Hilton Head Concours

Well, for me, it’s finally here. The last big car show of the year and I look forward to a few weeks off before the 2025 schedule kicks in. Many of you know that in addition to being President of National Capital Chapter, I also lead National events for the M Chapter, participating in many of the biggest BMW shows around the US. It’s been an incredible experience meeting so many BMW enthusiasts and introducing them to BMW CCA as either a club to join or a partner in driving business. It’s a non-stop voyage of events, starting in January at the Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona, Amelia Island Concours, Bimmer Invasion in Orlando and Los Angeles, MPact in Austin and Poconos, and many others along the way.  Looking back to March, it seemed like the Amelia Island Concours was just a few months ago, but when I pulled into Hilton Head (HH), it made me love why this show is special. For the last Concours event, the entire Hilton Head area in November seems like a sleepy beach town and it really is. The perfect time to be here where there’s very few tourists, sightseers, or out-of-towners causing traffic and lines for everything. No reservations needed for any meals and most of the locals didn’t even know there were tens of thousands extra people on the island for the show. Contrast this to Amelia and its night and day; most restaurants are booked solid and everyone clogs up downtown Fernandina Beach. I’ve done this event several years now, and it’s the main reason I have yet to attend SEMA. Both events are always on the same weekend. I’m sure I’ll eventually make it to Vegas for SEMA, but with the perfect weather at Hilton Head, I had no qualms.

So for me, this event actually starts in March which is when I start working with the HH staff to determine what part of the show to participate in and what theme is being celebrated this year. After some back and forth, I decided to gather a bunch of cars for the Saturday Car Club Showcase. I usually prefer the more casual atmosphere of Saturday here, since Sunday is the main show, the Concours d’Elegance. There’s a long drawn out process to get cars registered for HH which includes vetting cars to make sure they are display worthy while also gathering interesting details for each vehicle’s storyboard. When I announced our intentions to participate, as expected, I received plenty of responses from people all over the country looking to take part in this show. Being selected for this prestigious show is kind of a big deal, and I want to make sure that BMW CCA is well represented with a variety of show quality cars that also have a good story behind them. Competition, as you can expect, is tough, and one of the main factors that I look for is their answer to this question: Why this car? Some of the responses are short and to the point, while others write multi-page dissertations, some which may not even talk about cars. Needless to say, I really enjoy hearing how enthusiastic people are about their car, the BMW brand, and what it would mean to be selected.

By the end of April, I have to finalize my decisions and submit to HH to round out our display area. This year, there were a few themes that were an optional part of the selection process: women enthusiasts, German vehicles, customized cars, and younger fanatics. Obviously, German vehicles were a no-brainer, but it was incredible to see several women and younger folks apply (demographics this club sorely needs!).

After many months of prepping for the show, HH weekend was fast approaching. I was also happily surprised that the BMW CCA Sandlapper Chapter were also bringing a group of cars down for the car club display, so it was awesome that there will be a bigger BMW presence on the show field (why HH decided to put Porsches in between our displays was kinda disappointing). The night before the show, and after communicating endless show details to each participant, we were able to pre-game for a joint M and Sandlapper chapter dinner. We had people drive thousands of miles away, and this would be the first time meeting the other participants. During this fantastic evening, we shared car stories, club adventures, and what cars everyone has. Here’s the final list of the selected participants:

As we aligned ourselves at the local Starbucks and drove into the show, it was amazing to see the beauty and diversity of all the cars. It’s rare to see this many super clean, ‘classic’ BMWs in one spot and all the owners were very proud to represent CCA. We were also lucky that Tom Plucinsky, from BMWNA, let us borrow an Alpina Z8 for our lineup and it fit in quite nicely with all the others. He also brought several historic GTP race cars for the main show field that were jaw dropping. Cars back then were so raw and visceral, can we not go back to yet simpler times? Once parked on the show field, everyone was quick to wipe down their cars, in preparation for the show to open. For the Saturday Car Club Showcase, all cars are judged ‘lightly’, so no Q-tips, undercarriage inspections, or white glove treatment. The judges spent a few minutes with each participant to get an understanding of the car, but most importantly, the owner’s and car’s backstory. With so much competition on the show field, it would be a great honor to be selected for any award. Not that I was counting, but there were easily several millions of dollar’s worth of automobiles, and this isn’t even the main show for the weekend.

The Hagerty Youth judges fell in love with Red E30 M3, as they spent several minutes getting a rundown of his car so they can fill out their scorecards. It was great to actually see Joe Vernon’s E28 M5 in person, after several years of restoration work. Mike Ura brought one of my favorite cars of my youth, the sleek, pillarless 850 CSi. Our two female participants, Ally and Gail, put a tremendous amount of pride and work into their cars; both in pristine condition. In my opinion, the Z4M Coupe will be one of the next BMWs to really blow up in collector’s interest. One of my favorites was Eugene Tkach’s restored E34 M5 in Daytona Violet. For those of us in the National Capital Chapter, this car has some relevant history as it’s previous owner was Lothar Schuettler, a renowned BMW expert with an impeccable collection of original and restored cars. Many years ago, I took a picture of this same E34 in Lothar’s backyard, one of the many that he wanted to restore himself. After telling Eugene to go away many times, Lothar finally relented, and the rest is history. Nicknamed the ‘Eggplant’ and as noted on his MD license plate , this purple M5 is absolutely stunning.

It was also my first time seeing Rusty Johnson’s immaculate E30 M Technic, a rare sight of a limited production BMW. We ended up noticing that purple became the unofficial color of the weekend, as we had 3 different cars in that shade, if you include Macao Blue in direct sunlight. After a few hours of waiting for the uniformed judges to deliberate, they came by to announce that Rusty’s car was the winner of the President’s Award, given out by the current Hilton Head Island Concours President, Chris Brewer himself. An incredible accomplishment for an incredible car! Out of the thousands of cars from many time periods and countries, Rusty’s car really stood out to Chris as he mentioned the beauty and simplicity of the design, not to mention his love for classic BMWs.

As some of us gathered to watch the Saturday awards, I looked around and saw so many smiling people. While today’s cars are bigger, faster, powerful, and more sophisticated than ever, many of the cars at this show were posters hanging on the wall of a kid’s room. They were dream cars that they wished to own one day in life, and each one has a special place in that now grown-up’s heart.  Car culture and enthusiasm in this world is dying quick with electric toasters being a mainstay on most highways. I love that car people celebrate their cars by sharing them with the world. There are no arguments of horsepower, suspension geometry, or muscle car superiority here, unlike how today’s politics that has divided this country. This event, similar to any other car club event, is just a happy place with happy people, and that’s how it should be.