FUNDARRATISER
GASPARILLA CONCOURS
D’ELEGANCE
Tampa Bay’s Newest Grand Event
This 1919 Pierce-Arrow Limousine from the Woodrow Wilson
Presidential Library in Staunton, Virginia will be the
marquee car for the Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 71
T ampa’s Gasparilla
festivities celebrating
the legend of the
invasion of the city
by the fictional pirate Jose
Gaspar began in 1904
and resume each January.
Traditionally, the mayor of
Tampa relinquishes the keys of the city and
Tampa Bay is invaded by a pirate ship filled
with hundreds of the city’s top business
people in pirate attire, many from the
founding families of Tampa, and all in the
name of fun and charity. The Mardi Grasstyled
event annually draws hundreds of
thousands of spectators.
The newest addition to these festivities
will be the Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance
that is being organized by the Hillsborough
Region Antique Automobile Club of
America, the largest and oldest collector
car club in the United States. The club is
creating six days of automotive excellence
for this event that is being sponsored by
the American Automobile Association.
Heacock Classic Auto Insurance and
United Development Systems are also
major sponsors.
Local dealerships will display their
ultra-luxury 2019 models during the
Concours. The fun will begin with the
April 14th, there will be
a motor tour of Tampa
from the mansions along
Bayshore Boulevard to
historic Ybor City and
its Columbia Restaurant.
The Glazer Children’s
Museum in Tampa will
allow you to leave your children at the
museum for a supervised playtime visit,
while you visit the Concours.
The marquee car will be President
Woodrow Wilson’s 1919 Pierce-Arrow
Limousine that will be on loan from the
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in
Staunton, Virginia. The automobiles will
be judged for style and technical merit
as well as for their history, originality
and accuracy of their preservation or
restoration. This show will include some
of the finest automobiles ever made. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information,
registration and to purchase tickets, visit
GasparillaConcours.com. The three event
directors are Brando Pistorius, automotive
director, (813) 917-9205; Joanne Pistorius,
administrative director, (813) 714-1019;
and Howie Mednick, sponsorship director,
(808) 347-0912.
Gasparilla Great Endurance Run on
March 7-9, when 1909 and older cars
will recreate the 110th anniversary of the
1909 Great Endurance Run from Tampa
to Jacksonville. If you have a car 1909 and
older and want to experience beautiful
springtime in Florida, please register at
GasparillaConcours.com. A film crew will
document this drive that will begin in
downtown Tampa and culminate at the
Heacock Classic Auto Insurance “Cars
& Coffee” in conjunction with Amelia
Island’s Concours d’Elegance.
The Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance
will then have three full days of activities
in Tampa, beginning Friday, April 12th
with a “Cars in the Park” FUNraiser &
Auction to benefit the Shriners Hospital for
Children. The main event will be Saturday,
April 13th at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park
on the banks of the Hillsborough River,
across from the historic minarets of the
University of Tampa. Then on Sunday,