Each year the prestigious Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance selects distinctive cars that will be featured during the event. Last year, for example, the BMW 3.0 CSL was chosen, and a significant number of “Batmobile” owners showed up with amazing examples of the model, including BMW’s Calder Art Car.
The Amelia Island organizers are continuing with a BMW theme for the 2015 Concours d’Elegance, naming the BMW 328 as one of its featured models. Their announcement explains that the concours wants to “showcase the legend and legacy of the car that set BMW on its path to become known as the ‘ultimate driving machine’.”
During the last half of the 1930’s, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union (now Audi) represented Germany on the grand prix circuit and dominated the European championships. During the same time, BMW became a force to be reckoned with in international sports car racing. In fact, in those last pre-war years, BMW was almost unbeatable, winning its class at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia outright, among other triumphs.
The car that achieved most of those wins was the BMW 328. “The 328 is the car that set BMW on its current course,” said Bill Warner, Founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “The poise, speed, and stamina of the 328 and its descendants are the roots of BMW’s reputation.”
The Amelia Island concours organizers already have confirmed that a great example of the model will be present. “The star of the BMW 328 class for our 20th anniversary is the unique 328 Buegelfalte (‘trouser crease,’ for the razor edge fender styling) roadster,” said Warner, “It finished sixth in the 1940 Mille Miglia and is the only 328 special roadster built at the BMW factory. We’re honored to have it on the field for our 20th anniversary concours.”
The 20th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will be held March 13–15, 2015 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida. In its two decades so far, the Amelia Island concours has become a classic event and a great opportunity to see rare vehicles in incredible condition from some of the best collections in the world. Since 1996, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Foundation has raised over $2,500,000 for the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc., Spina Bifida of Jacksonville, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Shop with Cops, and other deserving charities. In 2013, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance won Octane Magazine’s EFG International Historic Motoring Event of the Year award.
More than 250 rare and amazing cars will grace the greens at Amelia Island next March. Some of them will be BMWs and some of those BMWs will be examples not often available for public viewing. Quite a tempting opportunity for lovers of vintage BMWs.—Scott Blazey
Additional information may be found at http://www.ameliaconcours.org.
[Photos courtesy of Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance and David Wendt.]
