It opened with a snarling 1970 Porsche 908/3 race car driven across the golf greens next to the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, by Vic Elford, the Brit who piloted it to wins 44 years ago.

It ended with the near-silent arrival of a curvaceous 1937 Bugatti Type 57C, and the snarl of Jim Jaeger's red 1962 Ferrari 250GTO, as both won top honors at the 17th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

In between, an estimated 20,000 people gazed at 300 classics and race cars at one of the country's top concours events.

Check out more photos of some sweet cars

Robin Gibson, caretaker for Jaeger's Ferrari, was amazed at the Best in Show-Concours de Sport win at an event that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the V-12 Ferrari race car with a dozen on display.

"I don't know what to say; we are really ecstatic," Gibson said after a victory spray of champagne spattered the estimated $30 million car. "We love Amelia Island. This is our favorite show out of everything, and to come here and win this award is over the top."

Tom Whitlock was just as happy after his two-toned green Bugatti won Best in Show-Concours d'Elegance.

"I know how pretty the car is, but it just depends on how pretty the judges think the car is," Whitlock said. "I am very happy that it got to where it is, and I am very proud of it."

Concours honoree Elford, a rally and road-racing champion in the 1960s and 1970s, said the whole event was "absolutely marvelous," including driving comedian Jerry Seinfeld's orange and blue racing Porsche earlier to crowd applause.

"When I drove the car in this morning, it was like losing 40 years off my age," Elford said. "It was wonderful, and it was so nice to be presenting prizes to cars like this Ferrari at the end of the day."

Concours chairman and founder Bill Warner, whose event has raised more than $1.8 million for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and other charities since it began, said the weather was fine, the crowds huge and the cars "fantastic."

"We sold out of tickets, and we printed 20 percent more than last year," he said. " ... I liked the cars of Vic Elford. Anytime you get a Porsche 907 on any field, it is big time. When you get four 907s, each one that won a major race, that won't be seen very often again."

The concours crowd saw priceless cars like actress Rita Hayworth's 1953 Ghia Cadillac, the 1961 Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark concept and a row of small MGA sports cars that raced at Florida's Sebring 50 years ago.

"It is the best I have ever seen because of the wide variety of cars and the quality of cars," said attendee Robert French of Braselton, Ga., wearing a Duesenberg hat and Alfa Romeo shirt.

Jacksonville resident Stanley Sanford has been coming to the concours since it began and said it has always been full of "so many unique cars."

"You see anything," he said. " ... They are just gorgeous, beautiful and hand-polished."

AC Cobras designed by Carroll Shelby were there to celebrate that car's creation 50 years ago, including one of six Pete Brock-designed Cobra Daytona Coupes that helped beat Ferrari in 1964 at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

"There were just about eight guys who went to Europe with a couple of tool boxes and fought off the entire Ferrari team," Brock said. " ... I am always proud to see the cars. They are lovely. But it is something that should be shared by the entire team."

Along with Indy 500 champions Johnny Rutherford and Dario Franchitti, three-time Daytona winner Hurley Haywood and Hollywood actor and car expert Edward Herrmann were on hand with cars like a Ferrari-engined Pontiac Firebird and a Le Mans-winning Mercedes-Benz.

"To me, that is the richness of the car world just right here in two golf holes in Florida," Classic automobile expert McKeel Hagerty said.

The 2013 honoree is Connecticut race car driver, historian and author Sam Posey.

dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549