Amelia Island’s Concours d ’Elegance celebrates its 15th year!

3 Memorable Moments
Founder and co-chariman of Amelia Island’s Concours d ’Elegance, Bill Warner has three distinct memories that come to mind when you ask him about the show’s 15-year history.

Rain, rain, go away
The only negative memory Warner recalled is the year it wouldn’t stop raining. “We had four-and-a-half inches of rain in five hours.” Warner estimates the show lost a quarter of a million dollars in 2003 when Mother Nature refused to cooperate. “You work all year long to put on the greatest show you can, and there wasn’t a thing we could do about it.” A very valuable lesson came of the loss — Warner now invests in rain insurance, which costs $28,000 a year.

Missing Honoree
One of Warner’s fondest memories was in 2001 when he honored John Surtees, OBE, the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels. “I was on stage and called for the motorcycle in which he won the tournament on, and I turned around and John wasn’t there. I looked down and there he was on the bike … he wound it up and came up the fairway … and I couldn’t help but think it doesn’t get much better than this.”

Champagne Toast
In 2002, Dan Gurney, the first person to win two major races in one week, was celebrating 35 years since he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with A.J. Foyt and spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium. “When we went to award the best-in-show car, (we always have a bottle of Moet champagne), Dan looked at me and I knew I was toast. He soaked me in champagne. To get sprayed by Dan Gurney is an honor. Most people drink it in celebration. He sprayed it.”

When The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island approached Bill Warner to start our area’s first Concours d’Elegance, it made perfect sense. The devoted automobile collector and former race car driver is beyond passionate about the sport. Warner was the right man for the job. “I have been a car lover since I could walk. That’s all I do. I don’t golf, I don’t hunt. I just like cars,” he said.

But, Warner will be the first to tell you he didn’t think about the show’s future — especially not 15 years into it. “It really grew much faster in size and prestige than I thought it would,” he said. “The first year was just about getting through it and seeing if we could even do it.”

Apparently he underestimated himself, because the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is not only celebrating its 15th year, but it’s evolved into one of the most renowned car shows in the world. And it’s right in our backyard. “The thing I am most proud of, aside from the friendships, is that we deliver a world-class show that brings a lot of attention to Northeast Florida. In the auto world, if you say Amelia Island, people know exactly where you are talking about.”

The Landon High School graduate started the show with a handful of volunteers in 1995. It has since grown to a handful of full-time employees and more than 300 volunteers who work behind-the-scenes to pull off one of our area’s biggest events of the year. “When we first started, we had to schedule the show around the Bausch & Lomb tennis tournament, THE PLAYERS Championship, Daytona 500 … we never thought of any conflicts beyond 100 miles away.” As it turns out, the dates of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance would matter — even overseas. “We weren’t thinking globally, but we’ve become a global show. We get quite a bit of participation from Europe and South America. We dovetail right behind the Geneva Auto Show,” Warner said.

The Amelia Island Concours attracts media attention around the world — as far away as Australia. Last year, the show drew 250 cars from seven different countries. Multiply that by 15 years and you figure nearly 4,000 cars have graced the fairways surrounding The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. “There are some great cars out there that I just can’t say no to,” Warner admitted.

Who can blame him? As founder and co-chairman of the show, Warner is challenged each year with finding the most rare, never-before-seen, museum-worthy, legendary, historical cars of all time. And he never disappoints the crowds who vow to return year after year. “Cars are like art. When you come out on the field on Sunday, you see some truly magnificent cars that are as beautiful as any piece of artwork, sculpture or painting you’d see anywhere else.”

The 2010 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance features an ever-impressive lineup of automobiles, seminars and distinguished guests, starting with this year’s grand marshal and legendary stock car driver, Richard Petty. “When we met with him, I asked him if he was sure he wouldn’t mind shaking hands and signing autographs for 15,000 people. He said, ‘Those are the folks that made my career, so I will do what I can for them.’”

Petty is expected to draw a large crowd. He is the second NASCAR honoree to ever serve as grand marshal. “It’s a thrill for me to have spectators come out and meet these guys and shake their hands. You can’t go to a race and get that done ... you can’t get that close.”

Warner said the people and their personalities make the show. Even with the greatest cars in the world, if you don’t have that personal connection with the heroes, then the show doesn’t have the same sparkle. The cars will be here forever, but these racing legends won’t.”

You can expect to see things at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance that you won’t see elsewhere in the world. For instance, racing legends Richard Petty; Sir Stirling Moss, OBE; and Don Garlits will appear together for the first time at a seminar entitled, “The Three Greats,” on Saturday, March 13, 2010. (See the calendar of events for more information.)

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Moss’ Cuban Grand Prix victory. “No one else has done it, and we wanted to celebrate the three races that took place in the 1950s,” Warner said. A dozen cars that ran in the Cuban Grand Prix races will be reunited for the first time in 50 years. And of course, the winner of two out of three races to ever take place during Cuba’s short-lived racing history, Moss, will be on hand.

Every year brings an exceptional lineup of automobiles, events and guests at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. If you haven’t walked the fairways that second Sunday in March, this would be an excellent year to make your Concours debut — as this year’s show is truly one-of-a-kind.

“I am very fortunate … and also very tired,” Warner joked. “This is a massive undertaking, but I have a great staff and a great group of volunteers to make it all possible. A lot of people don’t realize what goes into planning this show. It’s a lot like putting on a Super Bowl each year.”