This article was written by Mike Puma, Partner & Social Media Manager of Undiscovered Classics.
The 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance may have been our best showing yet for the cars of Undiscovered Classics. Following up the success of our classes last year (“Fiberglass Dreams” at Amelia and “Dream Cars of the 50s” at Pebble Beach) was no small feat. This year we further expanded recognition to American handcrafted cars.
The class was curated by our own Geoff Hacker under the banner of “Sport Customs – America’s Boulevard Cruisers.” Sport Customs are generally larger than a Chevrolet Corvette sports car, usually roadsters, elegant, and “sporty.” It was our 17th year at the Amelia Concours and as always, we were honored to be there.
Most of the cars this year were fresh off restorations or being shown for the first time since their original “build.” But one of the secrets of Undiscovered Classics is that handcrafted cars are being restored across the country in larger number than ever before. This means that there is an increasing number of Undiscovered Classic cars that will make their world debut each year at future concours and events.
We also tried something different this year – videos of each of the cars on the concours field with their owners and restorers. You can follow along for our entire experience at the concours in our four-part series on YouTube. It starts off with the harrowing journey of the 1955 Debonnaire roadster through a rainstorm to reach the field in time, then the interviews for each of the cars, and finally an overall look at the concours before the concours field was open to the public.
The class winner of our Sport Custom class was the 1948 Timbs Streamliner. This is a special car – it had nearly been lost to time after recent California wildfires burned most of the car to the ground. Thankfully, owners Gary and Diane Cerveny previously had their car digitally scanned and it was those scans that were crucial to an authentic restoration. The Timbs Streamliner made its’ “world-debut” at Amelia in our class this year.
In second place for our class was the 1958 LeMans Coupe, designed by Strother MacMinn and restored by Dennis Kazmerowski and Chip Fudge. This is a car that has not been seen in public since the early 1960s. It also took home a cherished corporate award, the “Chief Judges Award”. The LeMans Coupe was one of the few cars across the field that day to receive more than one award, and it was exciting to be there to witness this achievement.
Tom Chandler’s 1952 Glasspar G2 and our very own 1959 Devin-bodied Salerno Special received the remaining class awards. The Devin was a surprise given its survivor status in a class of meticulously restored cars, but the originality and quality of the build really resonated with the judges. The presentation to the judges by our good friend and talented builder/restorer, Robin James almost certainly sealed the deal. Robin was crucial in getting the car into show ready shape in the weeks leading up to the concours.
It was another incredible year for us at this prestigious display of automotive art and we were pleased to see how many people truly enjoyed our cars throughout the day. The owners were all very engaged with the attendees and consistently heard how people were excited to experience cars they’ve never seen before – cars that were a significant part of the early postwar development of sports cars in America.
It took our teams (11 teams with 11 cars on the field this year in our class) a lot of effort to participate in the concours, and we certainly have had more than our share of fun. While the awards are great, just being there to share the history and importance of these unique, lesser-known cars to a wider audience is the real prize.
We’ll be back at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for the Wedge-Shaped Concept Cars and Prototypes class later this year (2024) and we’ll be presenting the 1966 Cannara on the field. This is the earliest known car that was part of the movement of wedge cars and wedge car design which started in the mid 1960s. The car has been restored by our friend Guy Dirkin and his team, and you can learn more about this car and the era via our online book, The Origins of Wedge Car Design.
If luck continues to grace our group and their cars, we may have another exciting announcement about Pebble in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
Mike Puma is a partner at Undiscovered Classics along with Geoff Hacker and together they find, research, and restore America’s lost automotive treasures. Undiscovered Classics focuses on the history behind and the celebration of American handcrafted sports cars from the postwar era.
Largely untold, this story and these cars were central to the theme of postwar sports car development and appreciation, influencing design and expectations for Detroit and America in a significant way.
