What not to miss at the Amelia Island Concours 2015

With the event now in its 20th year, attendance at the Amelia Island Concours is once again expected to swell beyond previous years’ levels. Here are 2015’s must-see exhibits…

Sir Stirling Moss

If you’ve been running a classic car event for two decades, you’ll need to keep something special up your sleeve for the anniversary edition – and that’s just what organiser Bill Warner has done. Reprising the first concours of 1996, this year’s event will again pay homage to Sir Stirling Moss. Sixty years ago, the Brit won the Mille Miglia with record-setting pace, and his triumphant ‘722’ Mercedes 300 SLR will grace the Amelia Island lawn alongside 19 other cars personally raced by the living legend.

BMW 328

Warner famously keeps the majority of the concours classes a closely guarded secret, but he has revealed that the BMW 328 – the car that set the Bavarian manufacturer on the road to producing 'Ultimate Driving Machines' – will have its own category. An early favourite for the Best in Class award is the ‘Trouser-Crease Roadster’, a period Mille Miglia participant and the only special-bodied 328 built by the factory.

Porsche 914

Another cult German to be given its own display is the Porsche 914. Initially met by disapproval from the purists, the mid-engined sports car soon set about proving its worth on the racetrack, famously winning its class on its debut outing at Le Mans. The Amelia display is set to feature different variants of the cruelly christened ‘ugly duckling’, possibly including one of the two cars created for the Porsche family with a flat-8 racing engine.

Orphaned concept cars

One of our most highly anticipated concours classes of Amelia 2015 is that of the ‘orphaned concept cars’ of the 50s and 60s. This obscure gathering might have failed to save its respective creators in period, but will certainly delight show-goers more than 50 years down the line. The entry list has a distinctly American flavour, but some entrants are seasoned with delightful experimental coachwork from the likes of Ghia and Carrozzeria Touring.

Rally cars

They might have hung their outside rear wheels off cliff edges for fun back in their heyday, but some rally legends will be given a new lease of life in their retirement years at Amelia 2015, battling each other for superiority on the concours lawn. Lancia’s luminaries will be out in force with prominent examples of the Fulvia, Stratos, 037 and Delta, while Mercedes will bring the unique 500 SL Rally built by the factory for Walter Röhrl. Porsche is also expected to have a presence in this category – might we be treated to the sight of an ex-Vic Elford 911T?

Photos: www.rashba.com, Mercedes Classic, Verena Glashauser, Porsche Classic

The Nardi-Danese 6C 2500 Has A Legendary Lineage

In the late 1990s, Dick DeLuna came across a tired old Italian race car for sale. It had clearly been used hard and then left out to rot, discarded like so many other race cars of its era. 

Upon examination, DeLuna discovered that this car was a Nardi-Danese 6C 2500, one of only three ever made. As you might suspect, the “Nardi” in the marque’s name owes its presence to one Enrico Nardi, who would go on to prominence for his beautiful steering wheels but who first made his mark in the car world as a test driver and engineer at Lancia and for Scuderia Ferrari. 

After parting ways with Mr. Ferrari, Nardi did not abandon his car-buildling aspirations. Among other creations, he created three 6C 2500 models for the 1948-49 Mille Miglia and Targa Florio races. After running in these and a few other races, however, the car found its way to the United States where, after a time, its owners swapped out its original Alfa Romeo engine and replaced it with one from a Cadillac. Many more races later, the car was parked and forgotten until DeLuna came across it. 

DeLuna’s Nardi has since been reborn after an extensive restoration, and DeLuna has wasted no time in returning it to the racing world. In recent years, DeLuna – usually with his wife by his side – has driven the car in the Tour Auto in France, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and at the Monterey Historics. 

When he’s not racing, DeLuna loves nothing more than to squeeze into the low-slung cockpit and take the Nardi for a roaring drive into the hills near his house. Today, we went along for the ride.



Drive Tastefully®

An Apple Watch? That’s so 1983...

This April, millions will believe they are at the forefront of technology when they purchase an Apple Watch. However, the basic concept of a wrist-worn i-device was first explored back in the early 1980s…

And your iPad is an 80s baby, too

The 1983 ‘Wrist and Ear Phone’ study was just one of a number of design concepts investigated by Steve Jobs’ design geniuses in the early 1980s, which also included an early MacBook proposal, numerous variations of the Macintosh desktops, the first 'iPhone', and even an early version of what we now know as the iPad. While the ‘Wristphone’ study – which had simple numerical keys rather than a fancy touchscreen – might not quite have boasted the same bevy of functions as its modern-day descendant, it’s representative of the forward-thinking nature of the then-start-up company. These early years of fuss-free aesthetics are now celebrated in a book written by Hartmut Esslinger, one of Jobs’ go-to design masterminds during the company’s formative years.

Photos: Provided by Arnoldsche, individual credits in gallery

‘Keep it Simple - The Early Design Years of Apple’ is published by Arnoldsche Art Publishers, and can be ordered online now.

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