Carlisle - Kit Car

Ask anybody what the biggest kit car show in the country is and invariably the answer would be "Carlisle." What is surprising is that even people who never attended the show will give that answer too, as everyone knows that the Carlisle show in spring is the only place to be.

But Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is really only the location for the annual event; the proper name for the gathering is the Import & Kit/Replicar Nationals. And though Carlisle itself has been around since the mid-1700s, the Import/Kit Nats has itself become a major concern to kit and replicar owners due to the show's longevity.

Since the mid-'80s, Carlisle Events (the folks who produce almost a dozen other car-related shows, including the well-known Spring and Fall Swap Meets, on the 82-acre site) has organized this three-day show that combines the best from the import and kit car worlds.

Being that it covers many makes and models of both kits and imports, it's difficult to say how large the kit portion is, as many areas, such as large swap meet area set aside for used car parts, combine both camps together. So when walking the aisles of used, rusted metal pieces that would make some Bugeye Sprite or Triumph TR3 owner ecstatic, you could just stumble on some VW parts for your pan buggy project.

Though MG parts may be overflowing in one booth, the one next to it might have the molds for a kit car. You just never know, and that's the fun of discovery at a Carlisle swap meet. One gent with a roll-back truck not only was offering an old Sebring kit for sale, but a complete set of molds for it, too. Another seller had many bodies for sale, from quarter-scale scooters to a full-sized Lola. One enterprising company from California, Cutting Edge Replicas, who was visiting the show for the first time, spotted the Lola body and made a deal to buy the molds too, and should begin producing them out in California.

Another area adjacent to the swap meet was the Car Corral, where any type of kit or import could be sold. Several Cobras were parked there alongside MGs, Jags, and Auburns, as well as a few Porsche 356 bathtubs. Some were just-finished drivers, while some others could be listed as various levels of "basket" cases.

Much of the Carlisle acreage is taken up with rows upon rows of imports, from French Renaults & Dauphines to English MGs and Triumphs, with a smaller measure of German and Swedish cars thrown in for good measure. The car show area set aside for the kit and replicar enthusiasts seemed smaller than last year, possibly due to the fact last year's show was a 20th Anniversary event, which will always spike attendance numbers. There was, however, the usual large contingent of Cobra owners and their rides, though not as many Daytona Coupes showed this year compared to last year.

Something different from past shows was the addition of a Club Challenge award, determined by the amount of vehicles brought to the show by a particular group or club. Direct from the Internet (www.speedsterowners.com), these Porschephiles were able to gather 35 speedsters to win First in the kit category (the most from any other group was a Saab club that had 137 entries). The rest of the field was spread out (literally) in smaller groups, which included a good showing of Bradley GTs (as well as a club devoted to the Valkyries and Avenger vehicles), Lambos, and a few odd-rods (one-offs that even included a "Brubaker Box," a chopped minivan-like contraption from the early-'70s) made up the balance of the outdoor show.

If you can count on at least one thing at Carlisle each year, it would have to be the rain. It varies in amount every year, from sprinkles to biblical, and the first few hours of the event on Friday morning saw a steady downpour that kept many car owners at home, or at least dry back in their hotel rooms. Show cars and attendees started showing up in the afternoon once the skies cleared, but one thought that maybe the Goodguys car show scheduled for the same weekend only 34 miles away in Hershey could have drawn people away from the Carlisle event.

But Saturday, though overcast in the morning, cleared up to become one of the nicest spring days in memory. All areas of the show were overflowing with car enthusiasts of every type, including inside Building T and Pavilion B, which were reserved just for kit and replicar manufacturers.

There seemed to be an upsurge in the number of manufacturer booths this year, with a couple of new builders stepping up with some impressive displays, too. Major industry players, such as Unique Motorcars, Shell Valley, Factory Five Racing, and D&R, were out in force while other companies, including Superformance, took the opportunity to debut their latest ride: their SPF-40, a clone of the Mark III Ford GT40 racer. Power and Performance showed their new PPMC 427 Roadster Cobra body and independent chassis setup, and Lone Star, in business since the early-'90s, rolled out their version of a GT40, which was one of several GT40s debuting at the show.

RCR, out of the Detroit area, introduced their Lola-like RCR70 along with their RCR40 (a GT40 clone with a fully aluminum monocoque design) bodies, and Dragon Motor Cars showed their Series II roadster, which just came back from driving (and surviving!) a cross-country road trip. Together for only a month, the odometer on this red Dragon reads over 7,500 miles! Deman Motorsports from Canada, whose cars performed well at last year's Run & Gun road course events, showed their new engine system: a turbo-equipped SR7 that should work great in the 1,000-pound car. Some fun!

B-Rod or Custom, whose Tom Cat had them stopped in their tracks at last year's show, were back with drawings for a removable hard-top version set to debut soon. If your forte is of the Porsche variety, then the owners of Intermeccanica, Special Edition (who introduced their new 550 to the crowd), and JPS were on hand to answer questions. If a resto or hot rod version of a classic '55-57 Thunderbird was more your speed, then Regal Roadsters was where you needed to stop.

If you were looking for proven BMW suspension under your snake, then the reps from Backdraft Racing had two booths, one inside and one outside, to handle inquires. Even the folks from the Florida-based Street Beasts, with their '41 Willys and '34 Ford coupe, were on hand with a display that included a representative who literally climbed up on top of their display vehicles (fender, cowl, then roof) to demonstrate the strength of their bodies.

So, even with a little rain, this year's Import & Kit Nationals was the place to be if you were interested in building or driving any type of kit. It seems as if the Carlisle show is well on its way to becoming as historic as the burgh that surrounds the fairgrounds has become!