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Revvin’ to Go
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: Winter 2024
The wheels never stop turning – organizers are already well into planning 2024 Highlands Motoring Festival, set for June 6-9.
Armed with enthusiasm from a wildly successful 2023 edition, the board of Highlands Motoring Festival is pulling together an even more ambitious 2024 edition.
“A couple of folks get together, car lovers all, and someone says, ‘let’s have a car show,’” says HMF Board Chairman Ricky Siegal. “Then some more folks get involved and it grows. Then the group decides to invite ‘marque’ entries, named cars like Porsche, BMW, Cars of Italy, and other specific categories. And it grows more. The group then invites speakers, well-known names among car people like the late Bob Ingram, whose Porsche collection is world-renowned, and famous race car drivers like Brian Redman. And it grows still more. And what started as an ‘if you got it, bring it’ event to an ‘invitation only’ event. Until it reaches a level of being one of the South’s most popular automotive events and was voted by Classic Motorsports Magazine in their January 2019 issue ‘Best Concours’ in the land!
“As this year’s Chair, it’s with immense pride to announce that this year we will be featuring Brass Era cars produced before WW I, and Pre-War cars, those produced before World War II. So far, this idea has generated immense interest. Our Grand Marshall will be Bill Warner, founder of the Amelia Island Concours d Elegance.
HMF is an all-volunteer organization with over 50 people helping to stage the four-day event. These local volunteers are the heart of HMF.
“I think back to 2019, when we also had a forecast of six inches of rain on show day,” says HMF’s Steve Ham. “Since HMF is a rain or shine event, the show went on. It was inspiring to see the volunteers, sensing that the festival was in jeopardy, come out in the rain and help make it a success.”
“Our beneficiaries continue to be Literacy, REACH, and Community Care Clinic,” says Ham. “Donations to these beneficiaries for 2023 was $105,000 ($35,000 each). Over the years, HMF has donated over $540,000 to local human needs charities.”
