The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will celebrate world renowned coach
builder Bohman & Schwartz as well as a pair of 50th anniversaries for
significant races at Sebring and Daytona, during its 14th annual concours March
13-15,2009 at the Ritz Carlton.
The elegant creations of Southern California coachbuilder Bohman &
Schwartz will be featured in a separate class, which will display the one-of-a
kind "Phantom Corsair" that was commissioned for Rust Heinz, heir to
the H.J. Heinz food empire. The Phantom Corsair’s futuristic shark-like body
was mated to a Cord 810 Chassis and enjoyed a brief stint in Hollywood appearing
as the mysterious "Flying Wombat" in the movie, "The Young in
Heart." The car will be making a rare trip outside the National Automobile
Museum (The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada for its showing the Amelia Island
Concours.
Also celebrated at this year’s concours, are the 50th anniversaries of the
first US Grand Prix Formula One race at Sebring International Raceway and the
only Indy car race ever held at the Daytona International Speedway. A seminar
called "The Great Roadster Drivers," will be held to recount the
history and legacy of these races. Miami native Jim Rathmann, the 1960 Indy 500
winner, will be the Concours’ guest for the weekend and will participate in
the Saturday seminar at The Ritz-Carlton grand ballroom. Johnny Rutherford,
Bobby Unser, and Parnelli Jones are also tentatively set to join Rathmann on the
panel.
"The races at Sebring and Daytona may seem to be footnotes to some since
they were held only once, but both are an important part of the overall history
of auto racing as each was run a single time for very different reasons,"
says Bill Warner, founder and co-chairman of Amelia. "We’re also excited
to feature the designs of Bohman & Schwartz, a custom coachbuilder
responsible for some of the most elegant automotive designs of their era whose
beauty still stands the test of time today."
The 1959 Sebring race was short lived due to financial troubles from the race
for Alec Ulmann, the man behind the legendary central Florida race track.
Daytona’s experience was far more tragic. Racer George Amick, after setting a
one-lap American course record of 176.887 mph during practice, lost control of
his car on the last lap of a 100-mile race and had a fatal crash. Rathmann took
the checkered flag for that race and in the process set a world competitive race
record of 171.261 mph. Since 1959, Indy cars have not raced at Daytona.
The show’s foundation has donated nearly $1.6 million to Community Hospice
of Northeast Florida, Inc. since 1996.
This show is on the actual golf course along the 10th and 18th fairways.