1999 Chryslers At Carlisle

Byron Cherry and Chris Mayer,...        read full caption Byron Cherry and Chris Mayer, who played cousins Coy and Vance Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard TV show made their first appearance ever at Chryslers at Carlisle. Chris’ Celebrity Pick went to Scott Johnson’s Pro-Street ’69 General Lee Charger. We’d like to add that Scott’s car is the coolest version of the General we’ve ever seen!

Carl Abbott’s ’71...        read full caption Carl Abbott’s ’71 Dodge Challenger R/T was originally featured in our August ’98 issue of Mopar Muscle.

For 1999, Carl decided to...        read full caption For 1999, Carl decided to go with a bolt-on modification effort in Standard of Modified Excellence judging. “I can’t afford to build a second car,” says Carl, “so I made this one the way I wanted without sacrificing any ability to return it to original.” Either version of the car is awesome.

Mopar Muscle Editor Jerry...        read full caption Mopar Muscle Editor Jerry Pitt presented his Celebrity Pick award to Justin Mancino and his Sublime ’70 Dodge Dart. “The reason I gave Justin this award is to celebrate him as a member of a new generation of Mopar enthusiasts. It’s really great to see young guys and gals with new, fresh approaches that combine workmanship with budget in mind. Most importantly, they’ve chosen Mopar.”

Some of the biggest crowds...        read full caption Some of the biggest crowds of the weekend were gathered around this portable DynoJet chassis dynamometer brought to Chryslers at Carlisle by Steve Pilic of Dynotec from Eastlake, Ohio. Here, Don Gallimore’s Hemi ’65 Belvedere I is prepared for a test. Peak rear wheel horsepower pegged at 341 while torque was a whopping 449.2. That number is even higher than the horsepower figure we gained in our article, “Head To Head,” which is found in this issue of Mopar Muscle.

Jim Mackey’s ’66...        read full caption Jim Mackey’s ’66 Pro Street Barracuda set a new high mark for Standard of Modified Excellence points. The A-Body received 97.34 points, which was not only good enough for top honors in the class, but also the most points ever scored in the class’ six year history.

For the first time in nearly...        read full caption For the first time in nearly three decades, The Rapid Transit Caravan was once again on display. Steve Juliano has spent considerable time tracking down not only the original cars, but also a tremendous amount of the original caravan display material, including the cut-away 440-6 motor shown here. We featured the Rapid Transit Caravan cars in the July ’99 issue of Mopar Muscle. Incidentally, Steve is always looking for new pieces of dealership display memorabilia to add to his collection, so if you have anything, give him a call at (914) 738-2529.

This made us smile—a...        read full caption This made us smile—a whole row of Stubbies! The turnout included several different models of the flat-nosed A100s, including a fully restored firetruck and a motorhome. It was great to see them all.

William Codner showed up in...        read full caption William Codner showed up in his ’60 300F and popped the hood to let us all drool over its super sano engine that’s as colorful as it is powerful. Very nice!

I Found It: 18-year-old Joey...        read full caption I Found It: 18-year-old Joey Polakovich was at Carlisle with his dad—both scrounging parts for his ’66 Valiant Signet. Joey found this really nice grille and headlight bezel for only $50.

I Found It: Ray Padgett had...        read full caption I Found It: Ray Padgett had been looking more than a year for a good bumper for his ’64 Polara when he found one at Tri-State Plating’s booth. It was the best price he’s seen anywhere, came with a lifetime warranty, and was only $295. But there was an $80 core charge, so he broke out the tools and swapped bumpers right on the show field!

Bill Turpin and John Cunningham...        read full caption Bill Turpin and John Cunningham of ACS offered great subscription deals to Mopar Muscle and Muscle Car Review. The show special would get you a year’s subscription to both magazines and a T-shirt for an unheard of deal. Visit them next year!

Eddie Barker of Tri-State...        read full caption Eddie Barker of Tri-State Mopar of Martinsburg, West Virginia, gave his Celebrity Pick to Bryce and Teresa Legeer and their ’72 Barracuda. Bryce notes that the car was owned by his late son, Shane, and says, “Shane put so much of his time in it and with his tragic loss, Teresa and I decided to finish the car. We’ll never sell this car and it will stay in the family. We just want to honor his enthusiasm in his car hobby.”

Here, Bill Miller; Miss Chryslers...        read full caption Here, Bill Miller; Miss Chryslers at Carlisle, Joy Ort of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Kathleen Campbell of Apple Valley, Illinois; and Chip Miller stand with Carlisle’s ’66 Barracuda Give-Away car. Kathleen finally made the trip to Carlisle after friends kept telling her she needed to go to the event. Lucky thing she did—she held the winning ticket for the ’66 Barracuda! The little white gem shows only 27,000 original miles on the odometer.

I Found It: Wheel Tough of...        read full caption I Found It: Wheel Tough of Terre Haute, Indiana, was at Chryslers at Carlisle with its full line of unique furniture and cookware crafted from high-quality aluminum wheels. Wheel Tough offers Charcoal and Gas grills, fryer/steamers, sports chairs, bar stools, and tables. For more info contact The Wheel Tough Company, Dept. MPRM, P.O. Box 10073, Terre Haute, IN 47801; (888) 765-8833, Fax: (812) 238-0537. Visit them on the web at www.wheeltough.com/

The Northeast Hemi Owners...        read full caption The Northeast Hemi Owners Association came to Chryslers at Carlisle and again were awarded with honors for Top Participating Club. The club got a cash award of $669 for its 93 cars participating in the event, $300 more for finishing First in club participation, and another $500 for the most club cars over the previous year, for a total of $1,469 in winnings. Mitchell Motor Parts sponsored the Carlisle Club Challenge, and paid a total of $3,000 to the nine Mopar clubs that had at least 10 vehicles on the Fun Field. They all deserve hearty congratulations!

Thomas Lloyd Jr.’s “Antenna...        read full caption Thomas Lloyd Jr.’s “Antenna Car” amused us. The ’63 Newport has 125 aerials, 350 decals...

...and a radio block out plate....        read full caption ...and a radio block out plate. Some people will do anything to get in a magazine.

I Found It: 16-year-old Doug...        read full caption I Found It: 16-year-old Doug Bowers from Hampton, Pennsylvania, scored this Dart quarter panel for $100. When you stop to consider that Doug was born in ’83, and this quarter panel is for a car 10 years older than him, it’s pretty remarkable! It’s great to see young guys involved in the hobby.

I Found It: Year One came...        read full caption I Found It: Year One came to Chryslers at Carlisle and introduced a new flip-top gas cap (PN FR63) for ’70-’71 Challengers...

...and B-Body armrest base...        read full caption ...and B-Body armrest base pairs (PN 767) for ’68-’70 Dodge/ Plymouths and ’68-’70 Chargers (PN 687).

I Found It: Dennis Kohr of...        read full caption I Found It: Dennis Kohr of Kohr’s Kustom found this pair of mini scoops for a ’69 ’Cuda convertible. “I paid $225 for the scoops and I have been looking for them for approximately two years,” says Dennis.“I also found a quarter panel for a ’71 383/4 speed ’Cuda and ’71 Charger bumpers.”

This vendor followed the build-up...        read full caption This vendor followed the build-up we offered in our April ’98 issue—the dLi 400 hp/400 lb-ft/ 400ci—hoping to sell it to a Mopar home.

We have yet to attend a major...        read full caption We have yet to attend a major Mopar event without spotting a set of these recalled Kelsey-Hayes aluminum wheels. For something so rare, they sure do pop up a lot!

We don’t know what we’d...        read full caption We don’t know what we’d do with a calliope stack fuelie intake for a Hemi, but that didn’t stop us from wanting it! It’d look cool just hanging on the wall, wouldn’t it?

We asked. The owner wanted...        read full caption We asked. The owner wanted more than ten grand for it, and it needed a total restoration. That’s probably not a bad deal, since the drivetrain was complete, but...

I Found It: We spotted two...        read full caption I Found It: We spotted two guys schlepping parts and asked to get their pictures for the magazine, when they called their wives over and told us the ladies were the owners of the parts! It turns out the girls dragged their husbands to the show for parts on their rides. Donna Cartins and her friend Bonnie Porter are shown here with the radio bezel for Donna’s ’65 Satellite. Bonnie owns a ’69 Dart GTS, and said she got a lot of parts for it at Carlisle.

This is probably the worst...        read full caption This is probably the worst thing about finding a rear end for your car—moving it around. They’re horrendously heavy, awkward to move, and being front heavy, they always want to rotate in your hands when you pick them up. Still, after it was in the truck, these guys looked pretty happy.

I Found It: Robert Rodeheaver...        read full caption I Found It: Robert Rodeheaver from Maryland is our kind of guy. When we asked him about this ’70 340 block, he said “There’s always room for one more.” We understand completely.

I Found It: Eric Powell, 17,...        read full caption I Found It: Eric Powell, 17, and his mom, Terri Hobbs, were at the show looking for parts for Eric’s ’Cuda. He’d been looking for six months for this tail pan, and a year for the valance. When you were a kid, did your mom ever tote parts for you? Didn’t think so.

I Found It: Steven Duncovich...        read full caption I Found It: Steven Duncovich of Islip Terrace, New York, found this ’71 Challenger front valence for half the price of a reproduction at Chryslers at Carlisle. Steven notes, “I had been looking around the vendors area for about two hours. I just noticed it had a price of $60.” Steven did do his best to get an even better deal: “I tried to offer the vendor $50, but he said ‘no.’ It’s going on my driver.”

Yet one more good thing about...        read full caption Yet one more good thing about owning an old car!

I Found It: This may be the...        read full caption I Found It: This may be the score of the show. David Kirkpatrick decided he needed new taillights for his ’70 ’Cuda, and spent only a half-hour looking for them! Not only did he find them quickly, but he only dropped $50 for the pair.

It took a while for the results to come in, but when we finally got them, they only made official what we thought all along—the ’99 Chryslers at Carlisle event was huge! We thought it “felt” bigger this year than in years past, and then the totals came in: with 1,110 show cars registered, it blew away last year’s total of 924 cars.

Not only did Mopar fans “find it at Carlisle,” they brought their Mopars, too. Carlisle has long been associated with car events as the ultimate in swap meets, but by cresting the 1,000-car mark, this has become a must-attend show. Proof was found in the abundance of cars entered in each of the Fun Field categories as well as the Standard of Modified Excellence judged category where the number of entrants more than doubled.

Another important measurement of growth: the family quotient. The atmosphere at Carlisle lends itself to participation by parents and their car-frenzied kids. This was most apparent in our effort to display our ongoing theme for Chryslers at Carlisle coverage. Carlisle Productions motto, “I Found it at Carlisle,” again is part of how we cover the event. As you read through the captions, you’ll notice that our hobby isn’t just the guys—kids and wives are getting in the act, too. Best of all, our attempt to show new Mopar fans was unintentional. We’d walk up to some guy carrying parts, and he’d tell us it was his wife’s or son’s part for their own car—he was just the hired carry grunt! That, more than anything else, made the event great for us!

In less than a decade, Chryslers at Carlisle has proven to be a premier Mopar show. We’ve always had a good time there and with the numbers climbing every year, the increased participation of clubs, and the amount of people just simply enjoying themselves, other Chrysler fans must think so as well.

To ensure that you get to attend upcoming Chryslers at Carlisle events, give the folks at Carlisle Productions a call. All of the contact information is included in the Source listing below.