Elo is a collector of cars with unique and incredible stories. This coming weekend, his car show L'Automobile tells the tale of the past, present, and future of automotive design. AutoEvolution sat down and got the story on what to expect from the man himself.
Since he was a young lad, Elo has always loved cars. After a very successful career, he started investing in his passion by purchasing special cars from around the globe. In his collection, you'll find a Lamborghini Rat Rod, Fabio Lamborghini's first car (a Fiat 500 no less), and even a TVR Tuscan.
This coming weekend, November 20th and the 21st, he'll be hosting the second annual L'Automobile show. It aims to "elevate the automotive scene in South Florida by delivering experience, interaction, and sustainability". Here's what Elo has to say about his inspiration to create the show.
Photo: Miami Supercar Rooms
Elo:What you see out there are cars that are compromised between the design part of the company and the accounting part of the company... so we get things that aren't necessarily pure design. So the idea of the show came along...
I wanted to celebrate those designers that are sitting back there creating these masterpieces and then their masterpieces are never seen. It's to celebrate art and design. To celebrate these guys that go out there that think and make these amazing-looking cars and they never get produced.
autoevolution:Crypto and NFTs are going to play a role in the show this year, can you tell us more about that?
Elo:We want to increase peoples ability to create and design. We want people to create and design so when you arrive at the show you'll be gifted an NFT. I believe every one of us have looked at a car and thought "I could do that better"...we all have that in us.
It was important for me to help people express that in art. So NFT and Crypto was just a perfect merger. The world is beginning to understand the use of NFTs...we're hoping that by gifting an NFT to all visitors that we'll kickstart their ability to design their own NFT. We want to get into that space where we can trade NFTs.
So someone can say "look, I drew this beautiful two-door coupe and I'll gift that to you in return for another NFT"
Photo: Miami Supercar Rooms
autoevolution:So what can visitors expect each day other than their very own NFT gift?
Elo:The events really kick off Thursday at 7 pm with an Autism Awareness event at Miami Supercar Rooms. It's done in partnership with University of Florida and is a private event.
Those who want to come can email us at [email protected] for more information on attending.Then on Friday, we're honored to have three of the worlds best know designers. We have Fabio Lamborghini from the Lamborghini family as one of our speakers and panel judges.
We also have Maurizio Corbi who used to be head of Pinifarina, Ferrari division. And we have legendary Malcom Bricklin from Bricklin motorcars who will also be with us. So we're expecting a full house when it comes to our panel discussion and our design awards Friday.
Photo: Miami Supercar Rooms
autoevolution:Amazing, so tell us about the more public parts of the show Saturday and Sunday.
Elo:Saturday is incredible. We have Cars and Coffee Miami. We're going to have something like a 300-strong car showing as we're setting up the public L'Automobile showcase. At 2 pm we'll open the show to press and media to enjoy a personal curation of each car. At 7 pm we've just added an amazing gala held on the lawn with all 36 design concepts from the show with a maximum attendance of 100 individuals. It's called the L'Automobile 100 club.
These tickets are sold at $150 per person and each gets a three-course meal and a new collector's piece NFT. Sunday is our public day. Sunday is the day when we invite all of our gearheads from around the world to sample what these amazing cars are. We'll have each car manned to give an explanation about what the car is and what it means to the brand.
We're excited to have a very special car from Chrysler, courtesy of Ralph Giles, head of the SRT division, sending us the very first Chrysler GTX concept. I remember as a kid going to Autorama and looking at it! So this event goes till 6 pm. We'll have food trucks, and a bunch of real cool entertainment, and then at 4 pm we'll have a trophy presentation.
Photo: Miami Supercar Rooms
autoevolution:The show focuses heavily on concept and design as it's morphed from the past and into what it will be in the future. Are there specific awards associated with each?
Elo:Correct. We have three categories, best concept past, best concept present, and best concept future. And then we'll have an ultimate best in show.
For me that is irrelevant but for someone whose life's work is on display, you can imagine, getting best of show can change everything for them. I consider every one of them all winners.
autoevolution:What other cars can we expect to see at the show?
Elo:I could tease you with a few. We'll be debuting a car for the very first time in the USA, it's a very amazing Italian car. In the flesh it's absolutely incredible.
The car he's talking about is the Ares S1. A C8 Corvette-based supercar with 715 horsepower and a much more luxurious and exotic body than any Corvette could ever hope to have. There's also going to be a Ferrari 308 GTSi restomod by Automobili Maggiore. We can't wait to see what else shows up. We'll be on the scene with complete coverage throughout the event
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