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Carlisle Productions
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Kit Car/Replicar
Nationals,
May 7-9, 1998
Carlisle, Pennsylvania USAby Curt Scott
Throughout
this kit car-coverage feature you'll find hot links (both text
links and image links) to the Web page(s) on kitcar.com where you'll find more information
about that company, car, product, service or club.
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Even when
the weather strikes out, Carlisle scores a home run!
 Sigh. It's good that motorcar enthusiasts
are hardy souls. After all, the Carlisle kit car/replicar/Cobra
nationals have a traditionalized milieu of less-than-perfect
weather. The cheerful blue skies you see on the two aerial shots
represented only a few fleeting moments of the 3-day show. The
rest of the time was punctuated by either drizzling rain or at
least dreary skies. As one showgoer put it, "Here in
Pennsylvania, April showers bring May showers." Sigh.
But the crowd was, predictably, both numerous and high-spirited.
You'll find
my Carlisle coverage to again be a mostly photographic phenomenon;
I shot nearly 300 images (both Nikon/film and Olympus/digital)
at the show, and it seems logical to share as many of them with
you as download time (and your patience) allows. So begin your photo
tour of the 1998 Carlisle Kit Car/Replicar Nationals...
1998 Carlisle show: the
Corvette replica producers
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Above left: ERA (New Britain, Connecticut) introduced
their all-new 1962 Grand Sport Corvette reproduction. The 1953
Corvette reproduction (the "Route 66 Roadster") is
from Lone Star Classics of Keller, Texas. |
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...notables spotted at the 1998 Carlisle Kit Car/Replicar
Nationals...
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Left to right:
Elvis Presley
and Lewin Barringer (publisher of Kit Car Classifieds)
Um, in the first
instance, that's actually Ron Allyn, Elvis impersonator extraordinaire,
of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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...more roadsters &
replicars...
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At left: lineup of Diva Roadsters
('R' Motorsport.
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Regal Roadsters' electrifying replica of the 1955 Thunderbird.
This tuxedo-clad 2-seater was around long before there was a
500SL...
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Above and below: D&R Replicars (Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Low-volume, high-quality producer. This car was actually completed by
Kirban Customs (of Ivyland, Pennsylvania), using a D&R
body kit and Kirban's assembly and interior-appointments expertise.
Kirban Customs graciously permitted this exoticar hors
d'oeuvre to be displayed in D&R's booth.
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The Scorpion SS from Whitehorse
(Flemington, NJ)... a prime example of a high quality, eminently
buildable exoticar from the kit industry.
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The handcrafted
interior of the Scorpion SS from Whitehorse.
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Euro-Works displayed two of the firm's fine supercar
reproductions. That's E-W's Alan Schrager in the light blue shirt
at the far right of the photo.
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One of Euro-Works
exoticars that we managed to get outside during a break in the
weather.
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Looking for the definition
of "exquisite"? Here it is (at left and below) in this
exoticar replica from N&M. (That's all we know about 'em!)
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Dan Campbell's PISA Corp. had
a central booth all decked out with Fiero accessories and several
of the firm's high quality Pontiac Fiero body conversions.
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There were dozens
of "For Sale by Owner" bargains on display, including
Rodney Hiestand's flare-fendered Porsche 356 Speedster replica.
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There were of course
dozens more splendid kit cars that I photographed that deserve
to be showcased in this article. Unfortunately neither my time
schedule nor your download time considerations permit me to include
them all. My apologies for those omissions.
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