Re: [Chrysler300] comments on Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle

["Noel Hastalis cpaviper@xxxxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]" <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John and Group,

Many of the Forward Look cars we love have found their way across the ocean to our friends in Sweden and neighboring countries! I just returned from experiencing the 42nd annual 'Power Big Meet' in Lidkoping, Sweden, held July 4-6, and the number of Forward Look Imperials, Chrysler, DeSotos, Dodges and Plymouths I saw really had my adrenaline flowing. The Meet drew a total of something over 16,000 cars over its 3-day run, in spite of cold, rainy, windy weather on Thursday and Saturday (Saturday drew 7,200+ cars); Friday was just windy and drew 7,400+ cars that day alone. Of course, some of these cars came more than one day, so the count wasn't 16,000+ different cars. I photographed not less than 80 of these Forward Look beauties, including many 4-door hardtops. I would guess that about 98% of the total cars that displayed were US iron, and that at least 90%+ of these were vintage 1950s and 1960s. Not Forward Look, but have any of us ever seen a line-up of 13 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertibles, each restored to #1 condition, like the line-up I saw there? It was a great experience, admiring all these wonderfully styled American cars, seeing American flags flying everywhere, and hearing American music playing everywhere.

Unlike most all the shows and cruise nights we cruise to here in the US, overwhelmed by modern muscle, there were very very few of these at that Swedish Meet. The best show I can liken this to in the US is the June 3-day 'Back to the 50s' happening in St Paul - this year 11,345 cars registered - all 1964 and earlier. I've cruised up to that show 5 of the past 6 years, but even there finding more than a handful of Forward Look cars is a challenge.

I'll do a slide show of these cars, along with a few videos of our evening cruising, at our Minnesota Meet next week, for anyone who's interested. You can also Google it, and see some videos online.

Noel Hastalis

F coupe

On July 16, 2019 at 1:12 PM "John Nowosacki jsnowosacki@xxxxxxxxx [Chrysler300]" <Chrysler300-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 

Back from another fun time at Carlisle.  Best part is seeing over a dozen friends made over the years.  Also picked up a few small parts for my cars, and managed to sell off some items that I no longer wanted/needed to have around my garage/house.

I couldn't help noticing that the event has fewer and fewer Forward Look vehicles.  At one point on Saturday morning about 9:30, I walked the show field and counted only 9 cars with fins of any kind.  Seems like not so long ago (and I know it was indeed decades ago) when the movie Christine was out in the theaters, there were over 20 red Plymouths from 57/58 trying to copy the look of the evil car.  There were also many more Desoto/Chrysler/Dodge/Imperial cars with fins in addition to the Plymouths on the field at the same time.

Where have all these cars gone?  I assume they still exist, as most were in very good condition.  Have they deteriorated, or have their owners gotten too old to drive them the distances to the show like they once did in their youth?  Do they go to a different show now that the Chrysler event seems to be about the modern cars from the 2000's at least as much as about the 66-74 A/B/E body vehicles?  If there is another large show that focuses more on the Forward Look cars from Mopar that I am not aware of, I'd like to know about it.  

The argument could be made that we are now in the golden age of automobiles with 1000HP crate motors at our disposal, and cars off the showroom floor with 700-800HP and all the electronic gadgets one could hope for in terms of creature comforts.  Herb McCandless is doing some amazing things, as well as a number of other restorers/builders out there.

There were seminars at the show about 'restoration' and 'upgrading' to Gen 3 Hemi power for transplanting into vintage Chrysler products.  Not much about rebuilding cast iron torque flites or 331-392 Hemi engines. ;-) 

It's amazing that my Hurst will be 50 next year.   Weather and health allowing, I hope to treat it to a run to Carlisle next year to celebrate with a birthday party in my vendor space.

Hope the candles don't melt in the Carlisle heat before I get to light them!

I wouldn't mind hearing from other attendees and what their take aways were from the show.

Thanks,

 

 

 

>

 

__._,_.___

---

Posted by: Noel Hastalis <cpaviper@xxxxxxxxxxx>

---

To send a message to this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or
go to https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/all/manage/edit

For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm

For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang

Visit Your Group

• Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___