With the 2014 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance nearing early next year, one of the featured experiences will be to view the BMW Batmobile racers.

The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is clearly one of the top automotive events in the world. Get a chance to view nearly 250 rare vehicles from car collections around the world. The event is held between March 7-9, 2014 at The Golf Club of Amelia Island, The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

The BMW Batmobile racers were first seen in the U.S. after arriving from Europe. They had giant wings, large fender boxes and huge spoilers. The Batmobile was powered by a beefy 430 hp straight-six engine that produced a stunning rumbling noise and allowed BMW’s luxury coupe to reach speeds of over 180 mph.

Road racing fans across the U.S. took one look at the cutting edge race car and simply fell in love. In addition, their admiration also provided the new BMW racing coupes their well known nickname today – “the Batmobiles”.

The first debut of the BMW Batmobile came at the 1973 Six Hours of the Nurburgring. It was a result of a corporate war between the be-winged BMW 3.0 CSLs and Ford’s Capri.

Ford invited Grand Prix stars Jackie Stewart and Emerson Fittipaldi, in addition to the Amelia’s 2014 honoree Jochen Mass. They led the blue-oval’s fight against BMW’s F1 stars Chris Amon, Hans Stuck and future World Formula 1 Champion Niki Lauda. But BMW won the most important race on the European Championship calendar that weekend. As a result the Batmobile legend was born.

Back in the summer of 1975, BMW entered a very special version of the 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” coupe at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW’s first “Art Car” was created by Alexander Calder, an American artist known for his giant mobiles.

Alexander Calder’s 3.0 CSL was the first in a line of BMW Art Cars that spanned three decades. It set off a series of BMW’s racers rendered by famous artists. Frank Stella, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein interpretations of the 3.0 CSL followed Calder’s Le Mans “Batmobile”.

Known as a very charitable event, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance show’s Foundation has donated over $2.2 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996.

Definitely a highlight and not to be missed, the Florida car event will host a special class for BMW’s rare “Batmobiles” at the 19th annual edition of the spring show that opens the international concours season.

If you would like to attend the the 2014 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance car show and see a BMW Batmobile up close, please contact The Life of Luxury and we can assist you with all of your travel and car show arrangements.

Early Porsche 911 lr – Photo by Porsche Werks

The 18th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held the weekend of March 10, 2013. The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is definitely among the top automotive events in the world.

If you love luxury and antique cars, then this event is truly a celebration of the automobile like no other. Now in its second decade, the annual car show will honor iconic luxury car brand – Porsche 911’s 50th anniversary.

Commonly known as “The Amelia,” this popular Florida car show draws nearly 250 rare vehicles from various collections around the world to The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach and The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

The Porsche’s 911 was first launched in the autumn of 1963 at the Frankfurt Auto Salon. This car quickly became the classic design and the car that jettisoned Porsche to its commercial and competition success.

Even today, the classic Porsche 911 remains a timeless success in showrooms, on the roads and race courses worldwide. From its first entry Porsche’s new 911 won its category in all the classic sports car endurance races.

Class wins in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans were followed by outright victory in the rugged Monte Carlo Rally in 1968. In 1973 the Brumos Porsche 911 RS driven by Jacksonville’s Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won a legendary upset victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, defeating an international field of pure prototypes.

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

Also in 1973, Porsche’s 911 won overall victories in the punishing 12 Hours of Sebring and the World Championship Targa Florio on the rugged mountain roads of Sicily.

The Porsche 911 has seen numerous changes over the years. It has been turbocharged making it one of the fastest and strongest accelerating cars for highway use. On February 4, 2012 Porsche introduced the latest version of the 911, the 991.

The 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 8-10th on the 10th and 18th fairways of world famous The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach, Florida which is next to The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

The show’s Foundation has donated nearly $1.8 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996.

To receive additional information about the upcoming 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, please visit www.ameliaconcours.org or call 904-636-0027.

Contact us to help arrange your travel reservation or purchase tickets

330 LM GTO Ferrari – Dave Wendt

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is now in its second decade and the luxury car show is among the top automotive events in the world.

The 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 9-11 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

“The Amelia” is its commonly known, draws nearly 250 rare vehicles from car collections around the world to The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach and The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island for a celebration of the automobile like no other.

The 330 GTOs were Ferrari’s in-house hot rods: prototype Grand Touring cars with four-liter V-12 engines instead of the GTO’s traditional 3-liter V-12. Just two were built; a cross between a pure prototype and a road going Grand Touring car.

Assigned to Ferrari Engineer and racer Mike Parkes and factory F1 and sports car ace Lorenzo Bandini, Jim Jaeger’s 4-liter GTO (#3765) appears as it did on June 23, 1962 when gridded seventh at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1967 “3765” came to America. Jim Jaeger took possession of this prototype GTO in 1985 and began a historically fastidious restoration. Once he had obtained the car’s original 4-liter V-12 engine block, Jaeger returned the car to its original 1962 Le Mans livery. Today “3765” wears the number seven, just as it did 50 years ago at Le Mans on Saturday afternoon, June 23, 1962.

330 LM GTO Ferrari – Dave Wendt

Amelia founder and Chairman Bill Warner was quoted, “This is our ‘marquee car.’ It’s the car on our website and, with its deep and pronounced hood bulge, the most recognizable and voluptuous of the GTO breed.” Jaeger’s GTO is one of the first two four-liter GTOs built by the Ferrari factory.

For more information, visit http://www.ameliaconcours.org or call 904-636-0027.

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO – Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

The 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held next year from March 9-11 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach next to the luxury The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

1962 marked the iconic debut of this most significant Ferrari – the Ferrari GTO. 2012 will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the classic Ferrari GTO.

This will be a rare gathering at 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, including legendary GT racers that made its international debut at the 1962 12 Hours of Sebring and proceeded to rule international GT racing for three years.

The Ferrari GTO was built between 1962 and 1964, but yet only 36 three-liter cars and two four-liter cars were created by the factory. Ferrari 250 GTOs were constructed to meet new racing rules for the FIA’s World Championship Grand Touring category.

The stylish racing car’s name is derived from the Italian language as GTO means “Grand Turismo Omologato” and translates to “Grand Touring Homologated.”

Racing was Enzo Ferrari’s life. As the legendary GTO went from drawing board to metal, shockingly a civil war within Ferrari rocked the organization to its foundations. The disagreements left 26 year-old Mauro Forghieri to pick up the pieces and bring Ferrari’s newest GT racer to life.

Due to its limited production numbers, sleek GT styling, and rich competition history, Ferrari GTOs are highly prized and considered a work of art by collectors and automotive journalists around the world.

The Ferrari GTO sold originally for about $18,000 in the United States. On the rare occasion when one does change hands, it is usually in extremely private circumstances and the price tag is easily in the multi-million dollar range.