This spring, after hearing about the Carlisle Import Show for years, I decided that it was high time to check it out for myself. Some 750 miles from home (more or less; my odometer gave out just before the trip), it was not the sort of weekend trip I'd want to make alone, so I invited my partner-in-grime, Max, to join me. An annual event, this year's show was held on the 19th through the 21st of May, in the usual location at the fairgrounds in Carlisle, PA.
The report for the area from the folks at Weather.com suggested partly cloudy with occasional showers, so it seemed like a good risk, despite the fairly long drive. We registered in advance for the show field and packed our camping gear for the trip. The plan was to convoy down with some friends, including David Burnham with his spectacular 142GT. He had been working on his motor for some time now and was still in the process of setting up the new Solex carbs. He seemed to want the company for the ride down, and was really a driving force behind our New England contingent.
The other member of the convoy was Kevin Rhodes, with his '79 Peugeot diesel. It's a cute little French number and is in lovely condition, but I'm here to tell you, there's a car you don't want to have to follow on the highway. The poor little motor, with its 62 horsepower, was pushing a lot of oil at speeds over 60 mph.
We all managed to meet up at the appointed points along the route and to keep close together for most of the trip, despite the driving rain that we came into as we got into Pennsylvania. Toward the end, as we forged ahead over endless rolling hills in Pennsylvania, the little Pug with its three passengers fell behind and Kevin called on his cell phone to urge us to go on ahead without him. You can imagine our relief as we surged ahead in our GTs, moving on towards a break in the clouds. By the time we got to Carlisle, the sun was coming out and it looked like we would have great weather for the show.
Kevin made it in his own good time and parked with the other French cars in the lot next to the Swedes. There were all sorts of other cars there from all over Europe and the UK. There were quite a few Asian cars as well, but most couldn't be counted among the classics.
Cars at Carlisle, the outfit that organizes the Import Show, holds numerous other events, and this year's Import, Kit and Replicar show was held concurrently with the "Custom Compact Power Jam." These are the Asian imports with expensive paint jobs, body kits and ultra low profile tires on oversized alloy rims. Lowered almost to the pavement, they can be seen scraping over speed bumps and potholes, although the drivers don't appear to notice. They have their high-powered stereos with sub-woofers to drown out any road noise. Sharing the grounds with them was a trial for the old foreign car set; perhaps most of all for the fairly conservative Volvo crowd. The VCOA tent (a real blessing in the pouring rain) was set up right across the street from the area set aside for the "Decibel Contest," a new event in my book. At times, the sound pressure was unbearable. The "Import Jammers" were largely a rude and rowdy crowd, and the campground was especially lively until well into the morning hours.
This spectacular bit of poor planning was almost as unfortunate as the weather, which varied between cloudy with intermittent drizzle, and pouring, driving rain and wind for most of the weekend. Amazingly enough, people's spirits were not completely dampened by the weather. There were quite a few cars turned out for the show on Saturday despite the rain. In the Volvo area, there were fewer old cars than there were 240 and 700 series by a good margin. Only two or three 1800s and maybe one 122 were in evidence by the time we got there on Friday, but by Saturday quite a few nice-looking vintage Volvos showed up on the lot.
One of the most popular features of the Carlisle show is the swap meet. Vendors from far and wide come and set up booths and tents with tools and parts of all sorts, both common and unusual NOS items. Unfortunately, I didn't spend as much time browsing the wares in the swap meet area as I would have liked. It was not very tempting to be about in the rain, even with an umbrella.
Most of Saturday flew by as we met new people and chatted with them about their cars. I met a number of people I have known for years for the first time. This phenomenon has become more common now that the Internet is a part of our lives. Then I got lost for hours browsing in a bookseller's stall in the indoor vendor's area -- what better way to spend a rainy day? This particularly fine bookshop was the mobile unit of Green Mountain Motorbooks from West Rupert, Vermont. John Markle and his wife Amy are very knowledgeable about their subject, which is exclusively motorbooks, as well as racing toys and memorabilia.
In fact, it seemed like John had read almost every book I laid my hand on. I bought a number of books that I had been wanting and found a few choice vintage titles as well. John said that besides their shop in Vermont, they sell their books at racetracks. If you attend vintage races, be sure to look for them. If you are searching for an old title, or a special book on driving or performance cars, you can contact them at grnmtn@vermontel.net.
On Sunday, Max and I set out to see what might be left of the swap meet. We went from one booth to the next meeting folks and checking out the goods. We found the occasional treasure, but more often we found that the vendors were closing shop, or had lost heart and gone home the night before. We chatted with the vendors who were there and looked at what was left, but bought very little. The rain had finally let up, leaving us to wander about under leaden skies, but happily dry at last.
As we made our way to one of the stalls where Max had seen something interesting the day before, something caught my eye. It was older alloy wheel that had been widened to fit racing tires on an Amazon. The banner flying over the truck, in Swedish blue and gold, said "Susquehanna Spares." I had heard the name, but I knew little of the outfit, so I quickly introduced myself.
The proprietor, Joe Lazenby, greeted me and I knew right away that I liked him by his friendly manner and the twinkle in his eye. He asked if we had a few minutes to spare so he could show us his warehouse, which he said was only a few blocks away. I glanced at Max to be sure he was game and we hopped into one of Joe's beautiful Amazons, this one dark gray with a pristine red interior, and headed for the gate. On the way over there, Joe mentioned that he had provided the cars for the movie Girl Interrupted, which I just recently seen. That seemed pretty cool, but it didn't begin to prepare me for the sights in the first warehouse Joe brought us to.
It was just a building in a residential neighborhood. Nothing outside suggested that anything special was inside the unassuming wooden walls. Outside, there was a tiny yard with a high board fence where he had a few old Amazons amidst the vegetation, but when he swung open the old wooden doors, I caught my breath. Just inside the door was a powder blue P210 that looked to be in showroom condition. In order to make room to show us the rest of the cars in his crowded building, he started it and pulled it out into the drive. Imported from Sweden, the motor had 67K original kilometers on the clock. It was so quiet when running that I was in a state of awe. Just beyond this Swedish beauty were a several more Amazon wagons in various states of restoration. Next to an outside wall was a 445 with a B4B engine, which I had heard little about. The precursor to the B14, it is said by some (in the old country) to be one of the strongest motors Volvo ever produced (along with the venerable B18). There was a sweet 121, also imported from Sweden, as well as countless other cars under the loft area waiting for their turn to be made ready to roll again. The loft overhead was, of course, stuffed to the rafters with spares.
Before I knew it, the time had come to depart. Joe put the 210 back and asked us if we would mind taking just a few more minutes to see his other warehouse, a few blocks further away. I was feeling mighty privileged to be allowed into the inner sanctum of his collection and I was delighted to be whisked away in the gray Amazon to yet another Susquehanna Spares warehouse.
This one, behind some houses, had more cars in the yard than the other place. Inside, there was quite a bit of clutter, but it was clear to me that Joe knows where things are in there. We stepped over stuff to get in to where Joe could switch on the light. There were countless more cars, including a couple of 1800s and a number of Amazons, and literally tons of spare parts. Joe noted that he thought at one time of specializing in Amazon wagons exclusively. Clearly they are his main focus, and his eye for detail and his high standards mean that driving away in one of his cars would be a lot like having a brand new car fresh from the showroom. Just imagine...
We didn't get to see the shop where he actually does all the work on all these vintage beauties, but it is located in nearby Harrisburg, PA. I'm sure that will make an excellent stop on a future trip to Carlisle.
By the time we got back, the sun was finally wearing its way through the clouds. We had another hour or so to visit with people in the sunshine before it was time to pack up and head for home. The others in the convoy had left earlier, so we were on our own. The trip was largely uneventful until towards the end, when the overdrive on my 240GT started to take its time to engage. I was grateful that it was willing to carry on until we got to the end of our trip, because a long drive without it is a misery. It took us 10 hours to get home, compared to the 14 or so on the way down (having to slow down for that Pug), so we did well in that regard. Was it worth it, with all those miles and all that rain? I'd still have to say yes, and that if I'm able, I will surely attend the Carlisle Import Show again.
Joe Lazenby can be contacted by phone at 717-921-2644 and at 3725 Elder Road, Harrisburg, PA.
While the organizers of the event can't do anything about insuring the weather for the Import Show, they did at least recognize their mistake and assured the crowd repeatedly that they would schedule the "Custom Compacts" for an entirely different weekend next year. They will continue to schedule the Import Show at the traditional May date.
