The 2009 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance was held Sunday, March 15th on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island.
Honorary Chairman David Hobbs kicked off the 14th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance by driving onto the field in the 1968 Ford GT40 he raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. An estimated 15,000 people attended the event on a breezy and sunny day.
In addition to having David Hobbs as the Featured Guest, the cars of famed California coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz were highlighted as were the 50th anniversaries of the first US Grand Prix Formula One race at Sebring Raceway and the only Indy car race ever held at the Daytona International Speedway and the Cars of Group 44.
With nearly 300 interestingly diverse cars in attendance, we will have multiple stories on the event, starting with the Best of Show Winners. The Amelia Island Concours awards Best of Show for two designations: Concours d’Elegance and Concours de Sport.
2009 Amelia Island Best of Show, Concours d’Elegance
1931 Voisin C20 Demi-Berline, owned by The Munder Collection, West Palm Beach, Florida
2009 Amelia Island Best in Show, Concours de Sport
1923 Miller Special 122 Supercharged, owned by A. Dano Davis, Jacksonville, Florida
The Miller 122 is so cool. I appreciate the Voisin, but I’d take the Miller.
Thanks for sharing! How about the rest of the show?
The Voisin best of show car looks an awful lot like the Voisin we had on display at the Blackhawk Auto Museum in Danville,CA. We “lost” it a few years ago, and it was a true loss. That was one of my favorite automobiles to talk about on my tours. It’s a pity there are no photos of the interior. It is very mechanical,aviation-oriented,especially the open-gate gearshifter.
Was this Vosin designed by Le Corbusier?
Bob – To our knowledge, the Voisin was in fact purchased from Blackhawk in 2007 by Lee Munder, then fully restored to its current state.
Jack – We believe you’re correct – the Voisin was designed by Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known by his chosen name – Le Corbusier.
RE: Avions Voison.
T
While there was a contractual relationship between Voison and Le Corbusier in the 1920s but I don’t believe that this car was a product of that union.
According to An article co-authored by Griff Borgeson in Automobile Quarterly (16/2) he designed only one car. A two seat urban vehicle submitted to the 1935 SIA competition.
The Miller looks very like the Aston Martin “Razor Blade” of the same year, 1923. I wonder which appeared first, or if one inspired the other.
Although I am sure the Voison is perfectly restored and immaculate in all respects, to my mind it is an ugly car and not one to receive Best of Show.
I did not attend the 2009 concours at AmeliaIsland, but I did attend the 2010 concours, and it was great. It was hard to pick out one car in each class, because each was unique in its own way. I love the clasaics and antiques most of all, but I am a racing fan, as well, and saw some of them race in California many years before, INDY, CAN-AM, Formula FORD & VW, even a race between 4 formula one cars against Can-Am cars. I often attended the historic car races at Laguna Seca almost from the start. Laguna Seca raceway was my very favorite race course to watch, and to circulate in the pits during the races. I also met some of the drivers, but Dan Gurney was my all time favorite.