derBayerische January/February 2025 - 9

H I L T O N H E A D C O N C O U R S 2 0 2 4
■ (Above from Left) Gail and Andy Baer's E86 Z4 M Coupe. Joe Vernon prepping his beautiful E28 M5..
Looking back, it seems like the Amelia Island Concours was just a few
months ago instead of taking place last March. When I pulled into Hilton
Head (HH), it made me remember why this show is special. During this last
Concours event of the season, the entire
Hilton Head area in November seems like
a sleepy beach town and it really is.
This is the perfect time to be here with
very few tourists, sightseers, or out-oftowners
causing traffic and lines for
everything. No reservations are needed
for meals at restaurants and most of the
locals don't even notice that there are
thousands of extra people on the island
for the show. Contrast this to Amelia and
it is night and day; most restaurants are
booked solid and everyone clogs up
downtown Fernandina Beach. I've gone
to this event for several years now, and
it's the main reason I have yet to attend
SEMA in Las Vegas. Both SEMA and the
Hilton Head concours are always held
during the same weekend. I'm sure I'll
eventually make it to Vegas for SEMA,
but with the perfect weather at Hilton
Head, I have no qualms being there
instead.
For me, this event actually starts
back in March when I start working with
the HH staff to determine what part of the
show in which to participate and what the
theme is going to be 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, since Sunday is the
day of the main show, the Concours d'Elegance. There's a long drawn out
process to get cars registered for HH which includes vetting them to make sure
January I February 2025
they are display worthy while gathering interesting details for each vehicle's
storyboard. When I announced our intentions to participate, I received plenty
of responses from people all over the country looking to take part in the show.
Being selected for this prestigious
show is 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. Competition,
as you can expect, is tough, and one of
the main factors that I look for is the
answer to this question: Why this car?
Some of the responses are short and to
the point, while others submit multipage
dissertations, which sometimes
may not even mention cars. Needless
to say, I really enjoy how enthusiastic
people are about their cars, the BMW
brand, and what it would mean for them
to be selected to participate in the show.
By the end of April, I have to
■ (Above) NCC member Eugene Tkach's 'Eggplant' in Daytona Violet.
finalize my decisions and submit them
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 approached quickly. I was happily surprised that the
BMW CCA Sandlapper Chapter were bringing a group of cars down for the car
club display, meaning there would be a bigger BMW presence on the show
field. (Why HH decided to put Porsches in between our displays was kind of
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derBayerische January/February 2025

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