Mopar heaven in Carlisle PA

Mopar Heaven found in Carlisle, PA


Dar looks over one of his favorite Mopar cars, the unloved 1962 Plymouth Fury 2-door hardtop. Downsized while other cars grew bigger, the Plymouth Fury and the Dodge Dart models did not set well with the public and sales plunged.



No doubt most people in our area saved last weekend to attend the 45th annual Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff. Naturally, as the Krasl executive director for 25 years until my retirement last January, that is where you found me too. But this year was different. When the artists set up their tents on Friday night and Saturday morning, I was nowhere to be seen. How come? Cause I FINALLY had the chance to do something that I have been pining to do for a long, long time - attend the annual Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals in Pennsylvania. The Mopar junkie had finally found his Nirvana.

So over three days, 1,255 miles and a fortune in toll road fees I was able to finally get my Mopar fix at the great All-Chrysler show in central Pennsylvania in Carlisle. Was it worth the wait? You bet and I hope I can go again. Only this time I will allow at least two days. The enormous size and scope of the event surprised me.

I have no way of estimating the size of the crowd, but at $9 a head, I sure would have liked to pocket the day's take on Saturday. The Carlisle Nationals (there is one held for GM and Ford too) is held on the Carlisle fairgrounds. It is a very large space and the Nationals event attract enough participants to fill just about every nook and cranny with invited show-only cars, a vehicle swap meet area and what seemed like thousands of vendors selling everything from ancient car parts to brand new reproductions of gas tanks, not to mention whirly-gigs for the garden.

These events are more fun for me when I can walk the day away with a companion. I met up with a good friend from South Carolina who had been an industrial designer and is now retired. Like me, he had grown up in the 50s and we "cut our car teeth" on the 1955 and 56 cars as we entered junior high school.

So it wasn't too surprising that the first area we visited at the Carlisle show was the Mopar Survivors Display. I don't know if they feature the survivors display at all the shows, but it is one fabulous idea. Shown under a protective tent (in this case, one with red and white strips that made picture taking almost impossible!), the survivors display has a long line of old cars, from all decades, each in great condition. Most of them are not trailer queens, but rather vehicles that had led a charmed life but are still in use today.

My favorite of the survivors was a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere 4-door sedan that had only 10 or 20 thousand miles on it, with original paint and interior. It looked almost brand new. What really set it off was the coral and while two-tone paint job. Another really nice car on display under the candy cane colored tent was a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda 2-door hardtop ordered with the "mod top" paisley patterned vinyl roof. The mod look was also repeated inside with the flowery fabric repeated on the seat cushions and on the door panels. I didn't notice what engine was under the hood, but I can assure you that it wasn't a huge V-8. No in-his-right-mind muscle car guy would order a sporty car with that option, especially in gold.

Speaking of pony cars. When amongst Mopar fans, you often hear terms like B-body or A-body. At Carlisle this year, it was the E-body that was on everyone's lips. For non-Mopar folks, the E-body is the factory name for the platform used to produce the last generation Barracuda and Challenger.

Maybe the fuss over the long defunct pony cars was because in the past year or so, some E-body cars have sold at auction for over a million dollars. But also adding to the buzz was the fact that on display in an exhibition barn was the 2006 Dodge Challenger concept car. To add fuel to the flames, DaimlerChrysler had only last week announced that the Challenger concept will be put into production in 2008 as a 2009 model. But even if the concept Challenger had not been at Carlisle, the E-body pony cars were THE cars to have on display.

Some readers may recall that when Chrysler finally got their pony cars right with the introduction of the 1970 Cuda and Challenger, the pony car market was at the beginning of a long slide to oblivion. By 1974 the Chrysler twins pony cars and AMC's Javelin were gone and eventually Camaro and Firebird also bit the dust. Only Mustang managed to soldier on and survive. Because the market by 1970 was getting soft, Chrysler didn't sell that many of the models. As a result, it was amazing to see so many E-body cars at this show. I'm a little suspicious. Perhaps someone should count up how many E-bodies have been restored and see if the number exceeds the production count!

The suits in the executive offices at DaimlerChrysler are to be commended for recognizing the significance of an event like the All-Chrysler Nationals and making available the funds to have a very nice display on hand for all to enjoy. Not only did the company have an exhibit on hand, but they also brought a large number of new vehicles along and let visitors get in and slowly drive them around the grounds. The Ride and Drive event was a big hit with the crowds. Besides the expected Durangos, Chargers and minivans, the company reps also had the brand new 2007 Jeep Compass and the 2007 Chrysler Aspen SUV available for driving. Unfortunately, the Dodge Viper wasn't one of the choices.

This column isn't long enough to list all the things that I saw during my daylong visit. A few highlights included seeing on display in the invited cars line-up five (yes five) 1958 Plymouth Furys, all in perfect condition. To have that many rare cars sitting in a row was a visual treat for me.

I'm especially fond of designer Virgil Exner's finned 1957 creations. This show had a boatload of them. It was a delicious treat to slowly walk among these now rare cars and see the many models and makes. Frankly, I am surprised that so many of the poorly-assembled-when-new cars still exist. One of Exner's last efforts at Chrysler before his unfortunate dismissal was the downsized 1962 Plymouth and Dodge. My friend and I love the Plymouth Fury and Dodge Polara/Dart but the general public stayed away from showrooms that year in droves and sales faltered badly. At Carlisle there were several really nice '62 models and it was a special treat to have the chance to see them again up close.

Do you like 1971 Chargers? If you do, you missed the exhibit of a lifetime. Tim Welborn of Alexander City, Alabama brought to Carlisle 12 of his 23 Chargers in his collection. These are not just any Chargers, but perfectly restored specimens and each one has a different engine and drive train (some with the Hemi engine, some with the Six Packs, all in a different color offered that year by Dodge). A splendid sight to behold.

If all this information about Carlisle tempts you to attend next year, be sure to make your motel reservations soon. Rooms are hard to find for miles around the fairground. Want more info on all the Carlisle shows, go to www.carsatcarlisle.com and take a look. Be strong, the temptation to want to go to all the Carlisle events will be powerful, very powerful.

Carlisle, PA - All-Chrysler Nationals

I took this photo at the All-Chrysler Nationals show at Carlisle, PA on Saturday. I then hurried back to St. Joseph, MI in time to catch a few minutes of the Krasl Art Fair. If I had missed the art fair, it would have been the first time in 25 years! The candy stripe patterns were caused from reflections from an overhead tent. I
thought the effects were rather dramatic.

Dark interiors going the way of dodo

Is there a future for wood trim in auto interiors? According to Monica Link, special correspondent for Automotive News, there definitely is a future and baby boomers are driving the trend because they can afford to buy the luxury cars and trucks that usually feature the look in their interiors.

Ironically, and for no apparent reason, boomers who were born between 1946 through 1964 prefer wood in interiors with dark tones and the younger generation born after 1977 like lighter interiors, whether wood or other material. According to figures provided by J. D. Power and Associates, both groups are now purchasing more than 49 percent of luxury and mid-sized vehicles sales in recent months.

According to Ms. Lisa Tucci, color and design manager at interior supplier Lear Corporation of Southfield, Mich., "the younger generation does not have to see real wood." Meaning that interior trim can be highlighted with either wood trim or metallic finishes like brushed or polished aluminum. However, she goes on to say that "the baby boomers want real wood."

While many cars feature the look of wood - like my 2001 Dodge Neon with the leather interior option - it is not the real thing. Rather, it is probably a photograph or a film of real wood glued to a piece of metal. On my Neon, the fake wood looks absolutely natural and I resisted the urge early on to remove the panels and install instead painted or brushed metal replacements. I'm sure that many people reading this column have owned cars in the past that featured so-called wood interior pieces where the quality was so poor that even a woodpecker with vision problems could tell the difference.

Most luxury makers, however, do use real wood and carefully follow the market to be sure that the tone of wood offered is what clients want. When in doubt, like Infiniti a couple years back, some makers are hedging their bet and are offering wood trim in two tones, light (burled maple) and dark (walnut).

Sherry Sabbagh, a designer for automotive interiors supplier Johnson Controls Inc. in Plymouth, Mich., was quoted in the Auto News article saying that" interior colors often determine what types of woods are used." She goes on to say "Bleached wood in mango and banana colors are very popular. There is no longer just the traditional medium brown."

Burled woods are very popular in cars right now. Automotive wood supplier Behr Industries Corp. of Grand Rapids, Mich., makes 70 percent of its product from burled woods that are harvested in California and Europe. Lincoln, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are big customers of Behr.

What is the next new wood for use in auto interiors? Would you believe bamboo. It is an attractive alternative to the popular walnut and maple because of its light finish and the fact that the wood grows as much as 3 feet a day - which keeps supply up and prices down.

Photo of me

Retired in Florida

A very special Father's Day gift

Everyone wants to find the perfect gift for dad on Fathers Day. But what to buy? He has all the ties that he needs. I have a story that just might be the template to follow next year when deciding on a perfect gift for father.

It's pretty universal that most dads like cars, especially the car that they remember from youthful experiences. Who can forget the car they learned to drive in? Or the car they owned when dating their now-wife?

This is a story about a dad in the Twin Cities, who wishes to remain anonymous, who experienced the Father's Day of a lifetime two years ago when his wife and two daughters went to a lot of trouble and surprised him with a gift of the old car of his dreams.

It is a fascinating story, filled with disappointments, surprises and a happy ending. The story starts in 2003 and ends on Father's Day, 2004. The dad in question, a hardworking, A-type, workaholic with a business of his own, had always wanted a 1957 Chevy. He had owned one as a youngster but it was what he called a "dog." The hardtop Bel Air was powered by the old "Stovebolt Six" engine and equipped with the Powerglide 2-speed transmission. This made peeling rubber at the stoplight virtually impossible. He was looking for a '57 Chevy - now one of the most sought after cars of the 50s - and he wanted not the old Stovebolt under the hood, but one with the 283 cubic inch small block V-8 engine with a 3-speed manual transmission.

Knowing all this, his wife set into motion a search for the car of her husband's dreams. She started out by calling Watervliet resident Les Fairbanks, president of the local Southwestern Michigan Car Collectors club. He offered to help. After reading one of my columns about the North American International Auto Show, she gave me a call and asked for my advice.

All of her efforts were fruitless until she began to use the Internet. On the Net she had success in finding '57 Chevys for sale but was startled by the high prices being asked and also didn't have a clue if the cars being offered for sale were decently restored. Then a light bulb went on in her head and she thought of calling her husband's friend Rich Kepner. Rich, known by most old car owners in the region, is the president and owner of Kepner's Precision Auto Krafters located on Nickerson Road in Benton Township.

Rich, an old car collector himself, operates a highly regarded body shop and also is very involved with restoring old cars. Readers may recall an article on a restoration project undertaken by Rich for Lonnie Ali in The Herald Palladium a couple years back. He and his crew totally restored Mohammad Ali's Rolls Royce.

Rich agreed to help find a car. In the months that followed he attended two Kruse auctions at Auburn and followed up on leads around the country. Finally two cars were located by the wife on the Internet that warranted a look-see in the Midwest - one in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. During the search, the wife had decided that if she was going to buy her husband a '57 Chevy V-8, she wanted him to have a convertible. Luckily both of the Midwest cars were convertibles, both had the required 283 engine and both had stick transmissions.

Rich jumped into his rig with the trailer and headed west. The Guerney, IL car had an amateurish restoration and did not meet Rich's minimum expectations. He couldn't reach the Wisconsin owner and returned to Michigan. But a call the next morning to the Brookfield, WI owner gave Rich some cause for hope. The car had all the equipment that Rich was looking for. The California-built, Texas-owned 1957 Chevy was a convertible, it had the Power-Pak 283 4-barrel carburetor V-8 and it had the "three on the tree" transmission. He jumped into his trailer rig again and headed west.

This time he wasn't disappointed. A ten-year old restoration still looked good on the Chevy. The car even had its original floor pan, a good sign of a rust-free car. The only problem was price. The wife had set a maximum price that she could pay and the Wisconsin owner wanted a 20 percent premium over her minimum. Rich made a quick call to the vacationing wife, who was on a ski trip at the time.

The situation put the wife in a very tough spot. She knew her daughters wanted this car as a very special Father's Day present for their dad. While the dad had been a very busy businessman all is life, he had always made the effort to be there 24/7 for them, at school and athletic events, as they grew up. This car would be a perfect gift to show their love and support.

She didn't know where she would find the additional funds, but she decided on the spot to give the okay for Rich to buy the car. The convertible with 60,000 miles on the odometer was on the trailer in no time and heading for Kepner's shop.

The car was in really good shape and it took Rich and his staff only a few months to bring the car up to Concours standards. Then the fun began.

The youngest daughter was to graduate from Northwestern University on Father's Day 2004. Elaborate plans were made to have the convertible delivered to the dad at the graduation party. Because neither daughter could drive a stick shift, they asked their grandfather to do the honor.

Listening to comments from both the wife and from Rich about how the dad responded to his gift from his family was heart warming indeed. A lot of tears of happiness were shed that day, mostly by the dad. The dad himself admits that he cried like a baby for several days after. The wife tells a wonderful story of how the dad, while taking his Chevy on a drive down Red Arrow Highway soon after Father's Day, would acknowledge people's "high fives" with the boastful retort "This is my car!"

As a car guy, I can't think of a more appropriate gift for Father's Day than receiving the keys to a special car. It would be a thrill of a lifetime!

Post Script: Ironically, the car I learned to drive in was a 1957 Chevy. Only my dad's car was not a Bel Air, not a V-8, not a hardtop, didn't even have an automatic tranny. Instead, my high school ride was a lowly 2-door One Fifty sedan. The only option on the car was a two-tone paint job. It was a slug but it would be a hoot to have it sitting in my driveway on Father's Day!