^^^^^^^^. That was a disaster, debris everywhere. IIRC, we left that morning.

 

How is the vendor area? good deals to be had? should i go there before the swap meet area?

 

Hit the swap meet first, that's where the "treasures" are, and have a list of parts you are looking for or need .
Vendors are there all weekend, and there are "show specials".
If the booth is too busy, set up an appointment for later in the day, so you can have any questions you may have ,answered.
I ordered the complete interior for my 67 from Al Knoch at Carlisle. purchased a complete front clip from Sermersheins, (they had them on display , so you could see the quality/construction)
Side pipes from Allens, wiring harness from Lectric Limited ,etc, etc, none of which I took home from the show but got a significant discount from their catalog prices.
Last time I went, my friend , who has "newer" Corvettes, including a Callaway ordered a quad lift, at a big discount. (we didn't even know they were available, and again you can see the quality/construction first hand)

This year I don't need much or have anything on my wish list, I may be interested in having my 67 hard top restored, and checking out some of the chassis/suspension options, as I currently have my eyes on a 67 coupe with a rusted frame.

 

Many might have "Show" specials what you might also save on is shipping vs buying it on line. Swap meet folks you can usually negotiate the prices specially last day.
Some even offer Military discounts.

 

If you stop by the Adam's booth, Ill be working there this year, helping the Team out. Hope to see you all out there!!

 

UPDATE! :
I went to Carlisle friday morning at 7 and these are my insights for future newbies going to Carlisle for the first time.e
I got to gate 1 and the staff informed me they had no parking on site. I noticed the brewing company literally 10 feet from the entrance was charginge $10 for parking which was what the venue was charging online so i took it and was parked immediately outside of gate 1 (Thank you Desperate times Brewery).

For those that say you cant do Carlisle in one day, I say bullcrap! we walked the whole swap meet at least 3 times as all the vendors weren't set up the first 2 times. We also (wife and I) walked the vendor area twice and the several show areas at least once. (TBH after a while corvettes were so repetetive tht it got mind numbing)
So, i bought a cart and chairs and etc... bottom line is i didnt need it. The chairs never left the pickup bed and the cart only once for a short stint through the swap meet. The bleachers were sufficient if we needed to rest from the heat which came later in the day.

As far as the swap meet is concerned, if you are looking to restore your ride and need that one piece then this is the place. I was looking for more aftermarket upgrades for my project so i was a little disappointed.
We went to the brewery for lunch and some drinks in the middle of the day then went back out. Such a good spot to break up the day. I found out later that the owner was directing the parked cars. Great guy.

Overall I had a great time and did ultimately purchase 2 items at the swap meet and met several nice people along the way. Good times.

My hotel was in Harrisburg. If you end up there I highly recommend Gilligans for dinner. Great food, Great service, and we played pool the rest of the night there.

 

Interesting. So the show started Thursday and some vendors were not set up by Friday morning? Wished I could have gone. Prolly my best chance at finding my elusive fuel pump. Have never been...but some veterans have said it ain't what it used to be. then again...what is?

 

Just curious......for those who did the 3 day Fun Field, did you get goody bags and a t shirt this year (there were no shirts last year). And did Ciocca hand out free posters again?

 

No Shirt in Goodie bag,

No poster from Ciocca

 

So I have been going for like 30 years. In the old days you couldn't do this in one day or even 2 the issue is what you see is 1/10th of the vendors that use to come. This year was the worse I have seen it there were there were more pickup trucks parked in vendor spots then vendors. I blame the internet and the state started collecting tax on what they sold.

 

We got a goody bag not much in it and no T-Shirt since Corvette America pulled out. Ciocca for the first time didn't do posters, times are changing. GM at the GM tent was giving out some nice posters.

 

Got home last night.
hadn't been there in 4 years. The whole scene changed.. The positive was the new layout and the helpful staff and the parade. It was over 500 vettes but only 6 C1s and no GM engineers. Paul Konner's return was a plus but no PA announcement when he was speaking. The beer garden by the gate was a plus. step out for lunch and a beer.
On the other side was many.
There were no major vendors because of the tax issue. also no Freebees. Goody bag was a joke.. Ebay was giving out tee shirts. If u didn't have a C8 there was very little for the other years. Very few C1 C2 C3 cars in the fun field. Majority was all C8s. No Bathing suite contest. no burn out contest no dyno. These helped make the event!! The vendors were spread out so that u had to walk more to see everyone. No aftermarket vendors other than exhaust and a few wheel vendors,. Miss the performance vendors. Even the for sale building was not packed. One thing that struck me was the vendors packing up and leaving around 1 o'clock on Sat.
Just my observations. We had a great time otherwise.
fred.

 

I see its continuing, Went there every year 97 -2012 and noticed each year it got a bit less rewarding. Many reason for the decline ,some were mentioned above. I had some very good times there, parked at the same spot up on the hill by the flag pole with the C5/6Registry.(only place you might have a bit of breeze in the heat of the summer!)

Hopefully the powers that be can turn this around, Carlisle has so much potential its a shame to see it degrade the way it is happening.

 

It's pretty much becomming just a 3 day cruise in rather than an event. A shame really, because we've gone every year since 2003, but decided at the end of last year that it's not worth the $$ any more. Till we pay for a reserved spot, two nights in a hotel, scooter rental, food, gas, etc., that three days (actually 2 1/2 because we leave around 3 on Saturday) costs close to $1000. Always good to see old friends, but we could just come for one day and do that, and probably see 90% of the "show". No big name sponsors any more, even Meguiars didn't bring their big truck this year. Chevy quit coming a couple years ago too with their truck with computers who handed out shirts. People paying big bucks for this show kind of expect to get a couple of freebies, but those days apparently are done. And now Saturdays are becoming the new Sunday from the days of the old Carlisle show when it was Fri. Sat. and Sunday, and Sunday was dead and the vendors pulled out early Sunday. What keeps people there on Saturdays now is the parade which is still going strong. But if they change that.....Saturday will become pointless. Covid had a lot to do with it, PA taxes had a hand in it too. But if you look at Ford and Chrysler shows and how those shows still get celebrities and "events", Corvettes just can't seem to do those things. No idea why. Last celebrity I think that was there was several years ago when Chip Foose was there or maybe it was the year Mario Andretti was there, but they came with vendors, not because Carlisle brought them in. Nobody since. But these are just my observations and not worth much.
But on the up side, over the years I've aquired 3 pop up canopies, a whole bunch of chairs, a couple of folding tables and a bunch of coolers and one or two pieces of Corvette luggage that I can sell and get a couple of bucks back!!

 

The whole shebang can be done in one day. As said above it is now mostly a cruise in. Getting harder to justify a 6-7 hr trip.

And the No Good bag……………

 

My take is going to be different than what I see posted by most. I actually enjoyed the week at Carlisle.

The show is evolving. It has to evolve. The internet has crushed the swap meets and the tax man makes things costly for vendors on a thin margin already.

Anyways, the past several years, I have only been able to make the show for a few hours on Saturdays. Not even close to enough time. This year, I woke up early and drove in darkness, arriving by 7AM Thursday.

From my arrival until the show closed around 6 that eve, it was busy. I repeated that over the next couple days, not leaving until after dinner Saturday, heading home around 9:30 PM. I still didn't see everything.

Cars are overpriced in the car corral, and maybe that's why it's not as "busy" as before. No deals were to be found. So why haul a car just to hear how expensive it's advertised when one can leave it at home

Parts, maybe 25-30% of the vendor spaces were full, but the dynamic of the field, some of the former swap meet and car corral areas were converted to other vendors and FunField parking. Again, the show is evolving.

I went to the Friday night dinner to support the Chip Miller Foundation and also attended a couple seminars. It was a good time, all around.

Coulda used an extra day of the show, but understand the same vendors who used to pack up early Sunday now pack up Saturday afternoon. Saturday wasn't as busy as Friday or even Thursday, but it's due to the fact the vendors don't want to pay another night of a hotel. I don't blame 'em.

The show is great. Been going for 3 decades.

Don't care about the goody bag or a shirt. I have enough stuff already.

 

I enjoyed the event. Had a some people come up and asked about my C8 and a number of Vets stopped by to talk. I'm a Vietnam Vet. It was good to see other Nam Vets there.

 

This was my first year going, so I have nothing to compare it to. I will say, I had an absolutely great time. We arrived very early on Thursday (we drove through the night from the MA/CT line and arrived in the area shortly after 5am). We pulled into the grounds right around 7am after a quick stop for fuel and something to eat. It was pretty slow and empty, and folks were still setting up, cleaning and having a coffee. There was some rain but by mid-day, the sun poked through and things turned warm/humid. I was able to park near one of the vendor spots that a friend was a part of, which was nice. Thursday night we were invited to a light dinner and a private tour of Lance Miller's car's. What an amazing experience for a first timer (and from the comments of the others, it was equally as amazing for them too).

Friday was another early arrival day for us, but it was about the same. 7am rolled through the gate, and people were just arriving and setting up/cleaning. I found Friday to be the busiest day of them all, but at that, it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be (from reading stories here and hearing from other club members that have gone in years past). I still thought it was an amazing experience, meeting and talking with so many people, hearing their stories, checking out the cars, checking out the vendors and their booths/merchandise.

Saturday was a picture perfect weather day, which certainly helped with attendance, however it "felt" like there were more people on Friday. We spent the day once again talking with people, about their cars, chatting with vendors and their products and builds, etc. We walked different area's of the grounds each day, to pace ourselves and to leave a little for the next day. That seemed to work nicely for us, so we could take out time and really take everything in. We did head home around 330/4pm which was our original plan. I would have enjoyed another day, just to make another lap to see if there was anything I might have missed.

I wasn't looking for an expecting any goodies (we actually never went to customer relations for a goodie bag). I did pick up a Wind Restrictor while I was there and some other souvenirs so I didn't just "look". I also found two cars that really got my attention as I'm looking to switch to a coupe from my convertible. I didn't think there were any great deals on cars, but I also felt they were in line with the current market. All in all, I thought it was a great time for my first visit. I would absolutely go again.

 

We went Friday @0900, I had two goals, one was to talk to ECS! Got to talk to Chris about my upgrade. Second was trying to find the drivers side fender lower liner I need as mine is missing a piece. Couldn't find it there. It was hot and muggy, but that's Aug on the east coast-Fun drive up on the back roads from MD and we had a 5 vette line of us running up US15. Nice late lunch in Frederick at a good BBQ place. Saw alot of nice cars, but you can easily see everything in one day. Funny thing, I got home and looked at vettenuts site and he had the fender liner I needed so I ordered it. The goodie bag was all adverts, a calendar, a koozie, a lanyard and a key chain. If I go back, parking out in town and walking in next time. Much easier! Still a fun show and worth going if you have never been.

 

We have been going since 97,,,,yes things have changed...tell me something that has not since then? Many reasons for the swap meet shrinking....one perhaps is the internet...it cost the seller nothing to post his for sale items....he does not have to drag it there and back, etc etc...T-s shirts omg you would think they are made of gold or something....the event sponsor footed the bill for the t's...and many BIG TIME suppliers have cut way back on travel costs and advertisement...again..on line sales rule. If you want a real EVENT t-shirt you buy one in the event store, the good bag t's ere a joke...you became a walking advertisement for the vendor...the avg corvette owner is now older, rare or hard to find parts for newer gen cars is not as profitable as a part for a C1-2 etc. There are tech talks, VIPs to see, tons of vettes to check out. GM is also cutting back when you would think they would love to come and be with the owners of their premier car owners...guess we arent electric car owners and are not on top of the radar with the execs.. The burn out contest...hell they could not get anyone to do it .....The dyno...one guys motor blew and he tried to sue the dyno guy..guess what..no more dyno guy...I think the complaints should be made at the Ecklers, Paragon, Zip...they seem not to be willing to show up for us. Yes I agree..it seems more social now...what is wrong with that, you see friends you made here year after year, have a fun time, kick back and relax...there are also plenty of parts to go look at...I got a new auto dimming mirror for my C6...try to find that at a local swap meet. You make it what you want of it...still looking forward to next year even without a goody bag or cheap tshirt....just my two cents