Every year I try to make it to the GM Nationals car show in
Carlisle PA. Every year the swap meet seems
to get smaller and smaller, and this year was no exception. But, the turnout of cars this year seemed to
be as good or better than I can remember from any
previous years. One thing that’s hard to
grasp is just the sheer quality of the cars at this show. Row after row of cars that
could probably win a first place trophy at any regional show. Because there are so many amazing cars, it
really isn’t possible to take pictures of them all, so instead I concentrated
on the unique (good and bad) as well as making sure to get pics
of all of the nice and the not so nice thirdgens. In the past I’ve taken pics
of every thirdgen there, but this year I tried to
concentrate on those that are nice, and those that aren’t. A lot of the average thirdgens
aren’t shown here.
Keep in mind that the pics were either
very odd cars, exceptionally nice cars, or exceptionally poor cars. I sound very critical of some of these poor
cars, but let’s face it… you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, and you don’t
bring a junk car to a car show. I
wouldn’t be nearly as critical of these cars if I saw them on the street, but
at a car show, it’s open season!
Here we go!
Inside one of the buildings was an exibit
that had some Dale Earnhardt race cars. The Corvette that him
and Dale Jr. drove at Daytona was there, along with one of Dale’s 1999 race
cars and his 1998 Wrangler car.
Here were some cars of interest in the “For Sale” field.
Here’s a 1988 GTA. This
car was near and dear to my heart because it looks a lot like my GTA did when
it was stock. This car is a 40k mile car
with the L98, tan leather interior, and conventional dashboard. The owner had just sold it prior to my taking
these pictures. I believe he sold it for
approximately $11-13k. This sounded high
for a 40k mile car, but the condition of this car was as nice as any 5,000 mile
cars I’ve seen.
This next set is from a 1986 Berlinetta. Though not a terribly popular car, it had a
lot of unique features, especially in the interior. Due to the exceptional condition of this car,
I took the opportunity to take as many pictures as I could to have a record of
the Berlinetta’s very unique features. This car had around 10,000 miles if memory
serves me, and the seller was asking a hair under $10,000.
1986 Berlinetta Here’s a nice overall
shot
1986 Berlinetta Here’s a close-up of the
steering wheel and headlight & directional controls.
1986 Berlinetta Here’s a close-up of the
passenger side dash. Notice the contour,
the molded logo and the different AC vents.
1986 Berlinetta Here you can see that the
seats, door panels, and dashpad are all the same as
any other 1986 Camaro.
1986 Berlinetta The Center Console is
unique. The shifter and the console
plate are different. The hatch button
and window buttons are the same, but there are 2 more buttons that I’m ashamed to
say I forgot to check the function of. I
believe the rear one is for the rear defroster, but I don’t know what the
center one is for.
1986 Berlinetta The steering column is a
bit different, as is the tilt lever.
Also notice that there’s no directional stalk. That functionality is handled by the buttons
below the headlight buttons.
1986 Berlinetta Here you can see another
difference in the center console.
There’s a plastic panel where the seat belt rubs.
1986 Berlinetta Here’s a good passenger
side shot. You can see the swivel radio
nicely.
1986 Berlinetta Pretty much a standard
issue LG4 under the hood, but notice that there’s a sensor on the washer fluid
tank for the information cluster on the digital dash.
Next are pics of a 30k mile 1985
IROC. I took pics
of this car for two reasons. The first
is that this was a well optioned car that did not have air conditioning. Though they exist, this is the first time
I’ve seen one in person. Second, I
wanted pics of such a nice red interior. Red interiors get a bad reputation because
when they get worn and dirty, they look nasty.
This car is proof that the red interior can look very nice, especially
with the silver exterior. This car had
very faded paint, but was otherwise in exceptional condition. The seller was asking $6,100 which I felt was
fair, and could be a bargain for anybody who can do their own paint work.
Silver 1985 IROC
A close-up of the non- AC dashboard vents.
Silver 1985 IROC
An exterior shot of the car
Silver 1985 IROC
A close-up of the original heater box and the missing strut cover.
Silver 1985 IROC
Another close-up of the heater box. Notice the factory paint marking on the strut
tower.
Silver 1985 IROC
Another interior shot.
This next car was so screwed up that I just had to take pictures
of it. This was a 1991 RS Camaro with 162,000 miles and a boat load of other problems
that the delusional owner felt was worth his $9500 asking price. This is a beat to hell high mileage RS with
terrible paint (the pics don’t really convey how bad
it was), early base Camaro bumpers, a Z28 hood and a
whipped interior. Needless to say, it
was still for sale when I left.
Whipped 1991 RS Camaro This bumper is from a
base model 82-84 (or 85?) Camaro.
Whipped 1991 RS Camaro 85-90 Z28/IROC hood and dull, orange peeled paint.
Whipped 1991 RS Camaro Wrong bumper and wrong tail lights.
Whipped 1991 RS Camaro That’s 162821 miles.
Whipped 1991 RS Camaro Filthy interior, though it appeared to be in pretty good shape
otherwise.
Now here’s something that you don’t see every day. This is an unrestored,
super low mile Iron Duke firebird!
Gold
82 Firebird Here’s the exterior.
Gold
82 Firebird Here’s the beautifully preserved 4 cylinder
Iron Duke.
Black
1987 Silverado Here’s an unbelievable 87 Silverado with 2,267
actual miles!
Moving on from the For Sale field, I decided to see what some of
the trucks looked like.
Here was an absolutely beautiful Blazer. I wasn’t crazy about the differential covers,
but otherwise this was a very impressive truck.
It was powered by a beautifully polished Ram Jet 350.
Orange Blazer
Here’s a shot under the hood, looking at the reflection of the mirrored plexi on the underside of the hood.
Orange Blazer
Here’s the engine. I would have left the
brake booster and the heater box unpainted, but there’s no arguing that this is
a very nice engine bay!
Orange Blazer
Here’s a nice picture of the whole rig.
Orange Blazer
Nice side shot.
Orange Blazer Beautifully
painted and detailed underside. The
front looked just as good.
Next is a nice clean late 70s Chevy Scottsdale pickup.
Next I moved on to the Buick area. There were a lot of nice Grand Nationals, but
since we all know what they look like, I didn’t take pics
of the stock ones. However, this
modified GN definitely caught my eye
Next I moved over into the Chevelle
field. There were a lot of nice cars,
but this one stood out as being unique.
1969 Chevelle Wagon This Chevelle had beautiful paint, 18” Boyd wheels and an EFI
502 big block.
One car that was there that I first saw last year was this highly
customized 1957 Chevy with 8 separate turbos feeding
a modified LS1 motor. I didn’t take many
pictures of it because I took a ton last year.
When I get time, I’ll do a write-up for last year’s
Modified 1957 Chevy
Here’s a pic of the gauges. I liked the style that implemented gauges
that stick out instead of the typical surface mount.
Modified 1957 Chevy
Another interior pic.
This car had a very well done interior, although I question the location
of the DVD player on the passenger dash.
Everybody knows what Impala SSs look
like, so I’m only posting pics of this unique one.
White Caprice
Ok, this isn’t a real Impala, but close enough. Nice looking color & wheel combo.
Red 56 Chevy
Here’s a great looking 56 Chevy. The
interior and engine bay were nothing special, but the stance, the 17” Torque
Thrusts and the great 2 tone really make for a great looking car. I do wish that it had a front bumper… it
looks odd without it.
Copper 1970 Monte
Carlo Here’s a super smooth 1970
Black 1970 Monte
Carlo Man was the body straight on this black
beauty. The Billet Specialties wheels
and lowered stance looked great.
Red 1984 Corvette
We’ve all seen stock C4s, but this 84 was really a fantastic example. Quite often the 84 is overlooked for the much
more popular L98 and LT1 C4s.
Red 1984 Corvette
Here’s the super clean motor on this all original 84.
1964 Corvair Rampside
This is a fairly rare Corvair Rampside
that was in very good condition.
1964 Corvair Rampside
How useful would a truck bed with a ramp like this be!?
61 Corvair Lakewood Here’s a 61 Corvair
61 Corvair Lakewood Can you imagine how
noisy this must be, plus if there was an exhaust leak!?
Red C2 Corvette
Stunning red C2 of unknown vintage. I
swear that TT2s look good on everything.
Red C2 Corvette
Supercharged! Lose the chrome valve
covers and distributer cover though.
Black C3 Corvette
This is a heavily modified C3 corvette.
Certainly not my style, but it was well built.
This is a bone stock CTS-V, but my girlfriend loves these (and XLRs) and since there were no XLRs
this year, I had to take a few pics for her.
Silver CTS-V
Side
Silver CTS-V
Front end
Silver CTS-V
Other side. 18”
wheels, MASSIVE brakes, and 6 lugs per wheel.
Silver CTS-V
Interior
Silver CTS-V Stock suede seat inserts
Next I moved on to the “WTF” entries. These were the vehicles that really didn’t
belong anywhere else.
First up is a 55 Chevy that was turned into a camper. This was done by the previous owner in the
60s, and restored by the current owner.
The craftsmanship is so good that you would never guess that this wasn’t
done by a company that specialized in it.
1955 Chevy camper
Front
1955 Chevy camper
Back
1955 Chevy camper
Another of the back
Next was a section of hearses and ambulances. I took pics of the
most interesting of the bunch.
Cadillac Hearse
Close-up of the business name in the window!
1959 Ambulance
This 59 ambulance was awesome. Think
Ghost Busters.
1959 Ambulance
The car appeared to have an older restoration.
1959 Ambulance
The interior was well restored and included the original EMT hardware.
Every year the organizers of the event invite some sort of rare
cars or car club to the event. This year
it was Stutz. I took pics
of a couple of them, this first one being the one and only Stutz hearse.
Packard Hearse
This was a 1985 Packard hearse. There
was an interesting story behind this in that it was one of the last ambulance
hearse combination cars. Years before,
this was common to see because the local mortician was usually the town’s EMT
as well, so they had a combo car used for both purposes. In the 80s this was not the case anymore, so
this one particular mortician/EMT business had a very hard time finding
somebody to build them a combo vehicle until they found the Packard company, which modified a Buick. Because the car looks so much like a Stutz,
he goes to a lot of the club’s events.
Here are the pics of the Stutz cars I
took. The Stutz cars were basically one
guy’s twisted vision of what a luxury car should look like. They got popular with people like Elvis and
Evil Knievel. The car was based on a Pontiac Grand
Prix.
Website
information Here’s a pic of the
Stutz club website, www.maddle.org
Black Stutz
Here’s the interior.
This poor thing was a C3 Corvette at one time:
Thing
That’s mostly the front end of a 70’s Eldorado, with
some goofy custom headlight assembly and grill.
Other thing
This also began life as a C3 Corvette.
This poor van was definitely the most screwed up looking vehicle
at the show. The mullet in the first pic is the owner/builder.
His remote controlled mini van was very cool though. Find more information at www.wicked-evolution.com
Blue Van Thing
rear view with owner
Blue Van Thing
Front view. Notice
how the doors open and the flip-top roof.
Blue Van Thing
This would be the interior. Yes that’s a
bed back there.
Blue Van Thing
See? I told you.
Blue Van Thing
Double chain link steering wheel for those times that a single chain link
steering wheel just won’t cut the mustard.
On to the first generation Camaros. Since we’ve all seen every stock first gen that there is to see, I saved my pictures for the
unique cars.
Orange 1969 Camaro This car had beautiful
paint, the right stance, and wheels that I believe are 17” Intros.
Yellow 1969
RS/Z28 There were actually 3 or 4 identical yellow
RS/Z28s at the show. One was this one,
which was featured in a recent issue of Hot Rod, and another one was actually
owned by this guy’s brother!
Maroon Candy 1969
RS Camaro This RS camaro had absolutely stunning maroon Candy paint and
killer Boyd Smoothie wheels. The only
major disappointment was seeing the simulated disk brakes behind the wheels.
Maroon Candy 1969
RS Camaro Here’s a close-up
of that amazing paint.
Maroon Candy 1969
RS Camaro If the car didn’t
have the cheesy simulated disk brakes, I think it would have been one of my top
5 pics from the entire show.
Dark Red 1969
Convertible Here’s a very well done 69 ‘vert. This car had
very nice paint.
Dark Red 1969
Convertible The Ghost flames were very well done.
Dark Red 1969
Convertible Like I said, nice
paint. The sun’s reflection in that mirror
made the paint pop.
Now let’s look at some Thirdgens!
Let’s start with a view down one row. What a sight!
Here’s a very well done Camaro. I believe it was an 88, though I can’t
remember.
Blue
Camaro
Nice stance.
Blue Camaro These appear to be early
90s Grand Prix headlights. Overall
they’re a decent fit, and the metal panel he made really cleans up the
installation.
Blue Camaro Close-up of the panel and
their installation.
Blue Camaro The car had an
interesting hood made up of an add-on cowl and the louvered vents.
1991 Maroon Z28
Here was a very nice maroon Z28 with 17” ROH ZS wheels. Unfortunately, he’s got a fairly nasty ding
in his door that wasn’t there last year.
Blue 1989 IROC
This super clean 89 had factory 15” wheels and appeared to be 100% stock except
for the clear side markers. Remember
that in 88 and 89 the 16” wheel was optional on IROC-Zs, but in 88 the 15”
wheel was the same as the old Z28 wheels, so the 15” IROC styled wheel from 89
is pretty rare.
Black 1984 Z28
Here’s a low mile, super clean 84 Z28 with the somewhat rare L69.
Black 1984 Z28
The interior of this well optioned car was beautiful.
White 1989 IROC
Here’s another 89 with the 15” wheels.
White 1984 Z28
Here’s an amazing 3,600 mile L69/700R4 combo.
That’s a very rare combo. Most
L69s had the T5.
White 1984 Z28
Another view.
Red 88 or 89 IROC
Let’s get under the hood of an immaculate 88 or 89 IROC.
Red 90 IROC
Now let’s get under the hood of an immaculate 90 IROC for comparison.
Pair of red IROCs Here’s a pic of the two next to each other.
Blue 1986 IROC
Here’s a super clean low milage 86 IROC with a
base-level interior.
Blue 1986 IROC
Here’s the interior.
Blue 1986 IROC
Super clean engine bay.
White 88 or 89
IROC Here’s a nice clean IROC convertible that’s bone stock except
for a new set of injectors.
Here’s a pic of an owner’s window
sticker, followed by the build sheet.
Unfortunately I don’t have pics of his whole
car from this year, but I took pics of it in the past
that I’ll post when I do last year’s write up. The car has no silver & black decal going
around the top of the ground effects, and every year I’ve argued with him
because he insists that it came that way.
87 IROC Build
Sheet It’s hard to see in this pic,
but the rpo at the top right column reads “86A
SIL/BLK STRIPE”. I knew I was right.
Next year I’ll point this out to him.
1987 Factory Bose
radio Here’s a pic of a
factory Bose radio. I can’t remember
whose car it was in though.
Rear Seat Box
One creative IROC owner removed his rear seats and constructed these flat boxes
to cover the floor.
Rear Seat Box
Another pic.
Here are some 4th gens for
your viewing pleasure.
Purple flamed 4th gen Camaro
This car certainly had unique paint. It
reminded me of a bass boat.
Blue LS1 Camaro This car had a lousy
paint job until you got close enough to find the original red engine bay. The Torque Thrust II wheels really compliment
the car.
Here’s a Camaro that was very well
done, but way over the top.
Red LS1 4th gen Exterior shot
Red LS1 4th gen 3 monitors in the dash,
all playing the same thing. However
useless that may be, the craftsmanship was very good. Stare at this pic
for a while and take it all in, and try to identify all of the stuff in
here. This is the 4th gen equivalent of Raif’s car.
Red LS1 4th gen 2 more side-by-side
monitors playing the same thing. But again, very good craftsmanship. I like the “CAMARO SS” molded into the
fiberglass.
Red LS1 4th gen I count 4 extra gauges plus that
widget to the right of the center console.
There are also a couple gauges on the hood.
Red LS1 4th gen The lambo
door kit seemed to be very high quality.
What’s with the two identical widgets under his dash?
Red LS1 4th gen The engine bay was an
assault on the eyes. Ketchup and mustard
are great on a hot dog, but the color combo is just plain tacky on a car.
Blue
WS6 Here’s a killer Electron Blue WS6 with chrome C6 wheels.
How about some
1989 Turbo Trans
Am Here was a very nice 89 TTA.
This poor car seemed to be having an identity crisis. I have no idea why it was in the show. This could make a very nice restored 83 25th
anniversary with a little work.
White 83 25th TA
Exterior shot. Not too bad looking yet
other than having the wrong wheels.
White 83 25th TA
WHAT? Forgetting for a
minute that it’s got a Z28 badge, also notice that the door and fender don’t
line up.
White 83 25th TA
The interior definitely needs work.
White 83 25th TA
I bet that’ll hurt when it gets him in the back of the head in a car accident.
White 83 25th TA
Decals, busted gas door lock and what appears to be some sort of aftermarket
antenna.
White 83 25th TA
Nice paint.
Hopefully this one is just a work in progress:
White Formula Night Rider nose on an otherwise halfway
decent Formula.
Here’s a stunning 91 or 92 TA convertible. He just started to pull out as I was walking
toward his car. Unfortunately, these are
the only 2 shots I could get.
91 or 92 TA vert Killer 18” Boyd Smoothies
and a very unique 2-tone paint job.
Knight
Rider Here’s a very well done Knight Rider car. There were 3 or 4, but this was by far the
nicest.
Knight
Rider Very nice 2nd season interior with
the dual TV monitors.
Red
86 Trans Am This is a nice clean 86 Trans Am. You can pick out the 86 by the 3rd
brake light on the hatch, but also by the black wrap-around spoiler. You don’t see many single
color 86 TAs.
Dark
blue Trans Am Here’s a dark blue Trans Am with some nice 17”
wheels.
Well, that’s it until next year.
I hope you enjoy! Keep your eyes
open, because if I get a chance I’ll post pics and
commentary from my previous
