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This year’s Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle was one of those events that a person will remember for years to come, especially if it was the first time you attended an automotive event at the Carlisle Fairgrounds. This past week in July, on the 6th through the 8th, we got to witness what seemed like the world’s largest gathering of Mopar cars, enthusiasts, and parts all in one place. It was an event of epic proportions, and believe us you needed all three days to take it all in.
Upon our arrival to the Carlisle Fairgrounds Friday morning, the weather was less than cooperative with dark overcast clouds that gave way to torrential down pours by 11am, which continued all day. With all the rain that fell, it did not stop the hundreds of people from walking around the car show and swap meet area as many bought umbrellas and rain gear, or took shelter in one of Carlisle’s many display tents until the rain subsided enough to continue on.
E-Bodies - although tragically short lived - are always a crowd favorite. In fact, the array of first-generation Dodge Challengers and second-generation Plymouth Barracudas was impressive. Even several late-model Challengers were on hand, including several which had been heavily modified to either perform or just look like the classics. There's still chatter that Chrysler will bring back the 'Cuda name, but until then, we'll just have to be patient.
Whether bone stock or heavily personalized, Mopars have always been known for their decorative body decals. In fact, so much so, that Dodge advertised their R/T series as 'The Cars With The Bumblebee Stripes.' during the late 1960s. This Lemon Lime Green Charger sports a custom elephant logo (instead of a Super Bee), while this other '71 Charger's hood stripe keeps things simple.
Saturday the weather was beautiful and with it came thousands of people and many more Mopars than we saw on Friday. The Fairgrounds were jam packed with people and everything was in full swing. The show car field seemed like it went on for as far as your eyes could see, hundreds of A, B, and C-Bodies all lined up in their own rows, along with rows and rows of new Challengers, Chargers, and Ram pickups. There were show classes for everything Mopar, from stock to highly modified, it was here, oh, and we can’t forget all the AMC entries that showed up too.
Sunday brought the awards and a diminished crowd as many came from far and needed to travel back home, but it was still a good day to see a more calm and less crowded fairgrounds. Many of the swap meet vendors had packed up the night before which made Sunday an easy day to look for parts without stressing out over a huge crowd.
There's been a bit of a drop in nation-wide event attendance this year due to the economy, but one couldn't tell things were tight with as many people who showed up at this year's Chrysler Nationals. The fields were full of show cars, the fairgrounds were packed with vendors and everybody was having a great time.
If its the exotic or the super rare that you're looking for, then look no further than the swap meet. We spotted all sorts of factory tin and OEM-style replacement parts. From replacement hoods and doors, to super expensive bits for a Daytona (this guy wanted $9K for just the nose), to a complete Six Pack setup, we found some seriously cool parts that made us wish our lottery ticket was worth the paper it was printed on.
The swap meet area was enormous and took us the majority of two mornings to explore every isle, with the parts ranging from the 1920s to 2011. If you needed something rare for your ‘Cuda or Charger it was there, and yes plenty of Shaker hoods, Six-Pack setups, and of course HEMI parts. Just the vast display of all the vendors set up in this huge 82-acre facility left us wondering if we would be able to see all the parts that were here.
It did not matter if you needed sheetmetal or a date-coded intake manifold, all you had to do was ask, and chances are someone had it or knew a guy selling one. If you know the Mopar culture, they are a tight knit group and they know who has what, and where it is, so with all the new and used parts that were here, there was no question you would find what you were looking for.
This engine is the future of factory Mopar performance, we have it on good authority. The all-aluminum 7-liter 426 Gen III HEMI makes 540 naturally-aspirated ponies and gets over 20 miles per the gallon thanks to the new engine management software and 4-cylinder deactivation. The replacement for the previous 392 crate motor now found in current SRT Mopars, we've been told that the days of buying a 426 HEMI Charger or Challenger aren't too far away.
The covered pavilion and the retro Beeny Chrysler Dealership housed some seriously cool machines including some meticulously restored HEMI cars as well as some wildly low-mileage Mopars. Stepping into the faux dealership was like walking back in time and made us wish we had a time machine and a whole bunch of cash to buy all the cool cars we could find.
Just in front of the fairgrounds at Carlisle was one of the neatest displays we have ever seen: Beeney Motors, a retro style dealership complete with cars and memorabilia from 1971. The front windows were painted with the Dodge Demon and Plymouth Duster logos along with a few other enticing promotional ads to draw potential customers in to see the new models.
It was as if you went back in 1971 all over again and the attention to detail was amazing. Inside were all the new model Dodges and Plymouth cars, with a service area that included Dick Landy’s famous pro stock Challenger, and a real HEMI cutaway engine, believed to be one of only eight that Chrysler produced.
Engines, engines, engines. That's the thing that makes Mopar stand out among all the muscle cars, their wild, over-the-top engines. From Chrysler's daring 'Long Ram' intakes to the big dual quad elephant motors, to the high-revving, 340 Six-Pack small blocks, Mopar motors are just as impressive as the cars they reside in.
There were plenty of goodies that made us just a bit sad. We long for a modern muscle car that can embody the 'stripped-down, bare-bones' appeal of the Super Bee and the now-defunct Plymouth-brand Road Runner. Hey Mopar, if you're listening, give us a zero-frills muscle car!
Along with all the show cars and parts for sale, Carlisle had a full schedule of entertainment in store for us over the weekend, there were celebrities like John Schneider (Bo Duke from “The Dukes of Hazzard” television series), Dan Woods from the show “Chop Cut Rebuild” was present at the Legendary Auto Interiors booth signing autographs, and American Graffiti co-star Paul Lemat (who played John Milner) was there with his yellow ’32 Deuce coupe.
There was the famous Chrysler’s at Carlisle Burnout Contest, a Miss Chrysler Bikini Contest, and Carlisle’s Giveaway of a ’99 Chrysler Sebring convertible and a big block engine giveaway sponsored by Muscle Motors and Mopar Muscle. Some of the most unique attractions were the Celebrity Movie Cars featuring Christine, the General Lee, the Batmobile, “Starsky and Hutch” Grand Torino and many more.
The thing about the Chrysler Nationals had to be the variety. No matter the year or make, Mopar enthusiasts all gathered together to share their love for this brand and it showed in all the different forms and iterations of these machines. We saw some seriously modified street bruisers and some turn-key cruisers, but all of them were cool in their own right.
Looking for a cool classic? They're not that hard to find, you just need to do your homework. We found so many future projects that we nearly forgot that we had current projects in need of completion already! This super-straight Challenger could be a quick summer project thanks to an aftermarket newly flush with replacement parts or this wild gasser van, which might take a while longer to find parts for.
The Survivor Display was awesome featuring some of the rarest low mileage Mopars known to exist all under one roof. The manufacturers midway had a huge turnout of all the big vendors and manufacturers like Indy Cylinder Heads, Comp Cams, Mancini Racing, Red Letter Dodge, and Mopar Performance. If you wanted to see how much power your car made there was a chassis dyno there as well.
Knowing how big the turnout was and how much we loved this year’s Chryslers at Carlisle, we are already looking forward to next years event and you should too. Its definitely a must attend event, so mark it on the calender for next year.
