Instagram Jump Start: ’57 Thunderbird shows off its movie-star good looks
For classic car enthusiasts, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is more like the Fantasy Island Concours d’Elegance — at this time of year, at least. From icons and historic race cars to oddballs and modern collectibles, Amelia put on quite a show over the weekend. Even Mother Nature showed up to get a good look, pushing the concours up a day as thunderstorms closed in. It’s no wonder then, that Amelia Island classics found their way into this week’s most-liked Instagram posts on HagertyClassicCars.
With that said, there was no beating the combination of a 1957 Ford Thunderbird and a classic drive-in theatre, which landed at No. 1. The elegant styling of a 1956 Continental Mark II managed to finish a close second. Here are the top five:
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1957 Ford Thunderbird (1,388 likes) — In 1957, the final year for the first-generation Thunderbird, Ford’s “personal luxury car” received an updated front bumper, larger grille, tail fins and taillights, and the 312-cid V-8 became standard. Photograph by @toddkraemer.
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1956 Continental Mark II (1,370 likes) — In their day, Continental Mark IIs were amongst the most expensive cars in the world. The retail price was just under $10,000 in 1956 (around $90,000 today), which was five times the price of the 1956 Ford Customline. Even at such an astronomical price, Ford still lost money on each one sold. Photograph by @roephoto_5.
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Shelby GT500, year unknown (1,346 likes) — Shelby GT500 waiting for the spotlight at Amelia Island. Photograph by @keepitwideopen.
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1948 Tucker 48 (1,245 likes) — The center headlight on the Tucker is one of its most defining characteristics. Photograph by @toddkraemer.
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1963 Chevrolet Corvette (1,219 likes) — 1963 Chevrolet Corvette. You probably know it as the Split-Window. Photograph by @keepitwideopen.
You Like It, We Love It — Every week there’s a photo on HagertyClassicCars that we think deserved a lot more likes than it received. This close-up shot of Steve McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS is one of those.
Best of the Rest – When it comes to automobiles, Ray Schaffer (@ray.shaffer) naturally leans towards Porsches. As manager of the Porsche Classic & Delivery Center in Atlanta, it makes perfect sense. But Schaffer’s passion for the auto industry and marques of all kinds knows no bounds. We loved his photo of a glowing RM Sotheby’s auction tent at Amelia Island prior to the start of this year’s concours weekend. You can feel the excitement in his words, and his photo captures both the rising sun and the increasing pre-event anticipation we all know. It’s our favorite photo of the week.
