The Chrysler's at Carlisle event
held on July 9th to 11th 2004 was simply out of
this world. For someone restoring, showing or a
spectator of precious Mopars, then this is the
show for you! We arrived this year on Friday
afternoon and even though we had a full day
planned for Saturday we got a sneak peek of the
show Friday afternoon. The show field was building
steadily as many of the car show participants were
arriving through out the day. The 14th annual
Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals brought a record
46,474 Mopar enthusiasts to the Carlisle (Pa.)
Fairgrounds. A record 2,132 vehicles participated
in the show field, and 1,448 vendors offered all
sorts of Mopar items.
Last year we only had 1 day
to do the show and believe me it wasn't enough
time to see everything. This year I spent a little
more time in the swap area buying parts for
Project AAR. I managed to find a lot of the rare
stuff I needed, rather than having to buy it off
e-gag. The invitation tent was stuffed was many
rare and gorgeous cars like Jeff Spark's "Resto
Rick built" 1971 HEMI Cuda
and Harold Sullivan's awesome Limelight strobe
stripe Cuda. There was some amazing Challengers
and a very nice Superbird there as well not to
mention all of the other hot Mopars! Check out
Cudaworld for an upcoming series of detailed resto
tips using Jeff Spark's Cuda and Resto Rick's
techniques and tips that he uses to build some of
the hottest Cuda's in the Country.
Back to the show... The car coral
once again had some pretty amazing rides for sale,
and cars were selling at strong prices. If the
rumors of a price check in this hobby were true,
there was no evidence of this Saturday &
Sunday! From what I have seen and heard there were
a lot of smiling faces around the corral. Goodmark
Industries was there promoting their repop steel.
While walking past the display area I saw an
innocent unmanned white table with a Challenger
Full Quarter sitting on it, yeah I said FULL
QUARTER! Nothing like a Carlisle event to unveil a
new and much needed repop piece. I snapped a few
images of it and they are in the gallery.
Jeff from www.transamcuda.com
& Barry Washington from the challenger T/A
Registry were in the middle of the show field with
some hot examples of amazing AAR's and T/A's.
Although I missed the seminars they were giving I
heard the turnout was great and info they were
sharing was very informative. The Trans-am cars
are definitely in good hands with these guys!
check out their websites and tell them
Cudaworld.com sent ya! Also in the midst of the
Cuda's where to folks from
www.cuda-challenger.com. What a great bunch of
people with an army of awesome E-bodies! They
actually got picked by Mopar Collector Guide to do
a photo shoot for an upcoming issue. I got a
chance to shoot the scene as well, that was a lot
of fun!
Considering, I was in a buying
mode this year I got to meet some of the well
known manufacturers of accurate restoration parts
like Bill from Bill and Rose Evans Wiring. I tell
you Bill and his company make the nicest and most
accurate wiring I have ever seen for Mopars. Jim
Tanner just started remaking the Cuda Road lamp
Brackets that are stunning replicas of the
originals I have in my basement. He has also
developed out of galvanized steel the correct
Marker Light Brackets. These pieces are a must
have and are simply amazing! Also got a chance to
buy some terrific coating products from Eastwood.
Being that I Live in Canada it is sometimes hard
to get some of Eastwood's products across the
bridge so it was really convenient to buy the
stuff and bring it home my self.
We also
bought a couple of dashpads for our friends with
E-bodies from Alan Fox at Ultimate rides. His
product is very nice and the price is very
reasonable. A new product that I had the chance to
pick up at the show were the Cuda Eyebrow spoilers
from First Place Auto Products. These guys are
making some very accurate and much needed
replacement parts for Cuda's like one of the most
accurate Go-Wing spoilers on the market. I truly
can't wait to install these eye brow spoilers on
the AAR! Overall we met loads of vendors selling
all kinds of things from diecast collectibles to
rare NOS parts, it is just so hard to list them
all so make sure you head out to the show next
year.
After making the mistake of
walking the show last year in my trusty sandals we
came prepared with comfortable running shoes, a
back pack for our camera equipment and lot's of
money! Believe me walking those rows in the swap
meet is definitely a work out! Especially, when
the temperature is in the mid to high 80's. The
sights and sounds of the All Chrysler event is
always a site to see. Where else can you walk down
a row and see three pristine Hemi Challengers and
a Hemi Cuda sitting under a tent?
Needless
to say the show went by in a blink of an eye! One
minute we are arriving through the gates and
before you know it is time to leave. It is always
great to see all those familiar faces and yearly
car show friends. I personally can't wait for next
year and hope to have Cudaworld's Project AAR
ready for the show.
I would like to take this time
to thank Becky Kunzman for personally inviting us
to the show and treating us so well. In addition,
I would like to thank all of the staff at Carlise
Events for making this show one of the most
worthy, successful & organized events in our
hobby! Counting the days until next year!
Chris Picco
Creator &
Developer
Cudaworld.com |
