Recap of the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown & The Media Storm That Followed
South Florida is a place that enjoys near-perfect weather and is famous for being one of the car-meccas of the world. Exotic Car Showdown is the perfect example of what South Florida has to offer in the way of Supercars…With that, here is a full recap of the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown rally, which took place from February 21st to February 23rd.
Last month, the newly-formed Exotic Car Showdown held a rally, and this is one that the people of South Florida won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Not only did a profusion of mind-blowing exotic supercars with some pretty crazy motor work join the 3-day rally, but the event also caused some public controversy, which we are going to discuss later on in this recap.
Let’s start this off by filling you in on what the Exotic Car Showdown is all about. Then we will have a look at what went down at the 3-day rally, including the hurricane of outrage that it created in the public eye of the storm…And, of course, we will be closely examining some of the sleek exotic supercars that joined the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown.
About the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown
For the car spotters out there, the South Florida Exotic Car Showdown is the rally where you will see a running list of performance cars you’d love to see in person, and many rare exotics you’d probably never think you’d witness in the flesh…
That said, the event was not open to the public, so only those who were lucky enough to cross paths with the fleet of supercars would have been able to spot them.
The 2020 Exotic Car Showdown ran for 3 days straight, starting Friday evening on February 21st and ending Sunday evening on February 23rd. The 3-day supercar rally was packed with exciting moments, incredible scenery, parties, gorgeous models, some of the finest restaurants and most delicious food that South Florida renders, and, as a matter of course, the world’s best supercars, many of which had jaw-dropping motor work done. The rally was LOUD, both in the sounds the exotic cars made and the media storm that followed.
It was an entirely exclusive event. Those with supercars who wanted to join had to register prior to the event. They were able to buy tickets for Friday, Saturday, Sunday or the whole weekend. Participants came from all over the country, such as New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and, naturally, Miami. Owners from out of state shipped their cars down specifically for this event.
All in all, the exotic car show made for the perfect chance to make friends with other like-minded and equally elite car enthusiasts. It was an absolute blast.
Recap of the 3-Day Exotic Car Showdown Rally
Here is a timeline with highlights from the entire event:
Friday, February 21st
The Exotic Car Showdown kicked off Friday evening at 8pm with a welcome dinner at Boatyard in Fort Lauderdale.
The supercars swarmed in, completely taking over the lot. Everyone made their way into Boatyard to enjoy some contemporary American cuisine in an upscale, laid back, private environment. The Boatyard has a prime location, with a beautiful waterfront view. Boatyard’s philosophy is “Eat Local, Be Coastal”. They serve fresh daily catches of seafood from local fisherman, as well as fine premium cut steaks. There was a high quality raw-bar and the shellfish selection was off the charts. You could clearly tell that everything was thoughtfully prepared and guests were well-taken care of with cocktails of their choosing.
The dinner ended around 11pm. It was the perfect way to start the weekend extravaganza.
Saturday, February 22nd
The Showdown continued the following morning at 10am with an unforgettable catered breakfast at We Are Curated in Miami.
We Are Curated
We Are Curated buys, represents, and sells investment quality “blue chip” cars. They are renowned for their collection and sales of vintage and classic supercars, especially vintage Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s.
“We are in the constant pursuit of pairing the worlds greatest automobiles with the worlds greatest collections. We buy, trade and sell ONLY very specific cars.” – We Are Curated
While having breakfast, everyone got to peruse some of We Are Curated’s incredible inventory, which includes a 1981 Ferrari 512BB, 1994 Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota, 1995 Ferrari 512M, 2011 Lamborghini LP570 Superleggera, 1993 Jaguar XJ220, 1955 Ferrari 275 GTB and many more. For the true car aficionados, We Are Curated is the ultimate adult playground…or better yet, museum. The best part is all the cars are for sale.
After breakfast, which ended around 11:15am, there was a 15 minute Driver’s meeting before departing on to the next location.
Gilbert’s Resort
The rally left We Are Curated at 11:30am and by 12:30pm they were in the Keys. Location, the absolutely stunning Gilbert’s Resort.
The crew spent a couple hours at Gilbert’s Resort, kicking back and relaxing, Key Largo style. Needless to say, the beach was gorgeous and it was a beautiful day so the water absorbed the sunlight, giving it that light blue, picturesque ambiance.
What’s more, there was a gourmet lunch with everything you can imagine and a tiki bar to consume for those riding shotgun.
Route 1 “Photoshoot”
The cars made their way back to Miami. Obviously, Route 1 was the course.
Everyone knows Route 1’s impressive view as you are leaving the Keys, heading back to the mainland. The 18-mile stretch is a road-trippers dream destination…
It was then that the exotic car rally spontaneously decided it was the perfect place for a photoshoot. The result, a short but memorable traffic jam. Being that it’s a busy one lane road, things got really backed up….brief as it may have been.
It was like a transient exotic car show on Route 1. There were a couple dozen extravagant automobiles, owning the road, switchblades up. It was a gang of Lamborghini’s (Aventador SV, Huracans, Uruses), McLaren’s (570S, 720S), Ferrari’s, and even big boy SUVs like the Range Rover Sport SVR. It was a sight to see.
Little did they know, it was about to cause a media storm, public outcry, and even a potential police investigation.
Whether the rally was actually going for a viral moment or it was simply just a heat of the moment thing, we are unsure. But if they wanted viral, they succeeded. Days after, it hit a few major publications in South Florida and the people are still talking on social. The news spread internationally too, with a big New Zealand car publication discussing the act…
More on how this “stunt” blew up on the internet at the end of this recap.
Sunday, February 23rd
Likely unaware at this point of the imprint the rally left on Route 1 and the people of South Florida, the crew started the day with an hefty breakfast at Diamonds By Raymond Lee.
Breakfast was provided by Potions & Motions. Potions and Motions is South Florida’s largest gourmet catering company.
As the exotic cars started rolling in breakfast was being freshly made and served. There was a wealth of choices. We are talking all kinds of bagels, cut-on-the-spot fresh fruits, a whole baked ham, a made-to-order omelette station, and also a complete lox salmon set up with onions and tomatoes.
Cars at the Exotic Showdown on Sunday
Let’s have a look at some of the cars at the Exotic Car Showdown…
First, it should be noted that many of these exotic car owners shipped their cars down from New York and New Jersey. These weren’t all South Florida residents. In fact, South Florida residents only made up a small portion of the Exotic Car Showdown.
What’s more, pretty much all of the cars in the rally had motor work done. This makes these already insanely powerful cars even more powerful.
Aventador SV Roadster
We had the pleasure of witnessing the sleek black Aventador SV Roadster on all three days. It is an absolute beast of a car. You gotta love that Lamborghini offers this ridiculously fast car in a Roadster.
Here it is in a line up with a whole mob of Lambos. What a gorgeous shot with our new wall mural in the background.
Lamborghini Huracan
With all the captivating cars at the breakfast, we have to say this Lambo Huracan stuck out the most. Why? Well, besides being one of the finest supercars Lamborghini has ever made and the eye-catching light blue paint on gold rims, this Huracan has a massive twin-turbo engine.
Let’s have a closer look…
This impressive upgrade gives the car more power and efficiency. Moreover, it sounds badass. It has a seductive growl to say the least.
Ferrari 488 Pista
One of the most powerful V8’s in the history of Ferrari was in attendance. The Ferrari 488 Pista. This is easily among the most luxurious supercars on the planet. It’s beautiful, aerodynamic, and a pure racing car at heart. It boots a 2.8 second 0-62mph and can punch out 720 cv at 8000 rpm. Jaw. Dropping.
Lambo Urus
Lamborghinis in all forms were at the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown. The Urus is the perfect amalgamation of a super sports car and an SUV. It has the speed and functionality an everyday driver dreams of. From the innovative design and extreme proportions to the exceptional driving dynamics and skill-pulling performance, the Urus is a fascinating vehicle to behold.
As with all of our events, the Exotic Car Showdown drew many other car enthusiasts who were passing by Diamonds By Raymond Lee.
Here’s a Buick Skylark, a customer of ours and a friend of the artist that did our Wall Mural was taking a cruise on Sunday during the event and saw something was going on so he pulled in.
The classic Ford GT showed some American spirit among all the Italian and British (there were a few McLaren’s on scene) supercars.
By noon, there was a drivers meeting and then everyone rallied out to the final stop, Marco Island, taking the party to the Florida’s Gulf of Mexico.
Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort
The final stop of the 2020 Exotic Car Showdown was the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort for an unforgettable lunch.
Everyone arrived at approximately 1:30pm, where the festival’s finale commenced.
The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort is island-style paradise. Only the best for the Exotic Car Showdown after all.
The weather was spectacular and the food was scrumptious. It was the perfect way to end the rally.
For those who want to join next year, you’ll just have to stay tuned for more information…
Controversy in the following days
Now to the aftermath of it all…
So, a few days after the Exotic Car Showdown ended, a social media and news media storm started. As mentioned, it was all about the blocking of traffic on Route 1 on Saturday.
Many citizens of South Florida weren’t too happy with the act of “Shut it down for the shoot”, a quote from one of the Exotic Car Showdown rally members.
The media picked up on the public outrage and they came down on the rally. Florida Key News, Miami Herald, and The Drive discussed an alleged police investigation and they highlighted the public outrage for those who took part in the rally. The news spread as far as New Zealand with Driven media.
There was also a Reddit thread about the occurrence that generated over 46,000 upvotes.
Florida Key News and The Miami Herald reported “Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, said the agency did not receive calls about the event Saturday but is now aware that it happened. ‘It’s on our radar, and we’re looking into it,’ Linhardt said.”
The Drive stated “While money can buy fancy clothes, big houses, and expensive cars, it most certainly can’t buy common sense.” and “The internet’s response has been mixed-to-negative. You’ll find a few people defending the stunt as harmless or somehow “worth it,” but many others feel it was nothing but an egregious, idiotic display of arrogance.”
We later found out that another group of South Florida car enthusiasts followed suit the weekend after the Exotic Car Showdown rally did it. Albeit, their cars weren’t as impressive:
“For the second straight weekend, a group of car enthusiasts came to the Florida Keys in a pack and intentionally delayed traffic during the heavily traveled tourist season.” – Florida Key News
All in all, when it comes to the Exotic Car Showdown rally, it was a group of car enthusiasts just having a good time. No harm was intended by the rally and no harm was done. The worst of it was some commuters and vacationers getting a little angry (we are sure some were intrigued too).
Of course, things like this are definitely not allowed on public roads. Nevertheless, it was a harmless act.