“The Amelia” Concours 2024 Awards, Auction Results & Highlights

Pictured above, the first ever Classic Motorsports Amelia Island Kickoff at Fernandina’s Main Beach Park. (More about this new event and video is further below).

“The Amelia” Concours d’Elegance, Presented By Hagerty

The Concours d’Elegance first made its debut back in 1996 on Amelia Island, FL. A prestigious motoring event recognized worldwide, the French term, “concours d’elegance” is said to date back to the 17th century, meaning “competition of excellence.”

The show jump-started Amelia Island’s future as a hot spot for auto aficionados. Today, Amelia Island is recognized around the globe as a top gathering place for car enthusiasts when March rolls around every year, as well as a marketplace for investment-class, collector vehicles. Amelia Island auction results are used for trend analysis. Industry experts eye what happens at Amelia’s auto auctions as an early indicator of the high-end collector car market.

Record Breaking Visitation

“The Amelia” is an immersive motoring experience enjoyed not only by collectors and racing fans, but car lovers in general. A new record attendance was achieved this year in 2024. Hagerty reported over 27,000 auto enthusiasts attended “The Amelia,” surpassing last year’s record of 25,000.

While the wide assortment of vehicles — 285 in total– was a stellar display at the Golf Club of Amelia on Sunday, the weather throughout the multi-day activities was not. Hagerty indicated “1.82 inches of rain” during the period. Nevertheless, all coped with the precipitation, from show’s organizers, the vendors and partners, the owners/show entrants of vehicles displayed, and an army of volunteers supporting the Concours. Not to mention the thousands of car enthusiasts who attended various activities.

2024 Amelia Concours Top Winners, Overview Of Various Events & Three Auto Auctions

And The Winners Are . . .

The top two award winners at 2024’s Amelia Concours d’Elegance held on March 3, 2024 are pictured below.

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO and 1947 Delahaye 135MS Narval Cabriolet Named Best in Show at The Amelia

A Little Background On Top Two Winners:

• The “Best in Show, Concours d’Elegance” was a gorgeous 1947 Delahaye 135MS Narval Cabriolet, restored in its original color called “Orange Brulé.” It is said to be one of only seven made, and owned by Dana Mecum, founder of Mecum Auctions.
• Crowned “Best in Show, Concours de Sport” was a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. It reportedly sold for $70 million back in 2018. Since then, this very special Ferrari, owned by David MacNeil (the founder & CEO of WeatherTech), went through a major restoration that apparently took almost two years. The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is “finished in the same colors—silver with French tricolor stripe—that it wore in 1963 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it finished fourth overall,” according to Hagerty’s Eddy Eckart.

Classic Motorsports Amelia Island Kickoff

While skies above Amelia Island were overcast with intermittent showers, a lot of people attended this new event, walking around the lawn adjacent to the beach, admiring vehicles, chatting with owners and mingling. Around 150 vehicles were registered to be presented and were judged with an awards ceremony. Also on the Main Beach lawn was the Concours d’LeMons display of vehicles, the “bad cars good fun” show. Watch the video below by Classic Motorsports at the March 1, 2024 Main Beach Park event.

Video, Fernandina’s Main Beach Park

A separate annual event is the historic district display in downtown Fernandina of a selection of Concours d’Elegance entrants during the annual “Eight Flags Road Tour.” Pictured below, the rainy streetscape along Centre in downtown Fernandina during this year’s event on March 1, 2024.

The centerpiece show, the Sunday Concours d’Elegance, concluded the multi-day celebration of the automobile which included auctions, seminars, film viewings and other events including “The Hangar,” exhibition and party at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport.

“Enthusiasts were given no shortage of options this weekend, yet a record 27,000 of them returned to The Amelia,” said Hagerty CEO and Chairman of The Amelia, McKeel Hagerty. “A love for cars and people is at the root of any great automotive event, and enthusiasts voted with their most precious asset – their time – and we were thrilled to be their hosts. We saw two global vehicle debuts, several new auction records, packed show fields on Saturday and Sunday and most importantly, great car people coming together to celebrate great cars.”

Rick Hendrick Honoree, 2024 Amelia Concours

Each year “The Amelia” honors a racing legend and attracts celebrities from across the automotive landscape. The 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance featured Honoree Rick Hendrick, the 14-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and Chairman/CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group. The Concours show field on Sunday, March 3rd, 2024 displayed vehicles (some of them are pictured above), from Hendrick’s collection looking back at 40 years of Hendrick Motorsports.  What an extraordinary year Hendrick Motorsports is having so far in 2024, winning the Daytona 500 and soon after Las Vegas wins.

Pop Culture — “Days Of Thunder” Movie Race Car

Cars made famous by Hollywood are often presented at “The Amelia.” Folks in general who remember the movie and racing fans in particular, had the opportunity to see the  1990 Chevrolet Lumina – NASCAR — “Days Of Thunder” movie car owned by Rick Hendrick. Real race cars were used in the movie and Hendrick Motorsports provided the stories and mountain of cars necessary for filming the movie. “Days of Thunder” premiered at theaters in June 1990, with the No. 46 City Chevrolet Lumina driven by Tom Cruise (who portrayed driver “Cole Trickle” in the movie). (See also related article and video about the how the “Days of Thunder” movie came to be.)

Another movie car displayed at the March 2024 Amelia Concours was the Austin Powers XK8 “Shaguar,” used in the 2002 film “Goldmember.”

Top Valued Auction Car Sold For More Than $12 Million

Of the three auto auctions conducted on Amelia Island, it was this 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP “Roi Des Belges” (pictured below) that became the top sale, at $12,105,000, presented by Gooding & Company (Lot 128) at Omni Amelia Island. This antique automobile is described by Gooding and Company to be just “one of only five original 60 HP Mercedes known to survive.”

Broad Arrow Auctions

Becoming the “official” auction house of “The Amelia,” last year in 2023 (replacing RM Sotheby’s), Broad Arrow Auctions hosted its second annual auction at the oceanfront Ritz-Carton on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2, 2024. The auction, with over 1,000 registered bidders and their guests, achieved over $63 million in sales with a sell through rate of 92%, according to Hagerty.

Gooding & Bonhams’ Auctions

Gooding & Company reported their Amelia Island auction sales (held at Omni Amelia Island Plantation), noting “this year’s Amelia Island auction brought in a total of $67 million+ in sales with an 87% sell-through rate.” The other auction by Bonhams held at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club had sales volume of $6.7 million (66% sell-through rate).

“The Amelia,” by the numbers, reported by Hagerty:

After the conclusion of “The Amelia,” Hagerty provided some insight on 2024’s record-breaking attendance numbers, listed below:

• $150,000 pledged to local nonprofits
• 27,000 weekend attendees, a new record
• Thousands of young enthusiasts engaged
• 550 volunteers
• 250 vehicles on display as part of RADwood, a new record
• 375 vehicles at Saturday’s Cars & Caffeine™, a new record
• 285 vehicles at Sunday’s The Amelia Concours d’Elegance
• 218 Mobil 1 Ride and Drive experiences
• More than 500 new vehicle test drives
• More than 100 event partners
• More than 20 events held on Amelia Island
• 1.82 inches of rain

Regional Economic Impact

“The Amelia” Concours reportedly generates the biggest economic bang of any event held annually on this northeast Florida barrier island. Each year, the Amelia Island Convention & Visitors Bureau reports the regional economic impact of “The Amelia” Concours. However, this year’s numbers (as of mid-March 2024) have not yet been released. For perspective, looking back to last year, the regional economic impact of the Amelia Concours multi-day March 2023 event was reportedly $40.3 million. 

Plan Ahead — Save the 2025 Amelia Concours Dates

The 30th celebration of “The Amelia” Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for March 6-9, 2025. For car enthusiasts who’ve never experienced Amelia Island during the several days of assorted events, it’s a destination for the bucket list.

Learn More About Collector Car Market

Self-described by their corporate tag line, Hagerty “exists for people who love cars.” For those who’d like to expand car knowledge and follow this asset class, Hagerty offers a monthly “Market Rating” and various collector car indices. For trend analysis based on the Florida auctions held in March 2024, read Hagerty Insider article, “What we learned from Florida’s March auctions.”