We have been attending and vending at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals since 1992. This show is the premiere event for anyone into the Mopar brand. I tell people that if they want to attend one event featuring the Mopar brand, then Carlisle is the place to go.
Over the years, we have attended events through the states and other countries and Carlisle is hands down the best thing going in taking care of the show car owners, the vendors and spectators.
All of the shows are seeing a slight decline in participation. We see it in our sells and the volume of customers that we deal with during the week. The demographics of the group is aging and no longer wish to spend the entire day in the heat.
Due to the size of our display, I arrive on Monday afternoon to put the truck in place and to make sure that the tent is ready for us to start setting up our display. With three of us on Tuesday and two more arriving on Wednesday, we hope to have things in place so that we can take care of the customers as they start arriving on Thursday. This year, we had a tremendous Wednesday. Guys are coming in early so as to get product before it is sold out in our product line of reproduction parts.
Every year since 2020 and Covid, we have seen more people arriving earlier and leaving on Saturday by mid afternoon. I know that for us, we are now starting to pack things up starting at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and it takes us approximately six hours with eight guys to load up the trucks and trailers.
By the time that I leave on Sunday around noon to 1:00, there is basically nobody left selling parts and the show field is basically empty as well as the midway.
For me, I have a 14 hour drive back home. Most people who have to be back at work on Monday uses Sunday as a travel day. They have off the entire week of the show, so they are arriving sooner and leaving so that they can be back home to go to work on Monday.
In regards to the show size, the swap meet is over 3200 spaces and by the time that the renewal deadline is set in late October, there will be less than 100 to 150 spaces that are not renewed. Typically by mid January, all of the swap meet spaces are booked. People will occasionally turn spaces back in during the year, due to scheduling issues, so sometimes, you can grab a spot or two under this scenario. For the Fall and Spring Carlisle events, there is over 8000 spaces available, but there is no show car spaces.
Over the years, I have gotten to know several members of the Carlisle staff. There is like over 45 full time staff members and then there is like over 250 employees who maintain the buildings, the grounds and work the gates and security. Throughout the year, there is a variety of events scheduled for each week. It is a fine tune machine that is raking in the money, but it is also very labor intensive and those guys during events like Chryslers at Carlisle work some long days.
Hope to see more of guys at Carlisle in July of 2026!
Richard
