Auto Industry News: Amelia Concours Results, HOT ROD Drag Week Update, Self-Driving Fears, & News of the Weird

The Amelia Concours d’Elegance wrapped on Sunday, closing out several days of collector car auctions and a top-notch car show. Meet the Best in Show winners and check out some highlights from the record-breaking bids – like a six-figure Acura Integra Type R. (?!)

Plus, we have HOT ROD Drag Week’s official schedule and 2023 route, which just dropped, as well as the results of AAA’s most recent survey on automated driving. (Spoiler alert: respondents were not jazzed about self-driving vehicles.)

Just for fun, we’ve got an absolutely wild Mercedes G-Wagon for you to check out, and some news on DeLorean’s strange new reservation process. And for those of you who live or vacation in the Sunshine State, we also have information on Florida’s newly proposed bill that would ban your dog from hanging its head out the window.

What can we say but strap in, there’s a lot to cover.

Amelia Concours d’Elegance

Also known as “The Racer’s Concours,” due to its inclusion of racecars, the Amelia Concours d’Elegance took place this past weekend on beautiful Amelia Island in sunny Florida. The multi-day event is a collector car bonanza, featuring some of the best-kept examples of automotive history and craftsmanship.

The event is also special because of where it falls on the calendar – near the end of Q1, a couple months out from the big n’ buzzy January auctions, and just before enthusiasts start dusting off their own classic rides for spring. This unique positioning makes Amelia a car event to watch, as it helps set the tone for what the collector car market will look like for the coming year.

We’ll be unpacking this topic in detail later next week, sifting through some of the big market trends and collector habits popping up in 2023. But, for now, we’ve got some quick-hit takeaways on Amelia’s auctions and festivities – as well as a few wonderful and wild rides spotted on the island.

Going Once, Going Twice…

More than 450 cars crossed the block at Amelia’s four auctions last week, held by RM Sotheby’s, Gooding & Company, Bonhams, and newcomer Broad Arrow. With more than $178M in sales, the year 2023 will be etched into the books as the biggest yet for Amelia. Record-breaking sales and hammer prices aside though, the event lacked the feverish intensity seen on the collector car market since COVID.

Quality was high, and the presence of more top-tier (and top-dollar) vehicles made for a memorable weekend – but overall sell-through rate was down. According to the event’s host Hagerty, this combination indicates that sellers were more so “testing the waters” than feeling pressured to sell. Similarly, buyers were choosey about where they spent their money. “In other words, it seemed characteristic of a healthy, rational market.”

Some notable moments at the auctions included:

• The record sale of a 1992 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R, which sold for $379,000.
• The six-figure record sale of another popular (though largely underrated) JDM car, an Acura Integra Type R with just 6200 miles, which sold for $151,200.
• A perhaps less surprising record sale of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT, which sold for an eyewatering $18.045M.
• A non-James-Bond Lotus Esprit setting a record for the marque. The 2002 Esprit 25th Anniversary sold for $193,200 – quite a bit above its $125k–$150k estimate and the next-highest Esprit sale back in 2008 of $165,467.
• The AMG Hammer record getting smashed – twice. First, by a 1987 Mercedes-Benz AMG Hammer Sedan that sold for $775,000 and then by a 1991 AMG 6.0 Hammer Widebody Coupe, which sold for $885,000 just 20 minutes later.
• Mixed results for both pre-war autos and Porsches, two categories that usually set the standard at Amelia.
• The non-sale of Dan Gurney’s Eagle Mk. 1, which reached $2.4M at bidding but failed to snag a buyer.

Best In Show Winners

All told, this year’s Amelia Concours had 32 classes with 260 historically significant vehicles vying for various awards and accolades.

Top honors went to a 1935 Avions Voisin Type C25 Aérodyne, one of only four examples known to exist. The Best in Show Concours d’Elegance winner was purchased by collectors Merle and Peter Mullin in the early 2000s, restored over three years, and then entered in the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – which it also won.

The Aérodyne sports some incredible features that were considered true feats of engineering at the time of its construction. These include an electrically retractable roof, an early form of adjustable suspension, and a whisper-quiet inline six-cylinder, sleeve-valve engine. Amazingly, that dizzying art deco upholstery is a match to the car’s original interior.

The winner of the Best in Show Concours de Sport award went to a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM. Displayed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the 3.3-liter V-12 racer has plenty of exciting miles on its odometer, having competed in (and won) the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driven by Jochen Rindt of Austria, it was the last Ferrari to win outright at the famed race.

HOT ROD Drag Week 2023

Good news for go-fast enthusiasts, the official route for HOT ROD Drag Week 2023 was just announced last week. With four stellar dragstrips on the docket, plus an exciting 1,000-mile route planned through the great Southeast, this year is gearing up to be a great one.

You can head over to the website for full details, but here’s a snapshot of what’s to come this fall:

• HOT ROD Drag Week 2023 will run Sunday, Sept. 17 – Friday, Sept. 22, hitting four different dragstrips in five days.
• Home base will be the historic Darlington Dragway in Hartsville, South Carolina, which means it will serve as both the starting and ending location.
• Other stops on the tour include Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, North Carolina (a new track for 2023); Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee; and Carolina Dragway a.k.a. “House of Hook” in Aiken, South Carolina (another new track for 2023).
• Registration will be available in late March, so keep an eye on HOTROD.com or its social media pages for the formal announcement.

Survey Says: Fears of Self-Driving Cars on the Rise

With all this talk of classic internal combustion and long winding road trips to American drag strips, it’s interesting to note that a recent AAA survey shows drivers’ fear of autonomous driving technologies is rising – quickly.

Every year, the nonprofit association issues a survey to determine driver attitudes about automated vehicles. While last year’s results indicated cautious optimism with a call for improvement, those sentiments have largely changed course in 2023 to ones of apprehension and distrust.

This year, respondents showed a major increase in fear of self-driving cars, rising to 68% as compared to 55% in 2022. According to AAA, this is a 13% jump from last year’s survey and the biggest increase since 2020.

“We were not expecting such a dramatic decline in trust from previous years,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive research for AAA. “Although with the number of high-profile crashes that have occurred from over-reliance on current vehicle technologies, this isn’t entirely surprising.”

Brannon is likely referring to the string of “AutoPilot” engaged Tesla crashes, several of which were fatal. The automaker is currently being investigated by an alphabet soup of federal agencies including the NHTSA, SEC, and DOJ, over concerns that its automated technologies make misleading claims about their capabilities.

These concerns have merit, as surveys and polls (including this one by AAA) show there is still an enormous gap in consumer knowledge surrounding what these technologies can actually do. AAA’s survey found that nearly one in ten drivers believe they can buy a vehicle that drives itself while they sleep. It is critical to note that no such vehicle exists – and likely won’t for a long time.

Do you know the difference between Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS)? We break it down in layman’s terms for you HERE.

News of the Weird

If you thought fear of robot-driving cars was the weirdest thing to hit headlines this past week, you’d be wrong. Here’s some of the strangest automotive news circling the interwebs right now.

Mercedes & Moncler’s Puffy G-Wagon

Incredibly, this is not an artistic rendering. This is a bona fide, real-life creation that is part project vehicle and part… art project. The “redesigned G-Class” as Mercedes is graciously putting it, is a “boundary-pushing art piece” that challenges viewers to “enter a new dimension” where “earthly rules are distorted, and a new reality is imagined through art and technology.”

Just to recap, it’s a G-wagon in a custom puffer coat.

Unveiled at this year’s London Fashion Week, the vehicle, dubbed “PROJECT MONDO G,” stands more than 9 feet tall and 11 feet wide as a result of all the “puffy” accoutrements. Designers also gave the G-class body a light patina effect “as a visible trace of use,” along with a giant Moncler designer puffer jacket-style roof complete with a giant zipper.

Did you know…?

Speaking of far-out, space officials are pushing for a special time zone… for the moon. The proposal was made in response to the dozens of upcoming lunar missions planned by multiple countries over the next decade – many of which, automakers are scrambling to provide moon buggies for. GM even plans to launch a lunar rental service, as part of its collaboration with aerospace company Lockheed Martin.

DeLorean Alpha5 Reimagines Reservations

The DeLorean Alpha5 EV has been teased for some time now, with build plans recently dropping from a proposed 9,351 units to 4,000. According to media reports, these models will be built over a period of five years with reservation costs staggered by counts of 500. Currently, reservation costs are at the “discounted” price of $2,500. Once 500 are filled, the price jumps to $3,500 and then each 500 increment from there rises $500 until the 4,000 slots are filled.

The rest is genuinely confusing, so we’ll let the folks at CarBuzz explain:

“As soon as customers pay the $2,500 reserve price, they’ll receive a randomized build slot number and an NFT of the vehicle. A customer might not have the car yet, but the NFT may become quite valuable if DeLorean sells all 4,000 build slots.

Instead of selling build slots and cars at highly inflated rates as availability decreases, DeLorean has established a trading website specifically for hopeful reservation and non-reservation holders. This allows customers to sell or trade slots at a price they can determine. Since reservation numbers will be randomly allocated, owners can pay more for an earlier slot.

If, for example, an eager customer comes across another buyer with built slot 133, they can trade their 1,458 for $10,000. If you get an early build slot, there’s a grand opportunity to make some cash, but you must be patient.”

This is a new one for us, but considering the feeding frenzy that tends to occur when high-profile new vehicles drop, it seems like a smart move on DeLorean’s part. This structure provides them with a little more control over the process. (Indeed, to even have a chance at a reservation, you need to cough up $88 for a lifetime membership in the Alphas Club.)

Florida Bill Says Your Dog Can’t Put Its Head Out the Window

According to a new animal-welfare bill proposed by Florida senator Lauren Book (D-Broward), dogs looking to get a full face of fresh air will have to do it somewhere other than the window of your moving vehicle.

Senate Bill 932 (which it’s worth noting does include some genuinely important language surrounding animal cruelty penalties) aims to set some standards in regards to the safe transport of dogs on public roadways. Standards that we guess are going to prove a little polarizing with the general motoring public.

The bill dictates that dogs must be either restrained in a harness/pet seat belt or secured in a properly-ventilated crate if a person plans to put them in a moving vehicle and hit the open road. That means, no letting little Fluffy sit on your lap whilst heading to the grocery store and no letting Fido fling drool out the window as his goofy grin flaps in the breeze. If you do, you could be facing a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation.

If the law passes the Florida Senate, it would take effect as early as July 1, 2023.

The Engine Block is your one-stop source for any and all auto industry news. Keep an eye on our weekly round-up of enthusiast coverage, product reviews, vehicle spotlights, auto show/expo features, and more. Be sure to check back Wednesday for a breakdown of the difference between BedRug and BedTred when outfitting your Jeep. And come ‘round on Friday for a primer on auto glass restoration.