1934 Duesenberg Model J, 2017 Cadillac DPi-V.R Win Amelia Island’s Best in Show
A 1934 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe and a 2017 Cadillac DPi-V.R were crowned this year’s Best in Show winners at The Amelia Concours d’Elegance, show officials announced.
Marking the inaugural year under Hagerty’s stewardship, the 2022 event highlighted vehicles and the Amelia’s 2022 honoree, driver and race team owner, Chip Ganassi, at the Golf Club of Amelia Island and the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.
1934 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe – 2022 Best in Show – Concours d’Elegance
The Best in Show Concours d’Elegance Trophy was awarded to a Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe displayed by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Intended to compete with the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, production Duesenberg J’s were fitted with 420-cubic inch, eight-cylinder engines with twin camshafts and equipped with factory-fitted dual Winfield carburetors, show officials said. One of the last Duesenbergs produced, this LaGrande Convertible Coupe could top 115 mph and was originally owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post (General Mills founder, businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist and collector of fine art – and the world’s wealthiest woman). This “Duesie” was used as her Long Island summer house car until 1962. Current owner Harry Yeaggy had it restored to its original specifications.
2017 Cadillac DPi-V.R – Best in Show – Concours de Sport
A Cadillac DPi displayed by the Jackson Collection, of Ellicott City, Maryland, took home the Best in Show Concours de Sport Trophy.
The Cadillac DPi-V.R was purpose-built to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This Wayne Taylor Racing chassis features a race-prepared, normally aspirated series-limited 600-horsepower Cadillac 5.5-liter V-8 engine and was the overall winner of the 2018 Petit Le Mans with lead driver Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande and Ryan Hunter Ray. This was followed up by winning the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona overall with lead driver and double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso, Renger van der Zande, Jordon Taylor and Kamui Kobayashi.
Every year, The Amelia assembles a group of cars associated with the honoree. For the 27th, The Amelia gathered eight of the cars that Chip Ganassi Racing competed with throughout his career, including the Dallara which won the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and the Chevrolet Impala which won the 2010 Daytona 500.
Racecars from the 60th Anniversary of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 70th Anniversary of Sebring were joined on the field by examples in the Race Cars Pre-War, NASCAR and Gurney Eagle show groups.
Other featured classes included selections from Waterhouse Coachworks highlighting the small Custom Coach Builder from Webster, Massachusetts, whose run was cut short after only five years thanks to the Great Depression, and the Rare Aluminum Porsche Race Car genre highlighting the earliest competition efforts from the then young sports car manufacturer and included a 1951 Le Mans class winner, show organizers said.
The aluminum 1949 356/2 entry owned by Cameron Healey and restored by Rod Emory, was one of the first three Porsches to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951, the world’s oldest endurance race. Class winner at Le Mans, the car set the table for the longest stretch of consecutive la Sarthe entries that continues to this day, Hagerty said.
A triple-carbureted, 4.5-liter in-line six-cylinder powered 1953 Delahaye 178 helped fill out the Sports and GT Cars 1958-1972 class, the largest at The Amelia with 22 cars, organizers said. This example featured coachwork by Henri Chapron of Paris and a four-speed electromechanical transmission that allowed the driver to shift without using the clutch. The car was on display courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Other 2022 show highlights included the celebration of the original Hot Rod, with the 90th Anniversary of the 1932 Ford. Anchoring the ’32 Ford class was one of the earliest examples of the genre, the “Doane Spencer Roadster” owned by Bruce Meyer. Rick and Elaine Schmidt’s 1924 Lincoln L, with its 90-horsepower 358 Cubic Inch L-Head V8, helped commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Lincoln.
“Congratulations to this year’s Best in Show winners and to all of the collectors who shared their cars at The Amelia,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty. “These incredible cars and their owners make The Amelia what it is: one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the automotive calendar every year. This was Hagerty’s first time operating the show, and we are enormously grateful for the hard work and support of our amazing sponsors, our volunteers who come back year after year, the entire car community and, of course, Bill Warner, our Chairman Emeritus.”
