15 Can’t-Miss Cars You’ll Find at The Amelia 2025

The best reason to head to Amelia Island this weekend? According to U.S. News Travel, March is one of the best months to experience this tiny Florida island about 33 miles northeast of Jacksonville—but the correct answer isn’t the weather. It’s the cars.

Beginning Thursday, March 6, classic and collector cars of all eras descend on the island for The Amelia, now celebrating 30 years. Held at the Ritz-Carlton, the four-day automotive extravaganza includes something for everyone—a two-day Broad Arrow auction (March 7–8), free ride-and-drives in both classic and new cars, seminars hosted by racing greats like Ray Evernham and Justin Bell, and two different automotive gatherings held on The Golf Club of Amelia Island just in front of the Ritz: on Saturday, the informal Cars & Community, a 300-car display on the main show field plus 200 more Radwood cars on another fairway, as well as the glamorous Amelia Concours d’Elegance, highlighting more than 275 historically significant vehicles in more than 35 classes [Note: Due to forecasted inclement weather, the 2025 Amelia Concours d’Elegance has been rescheduled from Sunday, March 9, to Saturday, March 8.—Ed.]

The 2025 event of “the racer’s concours” will honor Hélio Castroneves, and Saturday’s concours will showcase (among many other classes) Corvettes with racing history at Sebring, sports and GT cars from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, plus all seven generations of IROC race cars.

Tickets are available now on ameliaconcours.com. Hagerty Drivers Club members get 20 percent off an adult general admission ticket to Cars & Community ($36) on Saturday or to the Amelia Concours d’Elegance on Saturday ($120). Children 12 and younger enter for free, if accompanied by an adult, and veterans, military, and first responders can all expect significantly discounted GA tickets for the weekend’s events.

There are few weekends in the U.S. where you can see as many historic cars as this in one place — from one-of-one prewar beauties to modern-day F1 cars. In case you’re still on the fence, here’s a list of some of the cars you can expect to see on the showfield … come rain or shine!

All 7 Generations of IROC racers

Between 1974 and 2006 (with a few exceptions), the International Race of Champions put the world’s biggest racing names on track to prove who was best. All the cars were prepared the same, and the make and model of the car would change throughout the series’ intermittent 32-year run. The first IROC race car was the Porsche 911 RSR. From 1975 on, the organizers of the series (Roger Penske, Les Richter, and Mike Phelps) focused on American metal, most notably the Camaro. The IROC race cars often spawned road-going variants, but at The Amelia, you’ll get a rare chance to see all seven generations of the race cars themselves.

1995 Mercedes Benz S500 Coupe AMG Picasso Edition

In the 1990s, if you wanted the fastest, most eye-catching Mercedes possible, you grabbed the AMG catalog, selected the model of your choice, and ordered this wild, hand-painted interior through Mercedes’ special-order program, Designo. AMGs with this interior were hugely expensive, typically ordered by customers in Japan, Hong Kong, and the Middle East, where flash is king. While they weren’t officially called “Picasso editions” by Mercedes, it’s obvious why they’ve picked up that nickname over time.

1921 Castle Duesenberg

This is it—the very first Duesenberg passenger car. Fred and Augie had built race cars before 1921, but this one, later referred to as the Model A, ordered by savvy industrialist Samuel Northrup Castle, is the first road car. As typical of the time, Castle ordered the chassis, straight-eight engine, and suspension from Duesenberg and sent them to a coachbuilder that would shape the sheetmetal. The Bender Body Company of Cleveland, Ohio, worked with Mr. Castle to build a body for his Duesenberg that would fit his seven-foot frame, placing the clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals just where he’d find them comfortable.

With its bicycle-style fenders and giant circular headlights, this car may look nothing but “old” to our modern eyes, but consider this: It had hydraulic brakes on all four wheels, and an overhead camshaft, in 1921! Read more about this fascinating Duesey in this in-depth article.

1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Cabriolet

At an abstract level, this 1938 Alfa Romeo is similar to the Duesenberg above: A one-of-one built by a company that also made cars for illustrious people—in this case, the first-ever F1 World Champion, Giuseppe Antonio “Nino” Farina. Farina raced Alfa Romeos, and sold them, too, after he retired from racing, so it’s only natural that he would have an Alfa like none other.

It was only too convenient that Nino’s family owned a coachbuilding business in Turin, Stabilimenti Industriali Farina. Actually, it owned two: Pinin Farina, which would become Pininfarina in 1961, was established in the ’20s when Battista left the family shop to form his own coachbuilder. For whatever reason, Nino went with the older of the two companies, and to this day, his 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 is the only such model to wear a Farina body.

1965 Aston Martin DB5

What happens when a video game designer who builds highly detailed 1:8 scale models of cars in his free time decides he wants a challenge? A painstakingly accurate yet modernized replica of the Goldfinger replica. Joe Kaminkow’s DB5 has everything the movie car had—including guns, bulletproof glass, an oil slick sprayer, and an ejection seat—and a few things it didn’t, like a touchscreen display and its own iPhone/Apple Watch app.

Want to learn more about this intricate build? Click here.

1995 Honda NSX Type R

With the NSX, Honda crashed the global supercar party, previously occupied by European manufacturers, and performed a mic drop: A mid-engine supercar “bred with bulletproof reliability” that you could drive to work and actually enjoy. The NXR Type-R tossed the creature comforts out the window—seriously. You won’t find sound deadening, a stereo, an A/C system, or a spare tire in a Type-R. These hard-core models were rare; Honda only built 483, and sold them exclusively in Japan. This one is white over red—so ’90s, in the best way possible.

1980 BMW M1

From one mid-engine car, we go back in time to another: The 1980 BMW M1. It was brand’s first mid-engine effort, and the first “in-house” product from BMW’s performance (and erstwhile racing) division. Created to compete in Group 4 and Group 5 racing, it was hamstrung by production delays, and only ever raced in a spec series BMW created for it. Even so, its engine would go on to power the first-ever M5 sedan, and the M1’s unmistakable wedge shape still turns heads today.

2024 Gunther Werks Speedster

If you like wide-body cars, and air-cooled 911s, then you’ll love the Gunther Werks Speedster. Where Emory focuses on 356s and Singer on 964s, Gunther prefers the 993, as showcased by this tribute to the two 993 Speedsters made by the factory. One of 25, this Speedster Remastered boasts a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six coaxed to an output of over 440 hp and a completely redone interior. Unless you hang around Monaco, you won’t be seeing another one of these anytime soon.

TWR V12 Super-GT “SuperCat”

Back in the ’80s, Jaguar asked Scottish race car driver Tom Walkinshaw to help them beat rival BMW in the European Touring Car Championship by campaigning an XJ-S. Tom did, and his eponymous company, TWR, went on to collaborate with Jaguar on the Le Mans-winning XJR-9, the equally successful XJR-12, and the XJ220 supercar. In memory of his father, who passed away in 2010, Tom’s son has relaunched the brand and built an XJ-S for the modern era. The V12 Super-GT “Supercat” hides a 5.6-liter, supercharged V-12 backed by a six-speed manual transmission, an integrated roll cage, and a leather-wrapped interior with two giant digital displays.