The 14th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, set for March 13–15, 2009, on the grounds of the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, will celebrate both famed coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz and a pair of 50th anniversaries for significant races at Sebring and Daytona. Additionally, this year’s event will pay tribute to versatile racer and commentator David Hobbs.
In an international career that spanned nearly 30 years, Hobbs raced in sports cars, touring cars, Indy, IMSA, Formual One, NASCAR and Group C machines. Hobbs won the 1971 U.S. Formula 5000 championship, as well as the 1983 Trans-Am championship. After retiring from racing, Hobbs went on to a successful career as a television commentator for the SPEED TV network.
Also on the Amelia docket are golden anniversary celebrations of two one-off races, the inaugural United States Grand Prix, held at Sebring in 1959 but never again, and the only appearance of Indycars at Daytona that same year. Jim Rathmann, the 1960 Indy 500 winner, will be the Concours’ guest for the weekend, and will take part in “The Great Roadster Drivers” seminar that will be held in the Ritz-Carlton’s grand ballroom on Saturday. Tentatively scheduled to join Rathmann on the panel are fellow Indy winners Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, and Parnelli Jones.
“The races at Sebring and Daytona may seem like footnotes to some since they were held only once, but both are important parts of auto racing’s overall history since each was run a single time for very different reasons,” noted Bill Warner, founder and co-chairman of Amelia.
