McKee Botanical Garden’s highly-anticipated 11th Annual Motor Car Exhibition will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Garden’s annual motor car exhibitions are attended by thousands of car enthusiasts and are revered as one of the best car shows in the state of Florida and beyond. During last year’s show, which featured “Corvette, America’s Sports Car,” one of the participants from The Villages in central Florida exclaimed, “Today at the Gardens was one of the best car shows I have ever attended from Florida back to Minnesota!”
This year’s show promises to be even better. The Car Show Committee strives to select the rarest and most outstanding cars each year. Have you ever seen these makes of cars: Allard, McLaren, and Daimler? You can see them on display at the McKee Motor Car Exhibition this year!
Each year the committee, which includes Rob Hardie, Dick Kesler, Tom Lockwood, Norman Ridgely, Chuck Roberts, Wayne Sandlin, John Schumann, Jr., and Jerry Weick, selects a different theme. This year’s theme “The Best Cars from Forty Different Manufacturers” will feature 40 of the latest modern exotics to historic race cars to the finest luxury cars which range in age from a 1913 Buick to a 2020 Lamborghini, a span of 107 years! Cars specially selected for this show come from the United States and as far away as Europe and Japan and include both gasoline and electric powered race cars, sports cars and road cars. Just a hint of the historic race cars that will be on display include a 1966 Corvette Red Ball racer, 1957 Lotus 11 LeMans, and 1958 Lister Jaguar.
As an additional bonus this year, visitors will enjoy three exhibitions for the price of one! This year’s car show is being held in conjunction with the Garden’s Ocean Sole Africa Flip-the-Flop Sculpture Exhibition. This amazing exhibit features 40 brightly colored, whimsical marine life sculptures made from recycled flip-flops created by artisans from Ocean Sole Africa in Kenya and includes turtles, dolphins, a great white shark, an octopus, reef fish, starfish, a manta ray, manatees, seahorses and dragonflies. Guests will also be able to admire internationally-acclaimed landscape artist Patrick Dougherty’s 2nd Stickwork hand-crafted masterpiece made from willow samplings created exclusively for the Garden during a three-week period in January by Patrick and a team of McKee volunteers.
The Garden Café will be open for lunch during this event and will feature a wide array of lunch options.
Two parking areas will be available at either the Garden or at the old power plant at the west end of the Alma Lee Loy Bridge at the intersection of Indian River Blvd. and 17th Street. Those who park at the power plant will enjoy a complimentary 10-minute motor coach ride to and from McKee.
This project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the State of Florida (Section 286.25, Florida Statutes), Einstein Bros. Bagels and Treasure and Space Coast Radio.
Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (65+)/youth (13-17), and $10 for children (2-12). McKee members and children under 2 are free. Advance tickets are available at the Garden’s Gift & Book Shop during regular business hours. McKee Botanical Garden is located at 350 US 1, Vero Beach.
For more information, call 772.794.0601 or visit www.mckeegarden.org.
About McKee Botanical Garden
McKee Botanical Garden is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to nurture and enhance a historic garden in a unique tropical setting for the education, enjoyment and enrichment of all.
