1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe: Leo Schigiel, Lisa Schigiel
Wow! That was quite a trip. We drove down to Florida on the 12th of March and didn’t return home from Sebring 12 Hours until late on March 21st. A blast, in fact. There were only 2 problems: One, we couldn’t just keep driving and Two, we didn’t have our dogs with us, which is why we couldn’t keep driving until Long Beach. Also, Kim’s parents wanted their RV back, but that is beside the point. Anyway, we left on Friday and drove down to Amelia Island; since we were not planning on shooting anything until Saturday, there was no rush to arrive. I did want to run by the Ritz Carlton to scope out the parking scene since the instructions for picking up our credentials involved leaving our car with the valet and running into the media center. Not something you do in an RV at the Ritz, probably. The area surrounding the Ritz was full of people walking, police directing traffic, safety cones in the road, NO PARKING signs, Pirate Parking signs. We slowly cruised by the entrance and decided there was no way we were going to try to pull in. Soon thereafter, we found the driving range which conveniently was doubling as a parking lot so we knew where we would park in the morning. Satisfied, we headed to our campground at Talbot Island State Park to relax and prepare for Saturday.
The Main attraction of Saturday was the RM Auto Auction and to be honest, we have seen so many of them on TV we didn’t really worry too much about missing it. We had a leisurely morning and arrived at the Ritz around 10AM to pick up our credentials. We walked out onto the fairway to look at the setup and to decide how best to shoot. No cars were on display yet and workers were still erecting tents and fences.
Ghia Streamline Turbine Car 'Gilda' - Scott Grundfor and Kathleen Redmond
Further wandering took us down by the pond where we were greeted by the arrival of something not quite a jet, but certainly no ordinary car. It was a Ghia Streamline Turbine car named Gilda being displayed in a special collection of Motor Trend cover cars. Seemingly waiting for the 1st car to arrive, others started appearing, coming in from several directions. The light and sky were fantastic; more importantly, no one was around to get in my way or my backgrounds. We spent several hours watching the cars arrive and talking to their owners. Great fun, but we needed food.
Smokey Yunick Hurst Floor Shift Special
After a leisurely lunch, we headed back down to the fairway and were greeted by several new cars. One of them was a curiously built Smokey Yunick Hurst Floor Shift Special where the driver rode in a side pod to the far left of the car. I thought the front bumpers completed the look.
Later in the afternoon Carroll Shelby arrived to sign some autographs and to look at a hand built 1948 Timbs Special. After shooting most of the day, we headed back to our campground to rest and prepare for the big shoot on Sunday morning when all of the cars not already on the field are driven in at daybreak. For those of you who don’t know, daybreak occurs very early in the morning. This meant that we were standing on the fairway by the entrance, in the dark with coffee waiting for the sun to arrive.
Carroll Shelby at the 2010 Concours d'Elegance at Amelia Island
One of the nice things about being credentialed at Amelia is that the cars come in at dawn which is about 7:30AM. No one other than media and the car owners are allowed onto the field until 9:30AM. This gives you 2 hours of relatively unpopulated shooting time with the cars. On one hand you are waiting for the sun to clear the trees so you have light, all the while hurrying to shoot before the crowds are let in. Great fun in other words as its not every day that you get to see a 917K driving down a golf car path just as the sun is rising.
1970 Porsche 917K: Collier Collection
We spent the day moving from one amazing car to the next, gathering stories and pictures. I learned enough about Bandinis and the other Etceterini entries to inadvertently realize what car Geddy is singing about in Red Barchetta. Highlights included a Rolls Royce encased in Peruvian Walnut, A Kurtis that held the Land Speed record for a very long time, more Ferraris than you could count and a very cool unfinished metal Maserati.
1956 Maserati 200SI: Tony Schwartz, Belle Schwartz
My entire online image gallery for the 2010 Amelia Island Councours d’Elegance is available for viewing and ordering. Thanks for reading and looking.
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Nice post Darren, found via a google search. I live in the neighborhood but this was my first event and my first time anywhere with a media pass. I wish I could have made it Saturday – after your notes will definitely be there next year. You should have seen the Ritz Valet staff when I pulled up with my trashed VW beetle to get pick up my pass -;0) A very nice set of images!
Cheers!
Ha! I could imagine their amazement
Thanks for the comments