Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals 2020 in review
Even thought the dates changed, the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals went down in the books as a success.
Carlisle, PA – In late spring, the team with Carlisle Events made the difficult decision to postpone the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals from its original May dates to the second weekend of August. As world events evolved, August 14th through the 16th rapidly approached and with the weekend in the rearview mirror, it was obvious that while the date change would slightly augment the show, the passion and enthusiasm of those who attended would not be altered. Spanning the three-day event, over 1,000 cars and even more attendees walked the grounds, enjoyed great concessions, participated in competitions and otherwise just hung out and enjoyed the automotive world at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds.
Gates opened Friday at 7 a.m. and while most guests didn’t arrive until mid-day, waiting for them was a great indoor display in Building T. Here, the BBS was celebrated as was 100 Years of Mazda and 50 Years of the Datsun and Nissan Z. There was also a general vehicle display too, including a Lamborghini, C8 Corvette and an ‘80s era Ferrari. Along with those displays indoors, the outside offered even more history with a massive SAAB tent, a showfield of Audi’s, Volvo’s and more.
The showfield itself is really the draw, as it offered such an eclectic mix of automotive history. Cars represent over a half a dozen countries and are parked by country of origin. The geographical placement allows guests to walk the grounds and essentially the automotive world. One of the countries, France, historically sees support from the Renault Club. For 2020, they had some early 20th century French production on display, while more modern rides also made up this international automotive festival. Dune Buggies cruised the grounds, the Opel saw lots of love as did displays with Fiat, Subaru, BMW and VW just to name a few.
Of course the cars at Carlisle didn’t just show, many were on the go via multiple competitions and or/a parade. These competitions included a couple of preliminary rounds for the rolling exhaust contest, the exhaust finale itself, drift limbo, low car limbo and of course the ultimate competition, the judged Showfield. There was even a mid-day Saturday parade as the Nissan Z went from being featured to in motion as part of an impromptu parade around the grounds.
Car clubs were also a big part of the event, dozens of clubs set up shop at Carlisle, and select clubs won awards as well. Saabs at Carlisle was tapped as the largest club, while Street Distortionz earned coolest club honors.
Hundreds of awards were doled out Sunday following another successful eJudged event, with car owners making plans for the 2021 event. Speaking of which, with less than nine months to go, plans are under way for the weekend, back to its original May dates; in this case May 14-16 2021. Check out photos and more about the event at www.CarlisleEvents.com.
Carlisle Events is a partner or producer of over a dozen annual collector car/truck events. Events are held at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds (Carlisle, PA), Allentown Fairgrounds (Allentown, PA), the Sunset Auction Facility (Sarasota, FL) and the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campus (Lakeland, FL). The season schedule includes four automotive flea markets of varying size, five auctions, as well as individual specialty shows featuring Corvettes, Fords, GMs, Chryslers, trucks, imports, tuners and performance sport compacts. Founded in 1974 by friends Bill Miller and Chip Miller, events hosted at Carlisle attract more than half a million enthusiasts annually from all corners of the globe. More information is available at CarlisleEvents.com or CarlisleAuctions.com.
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