Multiplas at Amelia

The 27th Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance was held on March 3rd through the 6th, 2022 at the fabulous Ritz Carlton Hotel and Golf Course, in sunny Amelia Island, Florida. This was a transition year for the concours event marked by new ownership and management for the first time since it’s inception. Long time organizer and creator of the event Bill Warner has retired and The Hagerty Group recently acquired the rights to the event. The Amelia is actually more than just a concours (French term for a fancy car show.) It has grown over the years to become a four-day celebration of all things automotive including auctions, artwork, automobilia, tours, presentations, banquets, lectures, and several gatherings and shows.

One of the “new” events this year was “Cars & Caffeine”, Hagerty’s take on the traditional “Cars & Coffee” from previous years. More than 300 cars and their owners participated in this year’s gathering, including yours truly and my 1963 Multipla. I was lucky enough to be visited by many patrons who were all very complimentary of my car and curious about Multiplas in general. Most knew very little about the car, but some were quite knowledgeable and had their own experiences with Multiplas.

My car, however, was not the only Fiat, nor even the only Multipla at this year’s event. The Revs Institute from Naples FL, a not for profit 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to fostering the understanding and appreciation of automotive history, brought out their beautifully restored 1960 Multipla. The Rev’s Institute, in addition to being a museum involved in the restoration and display of vintage automobiles, also maintains a library and archives and is one of the leading repositories of automotive artifacts. I spoke with Jane Hamel of Revs and am hopeful she will register their Multipla and possibly add their car’s story as a blog post to our website.

Another highlight for me was meeting Mr. Donnie Gould from Florida. Donnie informed me he had recently acquired and was in the process of restoring a Fissore bodied Fiat Marinella; a variant of the 600 Multipla and one of only two ever produced. Below is a photo of the other Marinella from our “Variations on a Theme” page on this site. I am hopeful that Mr. Gould will add his unique vehicle to our registry and provide photos of his car for our “Member’s Gallery” page.

Needless to say, the weekend was fabulous, great fun, and very well attended. This was my 21st consecutive year attending this event, and I am never less than amazed at the variety and quality of cars displayed year after year. This year we stayed in downtown Fernandina Beach, which is rich with wonderful restaurants, pubs, shops, and of course a Friday preview of some of the cars participating in the Concours on Sunday. Fernandina is an easy 15-minute drive down coastal A1A to the Concours location in Amelia Island. I highly recommend this event to anyone interested in some of the most interesting, beautiful, and rare automobiles in the world today.

*Pit stop with my shop partners and good friends Jeff Jakeman and Bill Tremble.