Spring Carlisle

Anyone going to Carlisle this April? I'll be there 26th thru 28th.

 

I will consider it if I am home and settled in by then. Tho I wont be cruisin a wagon, will likely be a ratty old pickup. But I am all about checkin out the rides and saying hi to other wagon lovers.

 

My brothers and I are tentatively planning on going. We try to go to either the Fall or Spring every year. Depends on my work situation.

 

I'll be there on Wed and Thursday. Usually do Spring Carlisle and Fall Hershey each year.

Will be looking for a 53-54 Chevy wagon visor among other things.
Ken

 

actually...me and a couple friends were talkin bout coming down....
so ya never know....there could be some Canadians there.....we'll see if the others dont wimp out

 

Have been to Carlisle many times especially when I had just statred on my 50 Ply wagon. Did not find one thing for the car but did get some other things like a M/C and some body shop stuff I needed.
I have noticed there are lots of people who are selling old rusty junk and asking really high prices. If the weather is nice ,it is a nice day out walking and looking. But now with gas prices where they are and it taking 2 hours to get there from my place, I just go online if I'm looking for something.

 

Sportwagon

I go every spring & fall. This year will be without my friend Rick who just passed away from cancer. He drove a '57 Chevy 210 wagon. It won't be the same.

 

Questions

Gentlemen (& Ladies!),

I am new to this car show thing (But, i have always wanted too...)...
Booked for April- here is a show @ Hershey in the fall?
What are the dates? Who/What do I have to contact & do to go?
(Perfect excuse to hit Gettysburg afterword... Sit in the local pubs & drink a few Yuenglings...)

Thanks!

 

http://www.carlisleevents.com/events/spring-carlisle/

Unless you are vending or showing, just show up any of the day to shop, browse, drool and have fun.

Now visiting Gettysburg would be the icing on the already gourmet cake! That stop alone will make the trip up worth it. I have never been, but always wanted to visit.

 

I always attend the Chrysler show at Carlisle in July, and on occasion have attended the Ford show in June and once the GM show.
Fall and Spring Carlisle are always good, but not alot of Mopar parts for me at those shows (but I always enjoy looking at all makes of cars for sale and looking at all the vendors of auto literature, toys and gas station memorabilia). For anyone looking for pre-muscle car era parts, Fall Hershey is the show to attend for the better selection (could probably find every piece of chrome for a 50 DeSoto brand new in the box at Hershey), and for 60's and newer parts Carlisle is the show to attend for the best selection. Fall and Spring Carlisle, and Fall Hershey, will have many vendors selling N.O.S., used original parts, as well as many of the manufacturers of new and reproduction parts will be there. Some may specialize in Mustangs, others in GTOs or 55-57 Chevys, the list is endless.
Fall Carlisle is always the first weekend in October and Fall Hershey is always the second weekend in October. Fall and Spring Carlisle are huge swap meets ("its 14 miles to walk every row" at Carlisle but Hershey may be a bit larger). Both have huge car corrals with huge numbers of cars for sale. Fall Hershey also has a huge car show (Saturday only)where only the cars of AACA club members are shown. The Hershey car show is amazing and everyone who loves classic cars should see it at least once. There are likely about 5000 cars to see at Fall Hershey, and they park them by year from the turn of the last century up till at least the mid 70's (or maybe its mid 80's). You'll see everything from Model T's, Duesenbergs and Cords, to VW bugs and Hemi Cudas and Chevelle SS's to Ferraris and Masseratis, to clam shell GM station wagons and Country Squires, and from sedate 4 door sedans to vintage motorcycles, vintage trucks and buses of all sizes to vintage race cars and rare factory prototypes. Time it right and maybe you could attend both Fall Carlisle and Fall Hershey in the same trip. Hershey, PA also houses the AACA car museum.
Since Carlisle and Hershey are only about 35 miles apart you wouldn't even need to change hotels. Some people from the west coast find its cheapest to fly into Dulles Airport (IAD) or Baltimore/Washington Airport (BWI), rather than flying into a closer airport. Both of these airports are outside Washington DC and are only about a 2 hour drive from Carlisle and Hershey (Dulles is a little closer to Carlisle and BWI is a little closer to Hershey). Fridays and Saturdays are the best days for Carlisle as many of the vendors pack up on Sundays. For Hershey, Thursday and Friday are the best days for the swap meet, and Saturday for the show. The vendors at Hershey pack up on Saturday.
Rain or shine, both will be crowded.
I haven't made it to Spring or Fall Carlisle or Fall Hershey in a few years, but hope to have time to go to Spring Carlisle for at least a few hours this time around. You certainly can't see either show in one day. I spend four days at the Mopar show at Carlisle and never stop moving and still never feel like I've seen the entire show when its over.
Gettysburg is only a half hour away from Carlisle, and if you are driving up from Dulles Airport, you actually go past Gettysburg on RT 15 on your way to Carlisle. Take RT 15 to (I think) RT 34 from Dulles Airport, and 34 will take you right though down town Gettysburg and through the battlefields on your way to down town Carlisle.
If I was planning a trip from far away, and had never been to either show, I would plan on a flight into Dulles Airport on Thursday (first day of Fall Carlisle) arriving as early as possible. Then visiting the Smithsonian's Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum on the Dulles Airport grounds (I could stare at the SR-71 Blackbird all day long, but the Enola Gay is impressive to see as well, and theres so much more to see as well), before driving to Carlisle and finishing the day Thursday by starting a walk through the vendors at Carlisle. Then spend Friday, Saturday and maybe even Sunday for Carlisle (always deals to be found on the last day from vendors who don't want to take their stuff home). Then, maybe Monday for a day in Gettysburg, and Tuesday for the AACA Museum in Hershey and maybe a tour of some relatively close by Amish country, then Wednesday through Saturday at Hershey ( you'll need all day Saturday just to see the cars in the show), and fly home on Sunday. Eleven days and you could pretty much see all of both shows and have two days in between for sight seeing.
Hershey only has the show and swap meet in the fall. There is no event in the spring at Hershey.

 

I have been attending the spring and fall Carlisle shows since it opened, and originally went as a spectator. In the beginning it was small enough that you could cover most of it in a day. Now, you can't cover all of it in 3 days, unless you just keep walking and don't stop to look at anything.
I have been a vendor there since 1982, and from a buyers perspective, if you are looking for bargains, then just keep walking past the vendors that are very organized and have everything laid out carefully. You won't find any bargains there. If the vendor has a conglomeration of parts, and it is all mixed up, that is where the bargains are. It also helps to know exactly what you are looking at, since many vendors have NOS parts, but no idea what the part fits. This is where having a factory parts manual really pays off. I see lots of specialty vendors walking the fields and picking up lots of NOS parts for pennies on the dollar, since they know their part numbers and know how much a properly identified part will bring. Just make sure that you can tell the difference between a NOS part and a reproduction. I have seen people buy reproduction parts thinking that they are NOS, and pay more for the part than if they stayed at home, and ordered it from a catalog.

 

WOW....great info and advice from cuda and junk! Thanks a lot guys...this is valuable info!

 

Speaking of Yuengling, heres a commercial for Yuengling that a friend of mine appeared in (briefly) along with his blue 64 Impala.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG3iSy3NQlg

The main thing you'll need to do if you're from out of the area or plan to spend more than one day, is to get your hotel rooms booked early. The hotels close by fill up fast and you would likely need to book nearly a year in advance. But neighboring towns close by you can sometimes even get a room at the last minute. But, the longer you wait, the farther you'll drive to get to the show each day.

 

I'll be looking for a console for my Satellite, and if I can't get my wagon's problems straightened out, I may be bringing it to sell!

I booked my rooms this week at a Super8 (high class, I know) right in Carlisle. It's about two miles away from the fairgrounds.