without any doubt the most sensational Ferrari at this year’s Amelia Island Concours was Peter Sachs’ 250 TRI/61 Spider Fantuzzi. Chassis number 0794 has won the 1961 Le Mans 24 hours and also has a long race history with the famous Mexican race driver Rodriguez. Later owners included Bev Spencer and then Anthony Bamford in England. Swiss collector Albert Obrist sold 0794 to Peter Sachs in March 1983. The car has recently been completely restored and looked absolutely gorgeous in its 1961 Le Mans livery. It is no surprise that this spectacular Ferrari was awarded Best of Show at Amelia Island. The Ferrari race car class also included a 312 P of Jim Jaeger and the ex-NART 512 S Spider, acquired in August 2005 at the Monterey auction by racing car school owner Skip Barber. The street car class saw several 250 GT Lussos including the famous ex-Steve McQueen car perfectly prepared by Mike Regalia. Jack Boxstrom, partner in RM Auctions, displayed a shortnosed 275 GTB painted in the great color combination of metallic silver grey with red leather. There was also a black 330 GTS Spider on the field. One year ago at the RM sale in Amelia Island James Patterson of Louisville, Kentucky, purchased the ex-Ed Davies 250 GT LWB TDF Berlinetta. He immediately sent it to Motion Products for restoration and this year it was shown again in Amelia Island. It is now red with a French blue racing stripe and a totally blue interior. Even the rollbar was painted French blue. A stunning combination for which he won a prize. RM auctioneers displayed an F40 prototype, whilst the US Ferrari importer displayed three new Ferrari cars in one of their white tents. The three-day event also included old-fashioned road rallies and educational seminars. The hospitality and professionalism in Amelia Island was amazing. The geography of the island is also an important factor in attracting people to the weekend event and auction. Amelia is an easily accessible resort with a relaxing, quiet oceanside atmosphere. The event has often been referred to as the Pebble Beach of the east coast, or one of the triple crown automobile events of the year in USA. Definitely worth a trip.
Click here for a list of the Ferraris present. © Marcel Massini 28/03/06 Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
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