10-03-2025
2025 Amelia Concours Overcame Bad Weather for Another Spectacular Show
Sometimes it's going to rain on your parade. But when it does, just move the parade to a different day. That's what organizers of the Amelia Island Concours did and things seem to have worked out just fine.
When forecasts for the Sunday concours called for rain—100% it said on all the weather sites, with those little dark cloud images with rain slanting down beneath—it was the best thing to do.
This has happened before at Amelia, in 2017 and 2018, and in 2003 a storm forced entrants into the Ritz-Carlton ballroom for an impromptu indoor show.
So a Saturday show with a high of 72 degrees and only a few clouds was actually quite nice.
This year's Amelia Concours d'Elegance highlighted more than 275 historically significant vehicles in more than 35 classes, including Corvettes at Sebring, Alfa Romeos of the 1930s, and Formula 1 Cars from 1950 to the Present.
Indeed, a Formula 1 car took top honors as the Concours de Sport Best in Show. But not just any F1 car.
It was Jim Clark's 1967 Lotus 49. It was the first car ever to get the soon-to-be-famous Ford Cosworth DFV V8, the first Grand Prix car to have the engine as a stressed member of the chassis, and one of the few to win its first race right out of the box, with Clark winning the '67 Dutch GP from eighth place on the grid.
Plus, the winner had the best quote ever upon winning: 'Blow me down,' said Chris MacAllister, whose name sounds like he might be a fellow Scot to Clark.
Best of Show Concours d'Elegance (there are two winners at Amelia, twice the fun!) went to a gorgeous 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Cabriolet, Stabilimenti Farina.
Almost everything else scheduled for the weekend went off without a hitch, despite the lost day. RADwood, which is part of the Cars and Community celebration, moved forward as planned because it took place on its own fairway.
Concours d'Lemons went off, too, thank gawd.
'Our event was on Friday afternoon, so the date change didn't affect the jointly held Concours d'Lemons or Classic Motorsports Kickoff Party,' said Lemons founder and chief lugnut Alan Galbraith. 'Friday was a stunning, sunny, warm day, and we had droves of spectators and a full field of cars.'
Also unaffected by the weather was the Werks Reunion and the auctions, including the newly merged Gooding Christies, as well as Broad Arrow Auctions, owned by event owners Hagerty.
A mile south of the concours, Gooding Christie's sold a resounding $67 million with a 93% sell-through rate, including almost $2 million for a 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aerodyne, $2.3 million for a 1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible sedan, and $2.5 million for a 1963 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Series II Coupe Aerodinamica.
Both a RUF CTR2 and a 959 cleared $2 million. Top seller was a 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Berlinetta that hammered for just under $9.5 million.
At the Ritz Carlton, Broad Arrow, the official auction of the concours, sold a 1959 Ferrari 250 California LWB for $9.5 million, a 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV for $4.5 million, and a '54 Jaguar D-Type for $4.3 million.
If you include the RM Sotheby's results from the week before at ModaMiami, the total for Florida auctions was $190.3 million. Not a bad start to the year.
The rest of the weekend was splendid, too, from Thursday's Reverie party to the jam-packed Friday and Saturday activities. Many car lovers started the week down at ModaMiami then drove up the coast to Amelia.
Next up on the big car-lover calendar is the Alfa Romeo Club Car Show at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles March 29. Or maybe Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como May 23-25. Or both. See you there.
