For twenty-eight years, Amelia Island owned the first weekend of March in the collector car world. Then RM Sotheby’s showed up in Miami with $200 million worth of automotive royalty and changed the conversation entirely.
The Old Guard Had It Coming
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance launched in 1996 and spent nearly three decades building tradition, reputation, a stranglehold on Florida’s early March calendar. Nobody challenged them because nobody thought Miami could work for this crowd, which is exactly why RM Sotheby’s and Sotheby’s—two auction houses with over 300 combined years in the luxury game—decided to try it anyway.
They formed ModaEvents specifically for this. instead of throwing money at a golf course and hoping collectors showed up, they recruited industry veterans who actually understood what makes these events work. Then they picked the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, a National Historic Landmark with Mediterranean Revival architecture that dates back to 1926.
The first event in 2024 pulled 150 classic automobiles onto the showfield, plus RM Sotheby’s auction cars totaling over $80 million in value, and serious collectors flew in from 27 countries to see it. The 100 Club brought another hundred supercars and hypercars, turning the Coral Gables into automotive chaos for four days straight. The People’s Choice went to a 1998 McLaren F1 LM-Specification… best of Show Field honored Harry Yeaggy’s 1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Mormon Meteor. The RM Sotheby’s auction moved serious metal: a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe by Vignale hammered at $4.295 million, a 1930 Duesenberg Model J hit $3.855 million, a 1990 Ferrari F40 closed at $3.36 million. That’s a statement, not a debut.
Why Miami Makes Amelia Island Nervous
Geography tells most of the story. Amelia Island—charming, historic and beautiful— sits on Florida’s northeast coast, isolated and regional. Miami sits at the crossroads of Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America because the city pulls money naturally and sometimes, internationally. Collectors from Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogotá all fly into Miami regularly anyway and ModaMiami gave them another reason.
The weather helps too… Late February in Miami runs 75 degrees and sunny while most of North America still scrapes ice off windshields, so the event photographs better, feels better, and extends naturally into the broader luxury lifestyle Miami sells effortlessly. The real disruption however, comes from how ModaEvents structures the weekend. Traditional concours events feel museum-like with beautiful cars behind metaphorical velvet ropes and wealthy collectors nodding approvingly while everyone else watches from distance. ModaMiami designed accessibility into the DNA because families come through and young enthusiasts show up when Instagram culture shows up (yes, that’s polarizing, but it also brings new money and new energy).
The Biltmore Plays Its Role Perfectly
George Merrick conceived Coral Gables during the 1920s Florida land boom as a meticulously planned community—broad tree-lined avenues, Mediterranean Revival architecture, lush green spaces. “The City Beautiful” they called it, and the Biltmore Hotel became its crown jewel. Built in 1926 at a cost of $10 million (roughly $180 million today), it features a Donald Ross-designed golf course and quickly attracted celebrities, politicians, socialites.
During World War Two it served as a hospital until 1968, then sat closed until 1987. Full restoration came in 1992, and today it stands as a National Historic Landmark that provides the exact backdrop ModaMiami needed: historic enough to honor automotive heritage and glamorous enough to compete with any venue globally.
The lobby hosts Sotheby’s displays: watches, jewelry, designer handbags… the full luxury ecosystem and the terrace overlooks the golf course where the concours happens. Celebrity chef Mario Carbone handles culinary, Casa Tua curates the after-hours club experience… leaving collectors with the complete luxury weekend.
2025: The Year They Proved It Wasn’t a Fluke
Second-year events usually struggle because novelty fades, logistics expose themselves and early enthusiasm cools off… However, ModaMiami 2025 tripled down instead. Over 10,000 attendees flew in from 27 countries to see nearly 400 automobiles displayed across dedicated collections—Mille Miglia legends, La Carrera Panamericana winners, Mercedes-Benz 300SL icons, Bugatti Veyrons, rally cars, Lamborghini Countachs.
Eight former Pebble Beach Best of Show winners rolled onto the grass, including Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954/55 Mercedes-Benz W196 R “Silver Arrow” that they flew in from Germany specifically for this. Ferrari 250 GTOs gleamed under Miami sun while McLaren F1s in LM Specification sat next to rare prototypes and limited editions that look fresh off production lines. ModaMiami attracted the kind of metal that actually moves markets, and everyone in the collector world noticed.
People’s Choice went to Philip Sarofim’s 1979 Aston Martin Bulldog: a car so brutalist and sci-fi that it still looks like it time-traveled from a future that never happened, all pop-up headlights and wedge-shaped aggression. The design philosophy captures exactly what ModaMiami values: innovation that transcends eras.
The RM Sotheby’s auction moved $74.5 million in sales and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collection alone triggered bidding wars that proved Miami could compete financially with Monterey, Paris, London… just anywhere. Ethan Gibson, Director of Communications at ModaEvents, didn’t soft-pedal the ambition: “ModaMiami is already the must-attend event in the industry, and we’re only getting started” and that confidence works because Bill Warner, the founder of The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance serves as ModaMiami’s Honorary Chair, which signals the old guard acknowledges what’s happening whether they like it or not.
2026: The Miura Gets Its Moment
ModaMiami 2026 runs February 28 to March 1, celebrating the Lamborghini Miura’s 60th anniversary as its centerpiece. Context matters here as Lamborghini debuted the Miura in 1966 and the debutante rewrote supercar rules entirely.
Marcello Gandini’s design looked like nothing else on roads with that low, wide, aggressive stance and 3.9-liter V-12 behind the driver… which fundamentally changes weight distribution and performance dynamics altogether… 350 horsepower, 180 mph, revolutionary engineering wrapped in sculpture.
Every modern supercar traces DNA back to the Miura, so ModaMiami dedicating a showcase to its 60th anniversary acknowledges the car that invented the category while inviting everyone who owns one, wants one, or just appreciates what it represents to Miami for a weekend.
The broader lineup follows 2025’s template—dedicated collections, the 100 Club, RM Sotheby’s auction, Moda Classic drive, luxury experiences throughout. Test drives happen, new model debuts drop, spirits tastings run alongside automotive displays because ModaEvents understands the hobby doesn’t exist in isolation… design, fashion, music, hospitality, culture all intersect here.
Miami’s Car Week: The Ecosystem Play
ModaEvents positioned ModaMiami as the grand finale of Miami’s Car Week, which might be their smartest strategic move. In the days leading up to the main event, the city fills with satellite gatherings: 1000 Miglia Experience Florida, Cars and Coffee meet-ups, Mercedes-Benz Classic events at The Concours Club private racetrack, Cadillac driving experiences through Coral Gables. This creates concentration… collectors, enthusiasts, industry players all descend on South Florida for a full week instead of flying in for a weekend, building momentum and generating media coverage while establishing Miami as a destination market rather than a one-off experiment.
That ecosystem effect separates lasting institutions from flash-in-the-pan spectacles, especially when you’re competing with Pebble Beach’s decades of history and Amelia Island’s established position. You build advantage through creating an experience that extends beyond your actual event. The numbers prove it works—10,000+ attendees, 27 countries, over 30 US states. ModaMiami went international in just two years, and 2026 looks positioned to expand that even further.
The Disruption Playbook
RM Sotheby’s and Sotheby’s didn’t just create another car show—they identified a geographic market (South Florida) with untapped potential, a calendar gap (early March), and an underserved demographic (younger, more diverse, more international), then applied 300+ years of combined luxury expertise to executing the vision.
The Biltmore provides history and glamour while Miami provides weather and international access. The RM Sotheby’s auction provides market credibility as the 100 Club provides contemporary relevance. Moda Classic provides driving experiences, then the full luxury ecosystem—watches, jewelry, fashion, food, music—wraps around everything and gives people multiple reasons to show up.
Traditional concours events aren’t dying, to be clear. Pebble Beach remains the gold standard, Amelia Island maintains its position, Villa d’Este delivers European elegance—but ModaMiami carved out its own lane, and that lane’s getting crowded fast.
ModaMiami built this alternative in two years. Now they’re scaling it.
Your Move
ModaMiami 2026 tickets are available now at modamiami.com—early access passes, showfield tickets, Club Moda VIP experiences, the full range. Book early because if 2024 and 2025 indicate anything, this sells out.
Whether you collect Ferraris, obsess over Lamborghini history, or just want to see what happens when over $150 million in automotive art descends on a golf course for a weekend, ModaMiami delivers. The old guard had three decades to own March in Florida and RM Sotheby’s crashed the party in two years… forcing everyone to recalibrate what’s possible.
Don’t watch this evolution from the sidelines, book your ticket and experience what happens when the collector car world’s establishment disrupts itself before someone else does it first.
February 28 – March 1, 2026 at The Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables.
See you there!
Follow @modaevents_official on Instagram for lineup announcements and event updates.
