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Hi Gang....
Our adventure as part of the Amelia Island Concours is now
complete, and what a weekend it was! We arrived late Friday
night at Amelia Island
which is just north of Jacksonville Florida. We
being myself (Jon Greuel), Geoff Hacker (owner of
1957 Conquest), Merrill Powell (owner of Victress in 1950's),
his wife Gerrianne, Pat Boyce Smith (wife of Doc Boyce Smith,
owner of Victress as well), Joan Dawes (wife of Les Dawes), and
their daughter Debbi. What a group! On Friday night, we spent
time getting to know each other because we had only talked on
the phone before, so you can imagine, this was quite a late
night....
Saturday was our day to clean the car and
stage it on the lawn of the Ritz Carlton hotel - just on the
beach of this beautiful island. We did so mid-afternoon, and as
we drove to the point to unload our car, what did we see but the
Guy Mabee Special which is a Victress S1A. What a great sign
this was!!! We unloaded our cars together, and Merrill
Powell was invited by the owners of the Victress (Jim and Lee
Ann Robinson) to drive it as it was brought onto the lawn of the
event. Geoff was kind enough to ask me to be the driver for the
weekend and my first task was to follow the Victress onto the
field. My co-pilot....none other than Les Dawes daughter
Debbi. We staged our cars side by side for the event that night
and talked on the lawn until it was nearly dark. Very very
neat!!!
Sunday....Geoff and I hit the ground
running and were at the event before dawn to make sure all was
ready. Soon after, Merrill Powell, Joan Dawes, and Debbie Dawes
showed up. And....the judges immediately showed up - one being
George Barris from custom car fame. Unbelievable!!!
George loved the lines on the Conquest and
remembered it being in his 1958 show in Burbank California.
What a memory!!! This was the first one he had seen since his
show so many years ago (we'll have copies of this 1958 program
for you to see shortly on the internet). I'll have pictures of
George and the car for everyone as well. George has asked the
Dawes family to contact them in the near future, and you can
imagine how excited Joan was to receive this kind of attention.
So many things happened in such a short
time. But I can't help but share one final (for now) event.
Somehow, somewhere, someone made the decision to have a parade
of cars from one class in the show only. The parade is usually
10 cars from a field of nearly 300 of some of the most expensive
cars in the world. To give you an idea of just how impressive
the cars were, here are some of the names of them: Bugatti,
Duesenberg, Ferrari, Maserati, and so many others - I can’t
even spell their name. An unbelievable sight to behold.
The class chosen this year was “Fiberglass
Sports Cars 1951-1960”, and was anchored by none other than the
LaDawri Conquest. Cars were escorted to a football field sized
area where each car was driven thru the open field, in front of
thousands of spectators while the announcer described the car
and make, and the driver and passenger got to wave. When on the
field, each car stopped at the center stage area in front of
thousands more who were in the grandstands.
Not only was the LaDawri asked to be in
this parade of cars. It was placed as the last car so that Joan
Dawes could be introduced on stage to all spectators and be
given a chance to speak about the car. I was asked again to
drive the car (thanks Geoff!!!) and Debbi Dawes was the
passenger. What a unreal experience this was. Photographers
from across the world captured the moment, and everything was
videoed as well (I'll post video of this event in the next few
weeks).
Thanks again to Geoff Hacker and his energy
and enthusiasm for making this come together in such a nice way
for our group. What an opportunity this was to get our cars
recognized in such a significant way. As I start to share
photos and videos of this event via our website, I'm sure each
of you will share our excitement that the LaDawri name and the
Conquest were received and recognized in such a special way.
For now, I’ve attached one picture of the “field” and the
LaDawri and Victress on display. I hope you enjoy this first
“taste” of the Concours…
Jon Greuel
LaDawri.com |
