Artomobilia returns with a new date and some new features.
“Historically, it’s been the last weekend in August, and due to some general conflicts, we moved it to the weekend after Labor Day,” Artomobilia event director and founder John Leonard said.
Artomobilia, which started in 2008, is set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Carmel Arts & Design District.
“We may have interest in moving it (later) into the fall, but we’ll see how this one goes,” Leonard said. “Maybe it won’t be quite as hot. I’m also seeing a way to incorporate the Center for the Performing Arts. It’s not really available until the end of September, but the intent is to push it out a bit.”
One new feature is that there will be a variety of Mercedes-Benz cars on display. The Mercedes Monumental Classic Car Show is presented by the Mercedes-Benz Club of America.
“They are having a national meeting in Indianapolis around the time of the event,” Leonard said. “Their cars will be on the south edge of Range Line Road.”
Leonard said Artomobilia also has expanded into Midtown.
“We’ve been wanting to do that for a while because Midtown is gorgeous,” Leonard said. “We’re going to locate Lotus cars from the Monon Plaza to Main Street.”
There will be an awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 9 for Mercedes-Benz, Lotus, BMW and Porsche entries.
“We’ll bring up the best in group winner in each and then go through our standard award ceremony,” Leonard said.
There also is a change in the event before Artomobilia.
Veloce will begin at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Jet Access Center at the Indianapolis Executive Airport in Zionsville. It replaces Fuelicious, which was previously held the night before Artomobilia.
“We wanted to make the event more accessible,” Leonard said. “In the past, the tickets have started at $250 and gone up. We decided to change it up. We want to do something a little less expensive. We changed the name to Veloce, which means speed in Italian. There will be planes and super-fast cars. There will be small plates and an open bar. It will be a lot of fun.”
Tickets for Veloce are $175.
“In the past, we’ve only sold tables, so you had to buy 10 tickets at a time,” he said. “This year, we’re selling (individual) tickets, tables and lounges.”
Leonard said if tables weren’t sold in the past, they might have sold individual tickets in the final two weeks before the event.
“If you are into speed, that’s the event for you,” Leonard said.
The Shift Road Rally is set to start at 9 a.m., Sept. 10, starting at the Motor District, which is private garages in Westfield, and concludes at the Silo Auto Club and Conservancy in Indianapolis. The drive, which goes through Carmel, is about 200 miles.
There also will be a Mercedes-Benz rally that goes in the opposite direction of the Shift Rally that same day.
The club also has a short rally Sept. 8, but those events are more specifically for Mercedes-Benz members, Leonard said.
For more, visit artomobilia.org.
