The JBS Collection’s memorable 2024 season is representative of owner Jack Boyd Smith Jr.’s passion for preserving historic automobiles and sharing them with the world
The JBS Collection had a tough act to follow in 2024.
The previous automotive season, Jack Boyd Smith Jr.’s collection jettisoned into the Top 100 list of car collections worldwide in The Classic Car Trust’s industry-leading publication, The Key, and saw its 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton Convertible become just the 33rd vehicle ever to be inducted into the National Historic Vehicle Register. The Cord, originally owned by American aviator Amelia Earhart, was honored for its induction with a singular display, under glass, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and it seemed that in 2023 the collection had achieved a new, high watermark.
And yet, 2024 somehow set the bar even higher.
In 2024 The JBS Collection continued to win honors and awards at automotive events around the globe and also made resounding advancements to further Smith Jr.’s greater goal of better sharing the automobiles in his collection with the world. In 2024, in association with LaVine Restorations, Inc. and Eyedart Creative Studio, The JBS Collection launched a now-popular video series, The Journey, to grant fans and followers greater access to behind-the-scenes automotive content and restoration details.
And, in what is perhaps one of Smith Jr.’s most significant achievements since founding his collection in 2012, the ‘Earhart’ Cord was invited in 2024 for a six-month installation in Dearborn, Michigan, at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. The Cord is currently on display at the legendary museum’s National Historic Vehicle Register Display, and remains on exhibit through late May of 2025.
“The 2024 season was an absolutely epic year for us in more ways than one,” said Smith Jr. “One of my greatest ambitions as a collector is to find new ways to share these important, magnificent vehicles with the world—to allow fans greater access—and in 2024 we moved that needle. Our series, The Journey, is something I’m proud of, and I’m thrilled to see the response it has received from viewers. And it goes without saying that the honor of an extended installation at The Henry Ford Museum is a monumental accomplishment for any collector. I’m so very proud of everything we’ve done in 2024, and classic car and automotive fans should be on the lookout because I have a feeling 2025 might be just as exciting for us.”
Thousands of viewers have tuned in for the inaugural episode of The Journey, released on Oct. 9. The series showcases the combined knowledge and insight of Smith Jr. and restoration partner Travis LaVine as the two friends discuss some of The JBS Collection’s most intriguing, inspiring, and historic restorations. Episode One of The Journey revisits the restoration of a 12-cylinder 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Custom Convertible Dietrich Sedan originally commissioned and owned by infamous California heiress-turned-explorer, Louise Arner Boyd. Upcoming releases of The Journey include an episode dedicated to the one and only ‘Earhart’ Cord.
Starting off fast and strong
The JBS Collection’s 2024 season of automotive events started in February with a big weekend in Florida. Working hard to navigate the challenges of being at two events over the same weekend, the collection received the Best in Class Award (Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Class category) at The Amelia Concours d’Elegance for its exemplary, American-made 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Pall Mall, one of only two of its kind known to remain in the world. That weekend’s congruent ModaMiami event honored the 1937 Cord with the Superstars-Best of Collection Award.
At August’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, in Monterey County, California, the freshly-restored 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Custom Convertible Sedan by Dietrich was awarded both the Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible Award Sponsored by Lalique North America, and the Briggs Cunningham Trophy Sponsored by Ford Motor Company. Later that month, with Smith Jr.’s first-ever trip to the Salon Privé Concours at Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, the collection was honored with the Chairman’s Award for the 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Pall Mall.
The JBS Collection took both First and Second Place in the Best Pre-1940 American Coachbuilt Car category at the 2024 Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, Aug. 30-Sept. 1, in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Cord—which also was honored during 2024 with a display at the Royal Automobile Club in London—won first place in the category, and the collection’s 1933 Chrysler “Imperial 8” LeBaron was honored with second place in the category.
Finally, just weeks prior shipping out for its six-month exhibition at the largest indoor-outdoor museum in the United States, the Cord was named Best in Class in the CCCA Full Classics category at the 2024 Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance and Motoring Festival, early November in South Carolina.
“Event awards are so meaningful, because in some ways they demonstrate and confirm the care, attention, joy, and love I put into the collection,” said Smith Jr. “Every single award over the years has felt like a great victory, and I’m so thankful to my restoration partners—Eric, Vivian, and Travis LaVine at LaVine Restorations—for their incredible expertise and involvement. There are a lot of great car collections around the world, and just like any collector I want The JBS Collection to represent the highest levels of excellence. Just as important, I want to my collection to be be more accessible, more informative, more revealing, and offer new ways for fans to love and connect with our vehicles. In 2024, we made great progress in that regard and—forgive me, I know I’ve said this many times before—I don’t think I could be more proud.”
The 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton Convertible is at The Henry Ford Museum’s National Historic Vehicle Register Display through late May of 2025. The rotating exhibit, part of a partnership between The Henry Ford Museum and the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, showcases automobiles from the National Historic Vehicle Register that tell the story of the automobile in American history. The only federal assemblage of its kind, the National Historic Vehicle Register is a record of the nation’s most significant vehicles and is archived in the Historic American Engineering Record at the Library of Congress.