Is Hagerty Taking Over the Collector Car World?

Event by event, Hagerty is taking over your car world:

• In September 2019, Hagerty purchased the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.

• In October 2020, the brand added the California Mille, a time-honored collector car rally.

• In March 2021, the Concours of America was added for its strength as a long-running Midwest event.

• Today Hagerty announced Amelia.

Should we be worried?

Hagerty says no, that its long-term goal is to save driving and protect car culture, and it believes that the way to do that is to knit the car community together in new and interesting ways. The addition of the Amelia Concours, Hagerty says, will bring a new scale, reach and a voice to the community that ensures its future.

And what about other cherished automotive events, is Hagerty eyeballing anything else? Hagerty points out that it has had long-term partnerships with events like Pebble and, though no current discussions exist, it would welcome any mutually beneficial relationships.

A skeptic might say that it’s in Hagerty’s best interest to keep collector car culture alive so that there will be more collector cars to insure, and insurance is Hagerty’s business. Certainly there’s some truth to that. It has made other efforts to do so.

Just one month ago Hagerty announced the launch of the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, an organization providing scholarships for students in automotive education, offering financial support for automotive startups and grants for innovative business ideas. Hagerty continues to build the National Historic Vehicle Register, documenting the invaluable history of our automotive past. Other Hagerty founded and funded programs range from the RPM Foundation wherein RPM stands for Restoration, Preservation and Mentoring, the Historic Vehicle Association, which helped launch the National Historic Vehicle Register, and the Hagerty Drivers Foundation. In all, Hagerty has donated $20 million “to preserve and promote historic vehicles.”