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| As usual it was a cold and damp Spring Carlisle, but that is exactly what it has always been in the past. Veterans had the proper attire and attitude. There were large crowds Friday and the announcement of a new large indoor convention facility being built a few blocks away from this main 84 acre site. I don't go to the F*rd, C*rysler, GM, Import, Truck or Bike events, but I'll bet they are sell outs also. I have been there dozens of times and have never come close to covering all 84 acres in one weekend. Following are some random shots at this years Spring Carlisle. This is looking North on Row J. Some will recall that Chip set Row J up so that the majority of the Corvette vendors were on this strip of real estate and for years it was referred to as Corvette Row. There were still over 10 of those suppliers on this strip and another 10 scattered elsewhere. Since spaces are 10 foot wide and there are over 200 spaces in this row; this row alone is half a mile long. There are literally miles upon miles of aisles. |
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 The well known complimentary Red
Carlisle Tram was refurbished over the
winter. I was surprised to read that under this sleek body, rests the drive
train from a 1947 F*rd. No wonder it travels at a crawl.  |
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This sleek machine is so quiet, I had thought it was electric. I'm going to try the ride this year. Looks like non DOT 6:70x15's on the rear. |
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| By Thursday the grounds were near filled with few no shows. I was surprised to see the large numbers of early shoppers. Even on Friday and early Saturday in the drizzle, there were thousands afoot. | |||
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This was just one of the horrific examples of vehicles
that were in accidents, but quite restorable. |
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| Right next to me was this 1967 Black Chevelle. It was a clean
ZZ3 with factory air, but dressed up with 396 badges, hood and other SS
cues. It was marked 42.5K and got more attention than JLo in heat. I don't
know if it sold, because I had to leave early Saturday. Billy the owner,
was an affable easy going fellow from NC whose hobby is running a nitro
fueled drag bike. Jeeze, some folk have nutty hobbies in their 50's. I would like
to thank him again for his assistance in squeezing my C6 in this sardine
can spot. |
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 Al Knoch, a Carlisle perennial was present
with a fine selection. But not all are TF offerings. That's what makes
it interesting. I was tempted to get those smiling face Sun sculptures,
and put one on either end of my bus. |
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| Pssssssssst. This is an
honest to goodness little publicized Carlisle fact. The exact same spaces
I get each year for August's Corvette Carlisle event are actually occupied
by this Texaco gas station during Spring Carlisle. So you can get
both Corvette parts and gas in these spots, but some already knew that.
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Arriving home I was met by our Andes Mountain Peruvian nanny - house keeper. She had cleaned my Yellow car in case the weather changes. |
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| I read they get over 100,000 walk-ins at a typical Spring Carlisle. Yikes, that's allot of folk. Especially when you consider that the town of Carlisle only has a population of about 18,000 folk. My Uncle John came to Carlisle with me 25 years ago when it was not as large. Even back then, he was amazed at the smoothness by which this event was run. All those 100,000 people eat at least one meal at the event at $10. thats a few meals to prepare and a respectable food tab. Some of your Old Carlisle veterans will recall, when Chip would even put on those roasted Chicken Dinners on Saturday night if I recall. | |||
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