Curated hosts the 2019 Miami Concours

The Second Annual Miami Concours Presented by Chopard

February 15-17, 2019

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Text and Images by Barton Workman
- Best of Show, the 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS
- Significant entries included original Ford GT40 Roadster #108 among many others

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displayed on Red Carpet
- Honoring Horacio Pagani

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The second annual Miami Concours Presented by Chopard took place alongside the Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH) “Watches & Wonders” event in the Miami Design District over President’s Day weekend.

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The Miami Concours featured close to 70 Concours cars, displayed on 39th and 41st Streets of the Miami Design District, hand selected and presented on red carpet. The cars were joined by incredible sponsor activations from Palm Court through the heart of Paseo Ponti and on to Paradise Plaza perfectly lined up in front of the Miami Design District’s ultra-posh shops, boutiques, galleries, design studios, cafes and restaurants.

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Events began on Friday evening with a VIP Reception in the beautiful Palm Court hosted by Chopard. Palm Court, the focal point for the Miami Design District and is the palm tree dotted, pedestrian plaza, which features significant architecture by Sou Fujimoto and Aranda/Lasch along with public art installations by Konstantin Grcic, Matthew Richie and Xavier Veilhan.
Car collectors and VIPs were joined by Jim Glickenhaus with the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003 CS, treated to lite fare and cocktails from Mr. C Hotels Group, part of the Cipriani brand, and Carbonadi Vodka. It was a perfect evening, under a clear moonlit (if not a bit warm) night to reunite with old friends and make new acquaintances all anticipating what was to come over the weekend.

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Saturday was set aside for “Watches & Wonders” activities which saw twenty-nine watch brands take part in the various symposiums, demonstrations and introductions of the 2019 watch lines, the largest event of its kind outside of Switzerland.

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A few early arriving cars were stored in the amazing Museum Garage within the Design District. With anticipation growing for Sunday’s events, Miami Concours VIP guests and judges were treated to a Saturday evening concert by the Miami Symphony in Palm Court which was a lengthy performance worthy of the largest and most important venues.

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Preparations for Sunday’s big event began soon after midnight as crews started laying enough red carpet to cover virtually all of 39th and 41stStreets. It was an amazing sight even before sunrise and a testament to the Miami Concours crew who did an incredible job of having the carpet set for the early arriving cars which began loading in at 6:00AM.

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As cars began filling their assigned spots around the Miami Design District, the buzz grew to a crescendo as early arriving spectators got their first views of the incredible hand-picked collection of highlighted by the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster #108, 1957 Ferrari 250MM with Phil Hill provenance, the incredible USA owners Pagani display, Ferrari Supercars from F40 through LaFerrari, Lamborghini 400GT and two Miura examples, a Concours winning BMW 507, Mercedes 300SL Roadster, Ferrari Daytona Competizione and 275 GTB/4, Bugatti Veyron and the Geneva Show Car Veryron 16.4 GS Vitesse; automotive artistry in every direction.

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The cars looked right at home lined up on the red carpet in front of the eclectic architectural styles of each building in the Miami Design District with tree lined, cobbled streets lending to an old-world ambience. The landmark display was unlike anything ever presented on such a scale. Spectators and participants alike were hugely impressed on seeing the presentation of cars on the red carpet, the spectacular sight stretching across two major thoroughfare streets.
Likewise, Palm Court and Paradise Plaza were filled with modern and collectible racing Ferraris, Porsches and Hypercars alongside many sponsor activations.

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This year, the Miami Concours added the element of a properly judged concours featuring thirteen classes of participating cars. Dr. Mark Moskowitz of Gastonia, North Carolina served as Chief Judge and he assembled a world class team of distinguished judges including none other than American Ferrari legend Luigi Chinetti, Jr. Judging of the thirteen different categories got underway promptly at 9:00AM when the final cars were in position for inspection.

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“Our judging team included those who have spent a lifetime studying, restoring and/or collecting the great post war exotics, famous racecar drivers and accomplished automotive journalists” Dr. Moskowitz states. “The head of the second largest collector car organization in the U.S. and a member of the United States first family of Ferrari were among our group of esteemed judges in Miami”.

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“A stunning class of the world’s most noteworthy Hypercars and some of the great classic postwar sports cars representing the zenith of automotive design and engineering in their day” Moskowitz enthused.  “This group included the BMW 507, the E-Type Jaguars, the Mercedes 300 SL, the Porsche 356 Speedster as well as our Best of Show winner and runner up!”
From the Best of Class award categories, the stunning blue Pininfarina designed 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS of Miami’s own Leo Schigiel emerged as the Best of Show. The equally impressive (and sixty-four years younger) 2013 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 GS Vitesse from MKV Cars, LLC of Wellington, Florida placed in the runner up position.

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Trophies designed by long time event partners Pininfarina were handed out to all class winners, the Chopard Legacy Award was presented to Matthew Ivanhoe who brought his phenomenal Ferrari 250MM from Connecticut and the special Innovator Award was presented to Honored Judge, Horacio Pagani.

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The 2019 version of the Miami Concours Presented by Chopard easily surpassed attendance from last year. The awesome Miami weather cooperated with sunny and mostly warm temperatures in the mid-80s and cloudless skies throughout, very welcome especially by those whom made the journey down from up north!

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The Miami Design District was a mob scene with car enthusiasts and watch collectors from all over the world, a truly international audience of spectators and participants which took advantage of all the many great activities the venue has to offer.

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“From watch connoisseurs and car fanatics to locals and first-time visitors, we welcomed more people than ever before to the Miami Design District this weekend for the return of ‘Watches and Wonders,’ said Craig Robins CEO of Dacra Development and developer of the Miami Design District.  “Foot traffic nearly doubled from last year, a sign of a remarkably successful event which could not have been possible without our partners the FHH, Miami Concours and the Miami Yacht Show. As ‘Watches and Wonders’ and Miami Concours continue to grow, we can’t wait to see what next year’s edition will bring to the vibrant city of Miami!”

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From every point of view, the second annual Miami Concours Presented by Chopard was a major hit. The perfect venue at the Miami Design District, the perfect Miami weather, the perfect display of incredible collectible and exotic automobiles. The perfect mix of the stunning array of cars with “Watches & Wonders” along with world class shopping, world class dining, world class entertainment makes the event one of the new must-do automotive events on the U.S. east coast.

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Class Winners:
Mercedes-Benz 300SL: 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster, Leo Schigiel
Ferrari Supercar: 1994 Ferrari F40, Greg Chamandy
Hypercars: 2013 Veyron 16.4 GS Vitesse, MKV Cars, LLC
Lamborghini V12: 1999 Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 VT Roadster, Paulo Docouto
Porsche 911 Evolution: 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster, Vince Vento
Racing Cars 50’s – 60’s: 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster, Vincent Harrison
Racing Cars 70’s – 80’s 1985 March 85G Porsche, Vince Vento
Racing Cars 90’s – 00’s 1994 Ferrari 348 GTC LM, Heinz Swoboda
Sports & GTs 50’s: 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS, Leo Schigiel
Sports & GTs 60’s: 1966 Jaguar E-Type, Motorcar Gallery, Inc.
Sports & GTs 70’s: 1972 Ferrari 365BB Glenn Simon
Chopard Legacy Award: Matthew Ivanhoe 1959 Ferrari 250MM
First Runner Up: 2013 Veyron 16.4 GS Vitesse, MKV Cars, LLC
Best of Show: 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Leo Schigiel
Innovator Award: Presented to Horacio Pagani, Pagani Automobili S.p.A

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Distinguished Judges
Chief Judge: Dr. Mark Moskowitz
Steve Alhgrim
Brad Bean
Matt Burns
Glenn Butler
Luigi Chinetti
Chip Davis
Paulo Docouto
Stuart Field
Luc Grondin
Ted Gushue
Jay Quail
Bob Squier
Tom McDermott
Mike Potoliccio
Larry Printz
Ira Shapiro
Sidney Vallon
Rubin Verdes
Phil Williams

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