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Amelia Island Concours 2020 – Report and Photos

Birds-eye view of the Roger Penske Classes Deremer Studios LLC
Birds-eye view of the Roger Penske Classes

The Amelia Island Concours 2020 was held March 5-8 on the 10th and 18th fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. With fantastic weather and “look over there!” activity at every turn, the visual history lesson that is the Amelia Island Concours somehow eclipsed our exceedingly lofty expectations. This year marked the Silver Anniversary of the Concours, an event that under the expert guidance of Bill Warner has grown into one of the premier classic car showcases worldwide.

“I am proud to say that this year’s Concours was worthy of a 25th anniversary celebration,” Warner said. “From our honoree, Roger Penske, to the incredible assembly of vehicles, our staff and hundreds of volunteers worked diligently to put together an event to remember. I am grateful for the continued growth and success of The Amelia and look forward to the future.”

Featured honoree Roger Penske kicked off the 2020 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance by driving onto the field in the 1956 Porsche 550A Spyder. A further selection of cars that Roger personally raced were among the highlights of the ‘Race Cars of Roger Penske’ class, such as the 1961 Porsche RS61 Spyder; 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO; 1963 Chaparral II; 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport and 1963 Pontiac Catalina.

The legendary racer and team owner was celebrated with more than 30 Penske race cars displayed in four different classes. In 1966, Penske founded Roger Penske Racing, which later became Team Penske. The three classes representing this era included Team Penske, Team Penske Sunoco and Penske Indy Winners.

In addition to cars associated with the ‘Captain’, the Amelia Island Concours 2020 also celebrated Sergio Scaglietti’s 100th birthday with two classes featuring the Italian designer’s handiwork. Chevrolet’s mid-engine 1964 GS IIB research vehicle joined the Mid-Engine Corvette class. This showing marked the first appearance of the one-off experimental 1964 GS IIB outside the Chaparral Gallery of the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas.

Porsche Firsts, in part, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s first victory at Le Mans. Entries included the 1970 Porsche 917K, the car that Richard Attwood and Hans Hermann drove to Porsche’s first of 19 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Additional highlights included an entertaining class of tiny people movers entitled, “That’s Cute,” while automotive extravagance was celebrated with an assemblage of Loziers, the most expensive American automobile of the Brass Era.

The Best of Show Concours de Sport was awarded to the 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder owned by Rob Kauffman of Charlotte, North Carolina, while Best of Show Concours d’Elegance at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours was given to the 1929 Duesenberg J-218 ‘Whittell’ Limousine owned by the Lehrman Collection, Palm Beach, Florida. (See Best of Show Gallery).

If you didn’t make it to Amelia Island, don’t worry we’ve got you covered. Similar to 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Sports Car Digest also documented this year’s banner event with the following selection from the fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island.

Amelia Island Concours 2020 – Photo Gallery (photos: DeremerStudios.com)

 

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[Source: Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance; photos: DeremerStudios.com]