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autoevolution Visits the 2016 Ocean Reef Vintage Weekend

Once a year, the private Ocean Reef Club opens to the public for their by-now-famous Ocean Reef Vintage Weekend. Always held the first weekend in December, it is a prime tropical location for automotive, yachting and aviation enthusiasts to gather at the gateway to the Florida Keys for a weekend of showing off, driving, flying and floating on some the finest conveyances ever made. Now in its 22nd year, it only seems to be getting better.
1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet 88 photos
Photo: Mark Elias
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Located in Key Largo, the northern-most island in the upper Florida Keys, the community was originally a fishing camp with a 26-room lodge. Founded in 1948, it has achieved town status having grown to over 4,000 residents and members, with lodges, vacation rentals, an airport, marinas, a medical center, and public safety facilities for all of the above.

Highlights of the weekend include fly-bys, cruises and road trips in significant vehicles, yachts and aircraft from the turn of the last century onward. There, owners display their charges to admirers, even offering rides to a few lucky passengers. Using “just for fun” Concours rules, judges made up categories on the fly, including the “Best Dropped Part” award, which went to Joe Jurgielewicz and his 1929 Ford Pickup Truck that gently deposited its air filter on the red display carpet.

Collector and Ocean Reef resident Ron Elenbaas oversees the lot of approximately 60 vehicles during the car show portion of the event. His perfect 1951 (Fabulous) Hudson Hornet convertible, though not in the car show itself, made a cameo appearance for the road rally to Card Sound dive bar, “Alabama Jacks.” A legendary roadhouse, it has been the scene of several movies and television shows including “Drop Zone,” and “Bloodline.”

Ocean Reef Vintage Weekend
Photo: Mark Elias
Notables in the show included the Pebble Beach prize-winning 1910 Rolls-Royce Double Pullman Limousine (Chassis 1392) of DeNean Stafford, which took “Best Pre-War” honors. His was joined by Howard Fafard’s “Most Elegant Pre-War,” 1934 Mercedes-Benz Special Roadster, while the “Most Elegant Post-War” title went to Frank Ricciardelli for his 1953 Bentley Convertible R-Type.

Steve Littin’s 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Tourer took the “Most Important Historical” award. With nearly twenty feet of polished hood in front of it, (We exaggerate) you needed sunglasses before you approached this Roller for a closer view.

James Taylor (not the famous singer of the same name) seized “Best of Show” honors for his 1955 Jaguar D-Type Open Racer. A sister car to many like-styled D-Types, this relatively low mileage example was okay with its club racing pedigree. As it stood, it was ridiculously sublime.

Also basking in the South Florida sun, the ex-Janis Joplin-owned 1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet that was her daily driver in 1968. As legend has it, it was stolen in San Francisco, even though it was adorned with the unmistakable “The History of the Universe” mural. The thief painted the car over in gray but didn’t know to look under the gas cap, where the mural continued. Thanks to that detail, police were able to recover it, where it was restored and repainted, and was continually driven by Joplin until her passing in 1970. Refurbed a second time, it toured through museums until it went on the auction block in 2015, where it sold for $1.76-million.

Ocean Reef Vintage Weekend
Photo: Mark Elias
Aircraft and Yachts are also part of the scene at Ocean Reef. Crowds toured 21 pristine sea-going examples ranging from the 1917 Consolidated Yachts, “Blue Mist,” to the 1986 “Miami Vice Era” Cigarette go-fast “Bad Hombre.” The “People’s Choice” award determined by a count of shoes on the dock (Please remove your shoes prior to coming aboard!) went to the 1913 Matthew, “Nymph.”

At the Ocean Reef Club Airport, and in the skies over Buccaneer Island, guests watched aerobatic displays by 76-year old wildman Gene McNeely and his North American T-6G air racer. A former crop duster, McNeely still competes on the air race circuit and thrilled the crowds with his barrel rolls and high climbing stalls.

The historic 1942 C-47 “Placid Lassie,” took “Best in Show” on the runway. The military version of the well-known Douglas DC3, this actual plane was a veteran of both D-Day in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. Enthusiasts were treated to several low-level passes just east of Ocean Reef.

Bigger and better

Although he wasn’t there from the beginning, he was there many times. Ron Elenbaas was a collector in Michigan, who along with his collecting partner Bill Johnston, have shown at “the Reef” throughout the years. In town as an exhibitor for the first time in 1998, he and his wife became Ocean Reef residents in 2000. Running the car side of the program since 2009, he and his committee had seen the weekend grow from a dozen to two dozen cars, without much variety.

Then something happened

Word began to spread amongst collectors. “Year after year, (the show) built itself up to where it is now, where we have 60 great cars,” said Elenbaas. It has gotten to the point where the show is oversold with a waitlist after selling out the program in late Spring. For 2016, one of the greats was a 1955 Jaguar D-Type Open Racer. James Taylor wasn’t afraid to get his Leaper wet during sporadic South Florida sprinkles, either. Said Elenbaas, “anyone who will drive a $21-million antique sports car to Alabama Jack’s bar for fried fish, is okay in my book."

The quality is incredible and only seems to be getting better. “It’s not Pebble Beach or St. John’s,” said Elenbaas. “And it is absolutely up to the collector to decide what he or she wants to bring. I’m always amazed at the quality that they bring and it only seems to get better. We have great momentum and more importantly, great fun.
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