Carlisle, june 26, day of event thread

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ck80

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So, against better judgment the wife talked us into going.

Currently at the food concourse enjoying fried foods, some breezy weather to keep from getting too hot.... even buying some junk.

Couple wagons here for sale, not concourse condition or anything, but notable none the less. Otherwise seems to be a handful of this and that - half dozen Montes, half dozen TRs, handful of caminos.... and literally what must be 100 fiero.
 
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ck80

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Well, bad news is my picture taking efforts went for naught. Camera was too low on memory to store anything new and I didn't have a spare SD card so....

I did attempt to count the fiero rows. I gave up after passing 120, it was too much work.

I have to say I was somewhat disappointed, and wonder if this is some indication about the state of the hobby these days. DISCLAIMER: we hadn't gone to a meet/show in probably 6 or 8 years.

The advertising claimed they were going to have 3000+ cars... I'd be surprised if 1/3 that amount showed, and weather wasn't a factor.

Car corral was basically non-existant.

The 'swap meet' was about 3 rows, double sided, worth of stuff. Generally speaking, most of it was junk as could be evidenced by a low volume of cash changing hands.

For all that, I picked up a few things. Maybe some pics to follow at a later point.

* I got some GM dealership monte carlo advertising items. One NOS/sealed, the others used with some wear/damage on some.

* Picked up some advertising postcards that hadn't been mailed.

* got a set of Hollander manuals - body, chassis, wheels, etc etc.

* 1985 Pontiac factory service manual so I don't need to dig out mine from the firebird.

* 1977 chevy truck paper manual in better shape than the one I've been using.

* set of 4 15" trim rings for a set of k10 wheels

* set of 78-79 regal hubcaps

* metal USA made old stock tool box with tray

* passenger side rust free gm fender for the 73-80 c10. Used, but straight. No nos present unfortunately.

*couple other $1 odds and ends

Another interesting thing was the average age of guys selling stuff, or I guess attendees in general thinking about it, was a lot higher than I remembered...
 
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Tomeal

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The 'swap meet' was about 3 rows, double sided, worth of stuff.

I was thinking about going but ended up not going. Was afraid that might be the case.
 

ck80

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I was thinking about going but ended up not going. Was afraid that might be the case.
I think the most disappointing aspect was the lack of industry support more than anything else.

The companies I was used to seeing there - former stalwarts like por 15, or various aftermarket sheetmetal suppliers like goodmark, or pmd, or whatever.... all were no-shows.

Maybe inventories were low. Maybe they do so much in sales online right now they dgaf about the guys going to the shows. But not one was there, just a guy who bought and sold Chevelle parts had a few things second hand and one guy with some rusty (supposedly nos but no stickers) pieces for some oddball things.

I would've been a buyer on some sheetmetal repair patches and the like but no way I'll pay freight to have to show up junk these days.

I did see a guy selling a th200c, that he said was broke and needed a rebuild. The sign said make a reasonable offer. I thought he'd be insulted if I told how much he could pay me to remove it for him.
 
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64nailhead

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I've been to one meet there other than the Spring show, and it was as you're describing.

For those of you that have never experienced a Spring Carlisle show, it's similar to the old Englishtown shows/swap meets. Car count is always 4 digits and I'm sure I've been there when there are over 4000 cars there. If you want to buy a car of most any type and of most any condition, then show up with money. When you get down to the last day and a half of the show, the prices start getting crazy low. If you want to look at all of the cars, then you need a full day at least to do much of anything other than walk by each one. Then the swap meet section is genuinely another full day + to get through. It's not just new stuff, re-pop stuff, but genuine old stuff of every variety. Of course there is a crap ton of re-pop Mustang, Camaro, Chevelle and all of the other popular muscle car parts. The items that we have bought there are astonishing. When my son was in high school, we would go and stay for two nights - Thurs and Fri and come home with a boat load of stuff. He always managed to drag me away from the $3k-6k end of the show straggler cars that I wanted. FWIW, at one point in my life I was destined to have a 3rd Gen - I thank him for stopping me lol.

Items that were annual buys - low budget carbide bits, glass beads for a bead blaster, of course 60's Buick parts, roloc discs, disposable tools - like a 18" screwdriver that you intend to use as a pry bar and chisel that you throw out when it's lost it's usefulness, etc.

The place is located in a residential neighbor hood and the vast majority of those people will allow you to park in their yards for the day for a small fee. Most of them used to take the week of the events off so that they can rent their property for parking.

I've never seen anything like the Spring event. Thousands of people all interested in cars - no arguments, no politics, all smiles. I truly miss going.
 
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ck80

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Thousands of people all interested in cars - no arguments, no politics, all smiles. I truly miss going.

In that regard today was much the same as what you describe.

Also had plenty of residents selling parking spaces, as were fire dept fundraising etc.

For anyone around new England think of parking for the BigE. Same idea.

If you don't mind my asking, how long ago had you last been to the spring meet and seen it the way you describe as far as volume goes?
 

64nailhead

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5 years. Seems like an eternity. My son is 26 and we started going when he was 15. You do that hard math ;)
 

ck80

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5 years. Seems like an eternity. My son is 26 and we started going when he was 15. You do that hard math ;)
If you had better legs he might still be going with you ;)
 
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oldsofb

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It was small this year. I blame the coof.

If you weren't looking for Camaro, Chevelle, or Nova parts, your options were way less. BOP distributors were almost a no show (I think I saw 1 Pontiac dist)

UMI were there, but they're local, so that makes sense.

I missed out on the 2020 season, so I hope the Fall show has a good turn out.

Hutch
 
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