Event Coverage Amelia Island Concours: A study in design.

Had the luxury of attending the Amelia Island Concours today. Despite some of the Gold Chain and Poodle crowd, there is something here for each and every "car guy". My focus is on design and style. Many countries are represented at this incredible event, as well as one off coach built and factory experimentals(ie...The Illustrious Phantom Corsair, and Chrysler Thunderbolt)
So take a close look at the vast array of curves and see how they may influence your current or next Hot rod project. My mind is already in overdrive. BTW...all those Italian cars from the 30's, are so incredible I can't even begin to put it into words. Alfa Romeo's are the Shit! Goodnight. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

O.K., just a few more to wet your tastebuds. How about that Phantom Corsair. Really wish Nad's could have joined me, he was litterally drooling over the phone telling me about it.

 

This little one-off Ghia was "ta die for" Pictures just don't do it justice. One thing that is cool about this show is the representation of race cars as well as all the classics. The Longleys brought their 32, which stood it's ground next to all the genuine Miller/Offy powered indy cars. Way cool! Red Ford based Roadster was a custom built job to. Sorry I did not have time to jot down all the details of these show cars. If anyone has info, feel free to post.

 

All the Bugatti's, Delehaye's and Duesenbergs have to be seen in person to appreciate the detail and craftmanship that went into the building of these fine automobiles. It is great insperation to excell in your next build project, when you study all the extra effort, these men, went to, to make their car better than the competition. The v-8 engne on this one 2dr saloon was like a fine piece of jewelery. Damn, wish I would have brought a recorder to document all the makes and models.

 

I always thought the Phantom Corsair looked like a cockroach on wheels - now I know it does.

 

Was getting tired, but the thought of these cars has me stoked!

Last but surely not least where the customs. What a treat to see the Orbritron and Mantaray up close and in person. Also outside on the green was maybe a bigger impact than inside some museum or public hall. Wish I knew more about this mid 30's roadster. Once again, the design and craftsmanship where second to none. How 'bout that Chrysler Thunderbolt?? Green color was stunning! The Foose car was also a treat to see in the flesh, maybe not y'alls cup of tea, but brilliantly executed all bullshit aside!

 

Sorry, forgot the Chrysler. Will post more tomorrow.

 

Maybe so, but that is an umteen million dollar cockroach. Didn't you ever watch any of the early Superman cartoons?
Check out "The bulleteers" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0GByZw-SqI Then you'll understand!
JT

 

http://www.streetrodderweb.com/features/0704sr_1936_ford_roadster/index.html

Do a search here on the HAMB for additional info.

Thanks for the pictures!

 

I'm going next year if it kills me! I am not that far away, looks like fun, I would love to see the Heinz 57 car not to mentionthe other stuff.

 

Someday I'll make it up there...

 

Just some, perhaps interesting, insights into the cars mentioned and what is involved in showing them.

Orbitron does not run. Neither does the Mantaray ... the VSR did not either at the time of the show.

The Mantray has no tow strap attaching points. Dean Jeffries IS a great guy, but very particular about moving the car and rightly so.

A number of the cars were shown during seminars in the main ballroom. The Ritz is contructing a new ballroom over the old parking garage. These cars had to be moved through construction in progress, up parking garage ramps, through construction dust ... by hand.

They then proceeded from the ballroom, down the parking garage ramps, down the street, and to the show field. Following the event, they then went onto trailers parked at Peter's Point, a beach access parking lot on the ocean north of the golf course show field. The route requires moving the cars up the steep golf-cart path by the 18th green and past the condos with their automatic gates ... or onto the public street onto A1A and around the corner then to Peter's Point.

The VSR's movement is accompanied personally by its designer/builder, Wayne Cherry, who is the only person to touch the steering wheel. For Amelia Island, an electronic glitch prevented the car from running.

Quite a few cars in fact have to be towed onto the show field. While this is not "concoursing" ... parading ... , it does allow the showing of some great cars. Other examples are the Indy cars and a couple of the Group 44 entries. Cars with exotic fuels and very high performance usually get towed.

Other candidates for towing include cars that are so significant that having no brakes, no steering, not running, etc., is overlooked in order for the folks to see them. Dean Jeffries Porsche had brakes and steering, but did not run ... pushing it out onto the ballroom floor to surprize him .... priceless.

And not all cars require super care. Went to get a padded strap to tow start one of the Coopers for an award presentation and the owner/driver said, "Don't worry. A couple extra scratches won't hurt it."

There were some goldchains for sure. And doggone if I didn't see a gal walking a white poodle ... but, the crowd really always is mostly regular people. So are many of the car owners. The Longleys were mentioned. Great guys. ("Come on down to Deland and see us.")

Hoop's Pinky Finger Extended Award? While jump-starting an early Pierce Arrow, a debutante peeled an orange and threw the peelings down on the grass in front of the car. As I picked up the pieces, she said, "Oh, I was going to get that."

(Sure.)

The Great Entitlement Award? Last car towed off the field last night was the Watson Indy roadster. Could not find the car cover. Finally found it up on the hill by the woods off the side of the fairway ... someone had used it for a blanket to sit on.

( ... didn't notice any poodle fur on it. It was late, and we were too tired to check.)

Hope those of you that attended enjoyed the Concours and that my "insights" show that a bunch of regular people are involved. Honestly, I have not walked the field and seen ALL the cars in 10 years. Too busy. Wouldn't have it any other way ...

The charity event is almost all volunteers (less than a half-dozen paid staff) and when you step back and look at it .... pretty amazing what really happens at Amelia Island.

Lots of work.

 

Great coverage, cant wait to see more pics. Its nice to see acouple cars the shop I work at out at a great event like this. Did the bodywork and paint on these 2 cars that have been sold of to new owners.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php

 

the blue 36 roadster was built by Marshall woollery at thunfield rod and custom in washington.

 

Jakespeed, great stuff, thanks for sharing pics & thanks to Hoop-in-jax for the insights too...gotta love the rich gits with no clue...

 

Dave,
The website looks great!

 

Its nice to see the the guy we sold the 36 too, has it out showing it. Did it say Chip built it?
Marshall

 

I just finished the lettering and numbers on a Watson Indy roadster that was there . the Bell Lines Trucking Spl .

 

I Love Concours threads! So much inspiration comes from these things.

 

My brother and I helped with the restoration of the '41 Chrysler Thunderbolt. That car is the ONLY one with a working top all done mechanically with a basically a bike chain to keep everything in sync. The bumpers are actually copper as is the side trim. It is really quite nice. Sorry for some of the quality, they were taken with my phone. The photo's were taken at Tired Iron Works in Monrovia, ca.

 

Cool car, neat job 'ya got, thanks for the snaps.........

 

HAMBer, and Jalopy Journal contributor, Geoff Hacker won a trophy there!

Hopefully, he'll chime in!

 

I knew there would be a good report here, glad to see so mamy HAMB members had a hand in the restoration/maintenance of many of the cars.

 

Helen and I enjoyed ourselves greatly. Thanks to all the volunteers for all the hard work. It definitely shows in the organization and logostics flowing so smoothly.
Here are a few more:
Stainless steel hideaway top on 1932 Auburn
Last pic is me talking to Dean Jeffries Sunday afternoon. Neat old guy; he also worked as a Hollywood stuntman, breaking his back jumping a 5 ton truck.

 

Thanks for the pictures of this unique event. Plenty of stories with all these cars, great fun.

 

Hey Fella's, Glad I could show all of you some of the hi-lights. Trust me, you all need to check it out sometime. And, many thanks to Hoop, for all the behind the scene info. Thank God the weather cooperated. Would have been a nightmare trying to move those cars in the rain.

Here are a few more, was too tire last night, but these are very significant and worth a look. The front end on this custom bodied 1941? Cadillac, made me just stare in awe. So much going on, take a close look. Those thin and narrow crome vertical spears "juxtaposed" against the tapering horizontal grill bars is nothing short of stunning. Also love the way the headlights mold into the hood sides. This car had chopped down doors as well. I'm sure there are other pictures of it on the web. Switching over to Photobucket pictures for better resolution and easier viewing.
This 1935 Delage, was mildly cusomized, by one of it's owners, back in the day. Once again, a stunning car overall.


Look at the sharp fender creases, inset grill and those cute little bumpers, on this 1937? Bugatti. The black Delehay next to it was no slouch either.




Think about this, about the same time when Mercedes was designing and building these luscious 320 and 540K's, Hitler and the German army where invading Poland.

Pontoon Fenders on this Deusenberg where straight as an arrow. The whole body was rediculous. Can only imagine how much time was put into these paint jobs. Those curved hood vents remind me of some recent custom by a famous builder. Anyone??

 

Yet another Deusenberg. Even the underneath's where incredible from a design standpoint. Note the finned oil pan. Most likely to assist in cooling.




Finally got to meet the owner of the 1931 Jordon Speedway Ace. I did a whole thread on this car couple months ago. But came to find out, just as I thought, that it was owned for many years by a friend of my families(Pops and Granpappy) Current owner has a small fortune in just custom making some of the missing pieces.


Could have done a whole nother thread on just dashboards. This one belongs to the Chrysler Ghia. Note the tiny little shifter and use of colors.


For some odd reason never realy noticed those tiny little fins on the back of one of these.


May have saved the best till last. This Ruxton was compleetely 100% off the hook. Lowered factory body, front wheel drive and yes these are the colors from the factory to accentuate the lowness of it.
Factory slogan said something like"low enough to look over but good enough not to overlook??" Thanks for viewing. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Great show! I would have been happy just to scrutinize the Phantom Corsair, and go home!
Nice pictures....I know how tough it was getting them, so many people were crowded around the more popular cars.
How weird was it that the Dual Ghia used a bunch of 54 Plymouth parts!!!!!!

 

Hey,

Um, wow doesn't begin to cover it!
On the Ghia/Mopar , Ghia did several design studies, several show cars, and more than a few limos, under Virgel Exner's direct direction. Ghia was later bought outright (1969) by Ford Motor Company.

I gotta go now, I think I've soiled myself.

Swankey Devils C.C.
" Spending A Nation Into Generational Debt Is Not An Act Of Compassion!"

 

the two best moments of the weekend for me:

seeing the tears in Dean Jeffries eyes when he saw the Porsche for the first time in 47 years and getting a chance to photograph the car with the Mantaray.