In addition to vehicles on the main show field, it has become popular with concours d’elegance to honor specific long-term car collectors with special displays of their vehicles. This year, the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance again will feature two collectors and their cars, with Miles Collier receiving the Pinnacle Award and Jeff Lane as the Honored Collector.
With sponsorship and transportation support for the honors from Reliable Carriers, three vehicles from the Collier Collection in Florida and six cars from the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville will be showcased at both the Motoring Festival on Saturday, November 5, and the Concours on Sunday, November 6, at the Port Royal Golf Club on the island.
“Miles Collier and Jeff Lane have gone above and beyond solely preserving automotive history,” festival president Carolyn Vanagel said in a news release. “They are sharing it by opening their collections up to the more than 20,000 attendees we anticipate at this year’s Festival. It is that education that will develop future collectors and continue to make events like ours possible.”
Cars from the REVS Institute/Collier museum in Naples, Florida, to be displayed at Hilton Head are:
- A 1896 Panhard et Levassor Wagonette — Emile Levassor was the first to put the engine in front of a motor vehicle with the transmission behind and the drive wheels at the rear, thus breaking from the horse-and-buggy tradition.
- The 1935 Duesenberg SSJ formerly owned by actor Gary Cooper.
- A 1960 Porsche RS-60 that was the first of seven Porsches to win the Targa Floria road race in the 1960s. The car — 718-041 — also served as the factory test vehicle for transmissions and the 2.0-liter Type 587 engine.
Previous Pinnacle Award winners are Sam and Emily Mann (2013), Joseph and Margie Cassini (2014) and Fred Guyton (2015).
“No celebration of the automobile exists without the support of collectors,” the Festival’s news release noted. “Every year, the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance recognizes one Honored Collector for their continued participation and support.”
This year that collector is Jeff Lane, who’s museum is known for its unusual if not unique vehicles and who will show:
- The one-of-a-kind, propeller-driven 1932 Helicron, which was discovered in 2002 in a barn in France, where it had been hidden away since the late 1930s.
- A replica by the Lane Museum staff of Buckminster Fuller’s famed 1933 Dymaxion, perhaps the world’s first minivan, an Airstream-like three-wheeler powered by a Ford V8 engine that was so aerodynamic it could average 30 miles per gallon while carrying 11 passengers and could reach speeds as fast as 90 mph.
- A 1938 Tatra T-97, which was designed by Erich Ledwinka, one of the sons of famed aero designer Hans Ledwinka.
- A 1948 Larmar, acclaimed to be the world’s narrowest car — a 2-foot, 4-inches, it could pass through a standard backyard gate.
- A 1952 Citroen Cogolin, the “two-headed 2CV” build from two front sections of a standard Citroen 2CV welded together, each with its own engine, so the car could be driven from either end and therefore didn’t need a reverse gear.
- A 1965 Matra Djet5, the world’s first mid-engine production sports car.
1952 Citroen Cogolin can be driven from either end
The 2016 Hilton Head Island motoring events begin October 28-30 with the Savannah Speed Classic vintage races and includes a Flights & Fancy gala and Aero Expo featuring vintage aircraft and cars, an Auctions America collector car sale and a movie night featuring Disney Pixar’s Cars.
