Chrysler Carlisle Nationals: More Mecca For The Pentastar Faithful

Ask any hardcore Mopar enthusiasts East of the Mississippi what their favorite car show is, and undoubtedly they’ll say the “Carlisle Chrysler Nationals.” This event has been ongoing since the early 1990s and continues to grow annually.

The past two decades have seen a shift in the vehicles that populate the massive Chrysler Carlisle Nationals show field, as more attendees drive their late-model Challengers, Chargers, 300s, and other Gen-3 HEMI-powered vehicles for the modern creature comforts.

But there are still many diehard and hardcore folks who’ll road trip their vintage muscle cars with no A/C, vinyl seats, sketchy brakes, and too much rear gear to be rolling down the PA Turnpike at posted speed limits. They’ll run 60 mph while still getting passed by campers and tour buses heading to Carlisle.

(To see last year’s Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, click here.)

For those less adventurous who still want to roll into the Carlisle fairgrounds with an old school carbureted muscle car, they take the safe approach and transport their precious car within enclosed trailers hooked to RAM 1500 and 2500 pickups.

New For 2025

Since the Carlisle Events staff likes to change up the show year-to-year and celebrate historic Mopar muscle car milestones, for the 2025 event, the theme was the 100th anniversary of the Chrysler brand. To commemorate this august occasion, a 1926 Chrysler Six, a pair of Turbine cars, and even a WWII Sherman Tank were on display. There was even a H-Hemi powered air-raid siren straight out of the 1950s when relations between America and the Soviet Union heated up and marked the start of the Cold War.

Some modern-day Chrysler concepts, such as the Atlantic and the equally stunning Halcyon, were on display, too, showing the company’s emphasis on style and technology.

Carlisle also recognized the 55th anniversary of the 1970 Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda and Dodge Challenger T/A. The two nameplates had a much better reputation on the streets than the twisty SCCA road courses, banging fenders with Boss 302 Mustangs and Z/28 Camaros.

With their unique fiberglass hood, spoilers, and wild stripes, not to mention the 340 Six Barrel/Six Pak engines with side-exiting exhaust that were exclusive to these cars, AAR and T/A E-bodies were the first to command big money from collectors, starting way back in the early 1980s.

In typical Carlisle fashion, there was a great mix of street versions that had been meticulously restored, yanked from a barn, or survived the ravages of time.

This year’s Chrysler Carlisle Nationals also celebrated the popular “Malaise” era of mid- to late-1970s Chrysler Cordobas, Dodge Chargers, Magnums, Miradas, and Aspens (and their Plymouth cousin the Volare), and just about any other Mopar machine from the heavily induced smog era, when the speedometers would only go up to 100 mph. Despite being the
“Rodney Dangerfield” of Mopars and not getting any respect, the Chrysler community has accepted these miscreants of the Jimmy Carter era and the EPA’s smackdown on high-performance muscle cars.

These misfits, along with many others covering almost a century of Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Jeep, and RAM, were part of the overall Carlisle event in which the 3,000-plus Mopar show cars were on display and appreciated by hordes of the Pentastar faithful who make this annual trek from all over the world to central Pennsylvania.

“We had over 3,201 cars registered for the show field, setting an all-new high for our Chrysler weekend,” said an exuberant Ed Buczeskie, who’s been the event show manager for many years and is a diehard Mopar Man! “This total is 51 more than the previous record set in 2023 and marks just the fourth time since the event’s inception in 1991 that the show field totals topped the 3,000 mark. It’s also the fourth time in as many years, demonstrating that this event continues to gain popularity. The show is so popular that, despite not officially starting until Friday the 11th, by mid-afternoon on Thursday, July 10, the grounds were already packed with guests eager to squeeze as much fun out of their vacation as possible, and that included shopping for parts within the sold-out automotive swap meet.”

As Ed will tell you, it takes an army of workers, volunteers, enthusiasts, and many others who spend a great deal of time planning and making this show happen without vapor locking.

“I couldn’t possibly be prouder of the show or the Carlisle Events staff. I also had some incredible help from Bill Adams and Robert Soule of the Walter P. Chrysler Club, as well as Frank Rhodes, great-grandson of Walter P. The display and celebration that we pulled off was breathtaking. People were excited to see one Chrysler Turbine Car in person, but we were all blown away by having two of them displayed together in our Expo Center. Now, I have to find a way to do even better next year.”

Knowing Ed and his dedicated staff, they will not disappoint.

For the hardcore Super Stock Hemi fans, Carlisle also brought together an impressive assortment of the 1964 A864 and 1965 A990 Dodge and Plymouth Super Stock Hemi Package Cars. This display was the brainchild of longtime Mopar Super Stock historians Harold Laplatte, Jim Kramer, and Howard Tony Kroll. These Hemi race machines took Chrysler to a whole new level in NHRA and AHRA national competition, and put the hurt on the Ford 427 Thunderbolts and “Swiss Cheese” 421 Pontiacs.

But before you think the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals is just about show cars and a massive swap meet, think again. Just over the show field is their autocross track, in which high-octane, tire-smoking, exhaust screeching activity was happening. With Carlisle’s Real Street Shootout, Rolling Exhaust Contest, Burnout and Donut competitions, and other activities, the senses of the show attendees got a workout. There was even a cruise through historic downtown Carlisle, where Union and Confederate soldiers fired volleys of musket balls at each other during the Civil War.

Carlisle is also known for its massive Mopar swap meet that contains used cars, parts, literature, memorabilia, apparel, and just about anything you could ever ask for. Just walking the endless rows could take days and weeks, as there are hidden treasures and gems mixed in among the greasy or rusty parts or piled up boxes of items that need a closer examination.

The Carlisle Chrysler Nationals is also about the personalities who shaped the Mopar hobby for decades. These living legends can also be considered National Treasures, and attending this year’s event were Buddy Martin, Herb McCandless, Butch Leal, the Original Ramchargers, Golden Commandos, and the First Lady of Motorsports, Miss Linda Vaughn. There was a constant line of fans looking to get autographs and get first-hand accounts of drag racing’s glory days.

So, make plans to attend the 2026 Carlisle Chtrysler Nationals (July 10–12, 2026). Ed and his staff are working on some cool vehicle displays, including celebrating 60 years of the Dodge Charger, the “Adult Toys from Dodge” from the late 1970s that included the Street Van, Power Wagon Pick Up Trucks, Ramcharger SUV, and many cool exhibits that make the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals the Mopar Mecca for the Pentastar followers.