Amelia Island
Concours d'Elegance
For the 13th consecutive year, Amelia Island will host one of the most impressive automobile shows in America. The weekend of March 7-9, 2008, marks the return of the Concours d'Elegance to the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. This event always features some of the rarest and most beautiful vintage automobiles found anywhere in the world. Celebrations will take center stage in 2008. Long-time Amelia sponsor General Motors will be celebrating 100 years of automotive history in 2008, and Amelia is one of the first stops for its year-long tour.
The Concours d'Elegance draws thousands of The featured marque for this event is the iconic Thomas Flyer automobile. This car will be recognized for its historic win 100 years ago in the famed New York-to-Paris "Great Race." The National Auto Museum (formerly the Harrah Collection) has agreed to let us display the winning Thomas Flyer on show day. Once you've seen this car, you'll wonder how the brave men who won the race ever made it around the world in such primitive equipment and inclement conditions. The celebrations continue with the car that put America on the road to freedom - Henry Ford's venerable Model T. It will be marking a century of motoring in 2008. There will be a special class of Model T's of the "Field of Dreams" on Sunday, March 9. Also being honored at the 2008 Concours d'Elegance will be one of America's greatest race drivers, Parnelli Jones. During his incredibly diverse career, Jones raced just about every kind of car, including sport cars, sprint cars, Indy cars, midget racers, stock cars and off-road vehicles. The winner of the 1963 Indy 500, Jones is a member today in more than 20 automotive halls of fame.
Race cars are just one category of the many classic and In addition to the main automobile show on Sunday, there are many special events throughout the weekend, including several road tours, test drives, a silent auction, an exhibit of great automotive photographers, exhibits by the Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS), in their only east coast appearance, a golf tournament, a live auction and the Mercedes-Benz gala dinner. For a complete schedule of the 2008 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, visit www.ameliaislandconcours.org.
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