If you haven’t heard, Hagerty is buying a lot of car shows and collector car events, and Amelia Island may be one of their Crown Jewels. Bill Warner Started Amelia Island and grew it into a world class show on this small ocean side community, and McKeel Hagerty finalized the purchase last year. All that have been attending for years past knew things were changing, but this year would be the first year the Hagerty Machine would be fully operational. Warner’s show used to be a one day affair on a Saturday celebrating cars a few decades old. It followed the tradition of Pebble Beach, but the judging was not as strict. “French Judging” is the term often used in America for the type of judging where the guidelines are less about correct trim screws, and more about asking the question, “which one of these cars would I want to take home?” The Hagerty People kept Bill Warner’s tradition, but it seemed a lot of the old guard was not in attendance. I had heard some had called the new people in charge, and they were told the show field was fully booked, and yet there seemed to be plenty of room for more show cars.

My friend Tom Hill, organized a 75th anniversary celebration of Ferrari with a row of red Ferraris. Much to my chagrin of seeing too many red Ferraris, Tom gave the crowd what they wanted, so Rossa Corsa it was! Unfortunately, no other Ferraris were to be found anywhere else on the show field. No Lussos, no GTCs, no 2+2s, not even a 308! I was looking forward to seeing some more “pedestrian” Ferraris besides the ones invited for the anniversary row, but I was sadly disappointed.

There was still a strong showing of prewar cars including this see-through “Du Pont,” being shown by an actual DuPont! A completed car was also present to round out the pairing!

My friend Steve was showing a pretty significant Porsche RS60. Although I didn’t recognize the gentleman in the white shirt talking about the car, I soon found out that was Alwin Springer, one of the founders of Andial!

Speaking of notable people, these three gentlemen are YouTube automotive celebrities. Freddy Hernandez (Tavarish), Ed Bolan (VinWiki), and Tyler Hoover (Hoovies Garage) all have their own YouTube channels, and together do a Top Gear type of show. They were given the chance to present an award at Amelia Island, and it was interesting how most of the old timers had no idea who these guys were!

We took advantage of our palatial Beach House and invited some friends over. I tried my best not to over invite all my Ferrari friends over my house mates’ guests, but I think we had a good mix of people.

I made a new friend this weekend, Roger Morrison from Salina KS. Roger shared the house with us, and is friends with Drew the owner of the ’57 Chevy. It didn’t take long talking to Roger that I learned we have mutual friends in the car world. Roger not only brought steaks for dinner one night (that I gladly grilled for us) he also insisted on doing the dishes! With everyone pitching in at the house, it was so much better than trying to find a reservation in Fernandina Beach for 10 people during car week!

The after party was out in the dunes with a fire pit. What a nice way to wrap up the Amelia Island Concours!

Monday morning, we loaded up and started making our way back north. It was a nice break from the reality of the world and weather in the Northeast. Each year we’re dialing in our experience at Amelia Island, and I think we’re getting it just right! Next year should be even better!