Cruisin’ Carlisle

The big kit car dance in America is the annual Kit/Replicar Nationals at the Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Fairgrounds, and this year’s event brought out some gorgeous debutantes in the shape of new cars and art forms. The show was also full of intrigue, as spy-like attorneys took pictures at the event.

The 2002 show, held May 17-19, played host to 19,491 enthusiasts, down slightly from the 20,113 hobbyists who attended in 2001. Show cars increased from 1,030 last year to 1,116 this year. Some 60-70 car manufacturers attended, as well as dozens of private hobbyists and clubs. Together, they displayed about 350 kit and component cars.

Tailored to the pure import and kit/ replicar enthusiast, the show featured the largest gathering of kits and replicars in the country, with 502 vendors offering everything the enthusiast needs to build his or her dream car. The upbeat crowd was flush with optimism coming from FFR’s court settlement/ victory over Carroll Shelby. The agreement gave Shelby the right to the name “Cobra,” while he gave up his rights to the car design and styling.

Daring Debuts

Shell Valley Companies responded to the show with a trio of new cars. It has a stunning new Cheetah, which won the Kit Car magazine Editor’s Choice for Car of the Show and is featured in this issue; an exciting new ’52 C-type Jaguar racer called Tipo 166; and a sharp ’32 Ford. All of these cars came from a design relationship with Team-C-Racing.com. Also debuting was FFR’s Mk II, which we feature in this issue; Lone Star’s Lamborghini; a new Diva from R Motorsports; K-1 Styling’s Evoluzione II; a newly styled Dragon; and a bevy of new Lotus-esque designs.

Rampaging Rumors

The biggest rumor to hit the fairgrounds was that Ford and Shelby lawyers were stalking the show, taking pictures of all cars that displayed Ford or Cobra badges. Hence, masking tape was the order of the day, as tiny Snakes and Blue Ovals were covered.

Other persistent rumors included one about a Price-Waterhouse survey of 10,000 Americans who were asked what a Cobra was. The answers ranged from a Mustang to a radar-jamming device, while the vast majority purportedly identified a Cobra as a sports car manufactured by either Factory Five, ERA, Superformance, or Ford—or they were just called “kits.” The term “Shelby” apparently lagged far behind.

It is also rumored that Unique Motorcars is entering the kitrod fray with a kit truck and a ’30s-era car.

A Winner

Indoor displays featured numerous kits, replicars, and imports, and a car giveaway was held that rewarded Luis A. Rosa-Alberty of Laurel, Maryland. He held the winning ticket for the ’84 Gazelle replica of a Fiberfab ’29 Mercedes-Benz SSK.

However, all in attendance were winners. Manufacturers reported increased sales over last year’s show, and the hobbyists seemed to find their next projects and enjoy communing with other enthusiasts.

Next year, the 2003 Carlisle’s Import-Kit/ Replicar Nationals will take place during the weekend of May 16-18. For more information, call the event hotline at 717/243-7855 or visit www.carsatcarlisle.com.