The 2021 Amelia Island Concours Cars & Coffee is the best you’ll find anywhere.
If you follow major automotive events and Concours, you know that the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is among the finest in the world.
It takes place on a Sunday, culminating in a long weekend full of ancillary events: racing driver seminars, ride and drive programs, several major auctions, lots of vendors, and a high-quality silent auction, all benefitting local Florida charities.
In the name of automotive inclusivity and diversity, and also to make the best use of a largely unscheduled Saturday morning, Amelia Island Founder and Chairman Bill Warner, and his Concours committee team decided to open the show field up to an anything-welcome Cars & Coffee style event the day before the main Concours.
This allows more locals (and folks who don’t have a car in Sunday’s big show) to support and participate with a vehicle on the actual Concours field.
The cost to enter a vehicle is minimal (spectator attendance is free) for something over 400 spots (which presell out within hours of announcement), and it’s pretty much “run what you brung.
There are no classes or profiling; it’s much like the C&C you attend at your local shopping mall parking lot, however, it’s on the grass at a country club, next to a Ritz-Carlton resort on the beach. Amelia Island itself is most proximal to Jacksonville, Florida, and about 40 miles off the Georgia state border.
The differences between the Amelia’s Cars & Coffee and your local shopping center parking deck are likely the sheer number of vehicles, an impressive level of quality (so many of these cars would look just fine on the Sunday field), and extensive spectator number.
It’s crowded, yet the field is spacious, allowing good views and room for strolling and photos. Shocking is the quality and diversity of the participating vehicles – many of the C&C participants would look entirely at home on the Sunday Concours roster. Of additional interest is that all of the concours’ vendor booths and other special displays are open and staffed during the C&C.
And yes, they serve coffee.
Photo Gallery of the 2021 The Amelia’s Cars & Coffee
Photos by Deremer Studios LLC