Hagerty adds Amelia Island Concours to its growing collector car portfolio

Hagerty’s ongoing effort to preserve the joy of driving and the collector car community has taken another step with the company’s acquisition of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, which since its founding in 1996 has emerged as a automotive event perhaps second only to Monterey Car Week.

“Our objective is to knit the enthusiast community together in a way that supports and protects the future of car culture,” said McKeel Hagerty, chief executive of the collector vehicle insurance and valuation company that bears his family’s name. “Amelia Island is synonymous with concours and motorsports heritage due to the steadfast efforts of Bill Warner and his team. We are incredibly proud to have the opportunity to build upon and scale Bill’s vision.”

Warner, initially known to the automotive community as a motorsports photographer, remains chairman emeritus of the event. The Hagerty news release also said that current concours operational team will work with the new ownership “to expand the annual event.”

“When I founded the concours, I wanted to infuse the calm, traditional concours environment with the energy of motorsports,” Warner is quoted in the announcement. “We achieved that and raised more than $4 million for charity along the way. 

“In Hagerty, we have a passionate and highly skilled team that will bring these themes to a larger audience.”

Primarily through sponsorships, Hagerty already is involved in more than 2,500 car events on an annual basis. In recent years, it has expanded its involvement by acquiring major concours in New England, Michigan and now Florida. It also has acquired the California Mille road rally, DriveShare collector car rental, MotorsportReg.com, “the world’s largest motorsports-event management system,” and launched the Hagerty Drivers Club and the club’s charitable foundation.

Its global presence includes the Festival of the Unexceptional, a concours-style event for what otherwise are considered ordinary vehicles in England. 

Aside from its growing role in the collector car community, Hagerty is best-known as “the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance for enthusiast vehicles,” the company says.