Florida’s Amelia Island Revs Up for Amelia Concours Week

Bonham's Auction at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club (March 12), the Gooding & Company Auction (March 13) and Festivals of Speed (March 13-14) at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, duPont Registry Live Aeroport Reception (March 13) at Fernandina Beach Airport, the RM Auction at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island (March 14), Cars & Coffee at the Concours (March 14) and the 20th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance on the greens of the Golf Club of Amelia Island (March 13-15).

Bonham's Auction at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club on Thursday, March 12, is Bonham's first-ever auction on Amelia Island and will feature a rare 1911 EMF Model “30” Factory Racer. Other notable cars for auction will include a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformable Phaeton formerly owned by silver screen goddess Marlene Dietrich, and a rare 1932 Stutz DV-32 Super Bearcat. Viewings begin on March 10.

The Omni Amelia Island Plantation will host the Gooding & Company Auction. The Gooding & Company Amelia Island Auction is a premiere destination for collectors and enthusiasts of fine automobiles. It will take place at Racquet Park at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 13 and will offer over 80 rare-to-market discoveries. The viewing will begin on March 12.

On March 13, guests can enjoy the duPont Registry Live Aeroport Reception at the Fernandina Beach Airport. An official Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance event, the reception takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. and offers an elite reception staged inside a unique, aircraft hangar setting. Guests will mingle among the world's most exotic cars, aircraft and high performance boats, while feasting on exquisite foods and premium beverages.

On March 13 and 14, the Plantation will be home to the Festivals of Speed. The event kicks off Friday night with a luxury lifestyle cocktail reception featuring an incredible display of the world's most exotic cars, custom created motorcycles, and luxury lifestyle products. The reception will also include cocktails, mouthwatering food displays, live music, and a live and silent auction to benefit Communities In Schools of Nassau County. The Festivals of Speed will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. The event showcases an array of vintage and contemporary vehicles of all makes and models, and offers the opportunity to view some of the world's most exotic supercars, custom motorcycles, watercraft, and other extraordinary vehicles. In 2014, Festivals of Speed brought $50,000 in much needed funding to Communities In Schools to provide additional services to more Nassau County children and teens.

The RM Auction, another official Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance event, will take place March 14 at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. Since the inaugural Amelia Island auction in 1999, RM has been the official auction house of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Last year, the auction produced $35.9 million in sales and sold the most valuable car in Amelia Island auction week history, a 1937 Delahaye 135 Competition Court Torpedo Roadster for $6.6 million. The 2015 auction will be held on March 14 at 11 a.m. in The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom.

On Saturday, March 14, the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance will offer free admission to Cars and Coffee at the Concours, which offers the opportunity to view over 250 classic and exotic cars from local car clubs. The event is presented by Heacock Classic and features cars displayed on the 10th and 18th fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island.

The Amelia Concours Week concludes with a grand finale as the 20th Annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, March 15, opens the International Concours season on the fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island, adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. The three-day event includes the Eight Flags Road Tour, seminars on Friday and Saturday, the Automotive Fine Arts Society's annual show, an automotive photography exhibit, silent auction, Guardians of Porsche Wine Maker's dinner, BMW dinner, Mercedes-Benz USA black tie gala and the new MotorXpo. The 2015 event will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz World Sports Car and Formula 1 Drivers Championships, Stutz, the BMW328, Chrysler's legendary Town and Country and the Porsche 914. In celebration of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance's 20th anniversary, Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, the first honoree from 1996, will return to Amelia for the event. More than 20 of Sir Stirling's significant racing cars will be on the field on Sunday, March 15, among nearly 300 rare vehicles from collections around the world. Vehicles on display include rare classics and prototype cars as well as a selection of significant race cars. The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Foundation has donated more than $2.5 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, inc and other charities on Florida's First Coast since its inception in 1996.

For more information about Amelia Concours Week, visit AmeliaConcoursWeek.com.