Amelia Island Werks Reunion
Last week Sue and I attended the Porsche Werks Reunion and the Amelia Concours Auto Show at Fernandina Beach, FL. The Werks Reunion was held at the Amelia Island River Golf Club. They offered Porsches-only Corral parking on one of the fairways, while everyone else parked just down the street at the Pro shop. We elected to park our 911 in the Corral which allowed us to get up close and personal to all the action. An army of volunteers were there early in the morning to assist everyone line up by model. They were able to get 700 Porsches into that one area, and it was quite a sight to see Porsches of every year and model parked as far as the eye could see.
The theme of the Reunion this year was the Transaxle cars, which of course, includes 924s, 944s, 968s and 928s. Several examples were there for everyone to admire and reminisce about the old days. This included everything from daily drivers to beautifully restored models. Even though these cars were over 40 years old, it was amazing to see the beautiful condition and attention to detail some of these cars possessed.
One of my favorites was a light yellow 928 that was pretty much in stock condition. The current owner kept things serviced and drove it regularly. It has plenty of bumps and bruises on it, but other than that it was quite a time capsule of German engineering of that era. It was my favorite because the earliest ride I had in a Porsche was in the late ‘70s in a neighbor’s copper-colored 928. Getting out of my MGB and into his car was like stepping into a modern-day jet fighter. Amazing to say the least!
Besides the theme cars, there were many other Porsches on display that people brought to the Reunion because they had an “interesting story”. Most of them were special models’ people had purchased, or found somewhere, or tribute models someone always wanted. A lot of the tribute cars started with a few tweaks here and there, but then turned into a larger, more expensive project. Heard that story before, right?
There was a special 959 that caught my eye at center stage. The owner had sent his pride and joy to the Bruce Canepa Company in California to make a few “repairs” to it. His wish list of repairs kept growing, and by the time he was done, it was four years (and a lot more money) later. I’m not sure I would have chosen the snow-white leather interior, but it was a beautiful car, nonetheless.
There were plenty of vendors around the grounds, too, that we see at every big auto show, catering to the desires of Porsche owners. Custom leather clothing, jackets and driving gloves, performance-improving parts and accessories were in large supply.
The PCA management teams were also there with assistance for anything you wanted help with regarding Club membership. There was a goodie store, PCA-branded items and PCA Juniors activities available. It was a well-organized and run event, with plenty of things to do, vendors to visit and great cars to see.
There was another event going on later in the day, called the Amelia Island Kickoff Auto Show at the Main Beach Park. This is an eclectic collection of cars from vintage VWs to Mercedes Benz, Ferraris and custom cars. There seemed to be a lighter feel to this show as everyone is happy and friendly while getting warmed up for the Concours over the next two days.
The Amelia Concours show on Saturday was held on another golf course, this time at the Ritz Carlton. The weather was very cooperative and simply great all weekend. To say the cars were beautiful is quite an understatement.
There was an incredible array of cars on display. The classes of cars covered rare and vintage models of the bygone days, all the way up to the most modern supercars. We saw a collection of early British race cars, Can-Am cars, American muscle cars as well as open-wheel racers.
Sunday’s car show was more of the same with different classes being presented. There was a large presence from the Ferrari and BMW Clubs of Florida. There were plenty of representation of the Mercedes Benz marque throughout the show. Hagerty Insurance was the main sponsor of this event and they were well represented all around the grounds. Broad Arrow was holding auctions on both Friday and Saturdays. There was an amazing collection for cars scheduled for the auction displayed around the hotel and in the main tent on the property. Several Mercedes Benz cars were there for the auction, including one of the early AMG models.
The Werks Reunion and the Concours at Amelia Island is a great venue for a car show and is worth considering for a future trip.