Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is a Porsche Lover’s Paradise

One of the most-awarded brands in the Amelia Island show, Porsche is featured throughout the weekend.

If you have attended any Concours d’Elegance, you know that the field of classic and modern show cars often features a wide variety of brands, but at many of these events, Porsche cars take home the most awards. That was true at the 2018 Amelia Island show, with Porsche trailing only Ferrari in terms of trophy count by brand, and we can expect that Stuttgart’s finest will be out in force again this year.

However, if you are a hardcore Porsche enthusiast, the 2019 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance offers more than just stunning classic show cars. The weekend leading up to Sunday’s big event includes a few car shows that are sure to feature plenty of Porsche products, along with a seminar on the 962 and the Guardians of Porsche Wine Maker’s Dinner.

Concours d’Elegance

The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is not just a big car show with expensive cars on a golf course. Each vehicle is hand-picked by the event organizers to guarantee the best collection of vehicles to fit the award classes. The result is a spread of the greatest cars and automobile history. Of course, this includes the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, Bugatti and other modern automakers, but there is an even bigger spread of cars from companies that have long-been shuttered.

Duesenberg, Cord, and Packard are just a few of the discontinued brands that played a key role in the early luxury-performance world and they are often contenders for the top prizes. The field also includes both road cars and race cars, so even if you have been to other Concours events, the odds are good that you will see cars that you’ve only ever seen in magazines at Amelia Island.

Best of all, the actual Concours show is only the cherry on top of a very exciting weekend.

Four Days of Automobilia

This weekend’s festivities are centered around Sunday’s Concours show, but the related activities begin on the Thursday before the main event. In most cases, the functions leading up to the big show are rife with Porsche vehicles, but there is at least something for Porsche fans each and every day.

On Thursday, events include a preview for the RM Sotheby’s auction, the Amelia Island Concours Silent Auction and the Guardians of Porsche Wine Maker’s Dinner. The Porsche dinner has been called a bucket list item by many people, especially if you are a hardcore fan of the brand.

On Friday, you can check out another day of Soethby’s auction previews, test drive opportunities from a handful of premium brands at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, celebrity appearances, automotive-themed shopping, a silent auction and a seminar titled “The Unfair Advantage: Racing Around the Rules Seminar”. Most importantly, Friday brings the Porsche Driving Experience, which is clearly something that you want to experience.

Saturday has a few big shows, including the MotorXpo and a Cars & Coffee that is sure to knock your socks off, more test drives, more silent auction action, the RM Soethby’s auction and a seminar titled “The Porsche 962 Dynasty”. The individual Porsche models shown here are just some of the vehicles destined for the Soethby’s auction block, but we are likely to see similar cars at the Concours event on Sunday.

Finally, on Sunday, March 10, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance kicks off on the 10^th and 18^th fairways of the Amelia Island Golf Course at 9”30 a.m. The show runs until 4 p.m., with the awards ceremony beginning shortly after noon. The awards ceremony is another cool aspect of the show, as you get to watch the winning vehicles go for a short drive as the award winners are announced.

Tickets can still be purchased at the gate on the day of the show, but at $125, they are among the priciest car show tickets that you will ever buy. Then again, this is likely the most incredible car show that you will ever attend, so the price of the show is well worth the experience.

Overhead Image: Amelia Island Concours Website

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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