Carlisle 2008

[jordan]

I got home at 6:45, it was a fine trip back...no gt Lottie and I stayed back with roger to see if we had a winner, but as he already said no winner from the opel club. It was a great meet as usual and I can't wait until next year. My buddy Alex who also attended had a great time as well.

[gtopeler]

I made it home about 7 PM with only a minor problem. The fan belt let loose 45 minutes from home. A five minute fix and 20 minutes to unload the GT, get the spare belt, and then reload.
Rain or not I had a great time, saw old friends and met new ones.
See you all next year !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron M.

[BQS4]

Well, Edwin and I made it back to the South around 3:30pm, after getting an early start (4am). No problems with the Wagon, as it ran like a top. We did have one interesting moment, in that, we were 30 miles from Charlotte, heading south on I-77, and passed the rest area there. I was going to swing in long enough to take off my jacket, but, decided to wait till the next pit stop. Well, as we passed, we saw a two-toned GT on a car trailer. We both tried to pick our brains as to who's it might be, but, didn't recognize the car. Well, a few miles down the road, we were passed by the trailer, and as they passed, they realized they had just passed another Opel. They swung over into the lane ahead of us and I swung over to get side by side with them. We tried to talk to them, but, too much traffic prevented it. We did get the fact that they were headed to Camden, SC with the car. I don't know if they know about the site, but, time will tell.
Anyway, despite the dismal weather Friday (it's Dieter's fault, he didn't come, and thus the weather was bad) it was a joy to see old friends and make new ones, talk about Opels and share a weekend that will still be a nice memory. I'm looking forward to the Charlotte show and those who will make the effort to be there.

[opellane]

Made it home safe and Soggy at around 4:30 PM as we didn't make it to the showfield Today. My GT ran great, the only problems: were some brake pull, and very foggy windows and wet carpets. The weather was very poor, other than that was a great time with old friends,new friends and some excellent beers. I hope to make the Auto Fair in Sept. but would rather trailer the car.
I will also be posting some pictures. It was good to see everyone again as I haven't been to Carlisle in two years with my GT. See you all next time

[Lottie]

I'm glad to see that people are arriving back home safe and sound!!

I arrived back in sunny (for a few minutes anyway) Syracuse about an hour ago.

I'm so happy that I got to spend time with some of my favorite people this weekend. I hope I get to see at least some of you before next year's Carlisle!!

My pictures are uploaded here: Lottie Mae Watts's Photos - Carlisle Import/Replicar Show 2008 | Facebook

(you don't need to have a facebook account to view them)

[saxybiker]

We made it home around 4:20, wet and soggy. We took a new route home that we really like! It is about 23 miles and about 20 minutes longer, but we think it is worth it. The road is great and very scenic, the hills are not quite as steep as the turnpike and there are NO Tolls!

The weather was not so great, but at least it held off on Saturday. The car show is great, but we agree.... it is all about our Opel friends and it was good to see you all again.

Vickie & Allen

[timemachine]

As Dave said, we convoyed back until I jumped off before the blue route to pick up some fresh fish at Hill's seafood in Aston and then ran back home down 352. Got home before 4 pm, high and dry. Rick and Adam were running fine also when I veered off.

Had a great weekend chatting and seeing new cars, better cars, new people etc. Now that I'm a few years into Carlisle I really feel part of the family, especially since everyone is now comfortable teasing me for various reasons like everybody else.

To that end, in the middle of the rain today I did see a few Opelers including MachOneTom and Ron hosing down their cars at the wash stand as everyone else was huddled under tarps. My comment at the time was that the prospect of free water must have been too big a temptation for them to pass up, even in a rainstorm. Hmmm, someone said, "don't take it the wrong way, but Opelers tend to be 'frugal' or some other word?" (Tom, don't hold this against me my quest for your mom's bottled olives.)

Sounds like we could have followed Duane home by dropping a match, but I'm proud and not surprised you got back home under power. Very neat to see Rob's Conrero (Rob's Opel tour continues each year), Alan and Vickie's beautiful new mini-brute (drive that thing), the dragster, first timer John Dyas with his beauty '73 Manta (if you read this John, sign up), meet jonzo and see CDN Opel Nut's nice work, a fellow with a gold Manta I never met, a couple of cars I never met the owners of and all the usual faces, whom I appreciate more than ever. Like others have said, the people make this event!

Roger was right there with his weather prediction. I was sure Saturday was going to be like Friday or Sunday. I'm going to give Dieter credit for that by not showing up.

Will be posting pics later tonight.

Safe travels all,

Jim

[markandson]

Well, sounds like everyone had a great time as usual, sorry I missed this year but I did have a great time watching my youngest graduate college on Saturday. I thought about Carlisle all weekend and today at Noon I could visualize the show field and all the goodbyes being said and the cars rolling home. All things being good I may make it to Charlotte if my GT is ready but certainly next years Carlisle is in the bag.

[Gary]

Me and the beer wagon made it back ~9:00. No major problems (or fireballs from the gas tank I was carrying), just a wheel bearing that kept getting louder. (radio volume was a temporary fix) Dennis and I took a different route back so he would be closer to NH and hopefully knock some time off his trip.

I had a great time. It was really nice to just hang out today instead of breaking down a tent and packing up a trailer. Already looking forward to next year.

Thanks to Edwin and Rob for donating some items to sell and all to all who made donations toward the site's upkeep.
Gary

[Gary]

Here is John Grosh's Carlisle report:

To all of you whose only access to the events of the Opel Meet at the Carlisle Import show is via email and the internet, here is a report from the Opel section of the show field on Saturday, May 17. The weather was outstanding throughout the day, all the more so by comparison to the sogfest that we endured all day Friday. On Saturday, we enjoyed sunny skies, a light breeze, temps hovering near 70F. The show field had some scattered puddles left over from Friday's cold, steady rain. I didn't walk the show field but, at a quick glance, I'd say there were more imports on display this year than ever before. Clearly, many other clubs have come to view the Carlisle Import weekend as their "big" club meet, just as we in the Opel community do. At the same time, the vendor field keeps shrinking. My perception (and perhaps others will disagree) is that the show field (cars on display) was shrinking in popularity for the early years of this decade, up until two or three years ago. Since that time, it seems to me, the number of cars on display has grown significantly. I remember, a few years back, overhearing some vendors (the sellers who rent space on the lower part of the field to sell their wares) saying that they had not sold nearly enough to make the weekend worthwhile and that they would not be returning in future years. Perhaps with increased attendance on the show field, the vendors will come back again. Each year our Opel lineup includes some cars displayed by newcomers to our group. This year I chatted with John Dyas who brought his beautiful '73 yellow Manta, very stock and with original paint. This car gave Jim Erikson's matching yellow Manta a good run for the prize. However, before today, John had no idea about any of the online Opel community, didn't know about opelgt.com, the classicopels list, or OpelGTSource. He just showed up with his Manta and was surprised (I'm guessing) to find 36 other Opels on display. Also new this year (at least as far as I can remember) was David Krizon with his drag-strip-prepared 4.3L Sportwagon. (I suppose that with the 4.3L we wouldn't want to call it a 1900 Sportwagon.) There were several other new cars but, in most cases, the people displaying them were oldtimers. Charles Goin coordinated the judging of the cars in four separate categories. We met late afternoon and he gave out the awards, trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category, plus a Best of Show trophy. I'll didn't have time to write down all of the winners. I'll try to get the list from Charles and report on that in a separate posting. Here is our Saturday lineup of Opels on display. On the tent row. 1. '69 Kadett LS, 1.1L, white, Vickie and Allen Gage 2. '73 GT, red, Roy Bell 3. '72 GT, fireglow, Tom Cavataio 4. '73 Manta Rallye, Elwood Morgan 5. '71 GT, white w/ blue stripe, Roger Summy 6. '74 Manta, silver, Ron Sibulsky 7. '72 1900 wagon, bronze, Gary Farias 8. '71 Kadett, blue, Charles Goin 9. '72 GT, yellow, Mike Lane 10. '72 GT, yellow, Jeff Lisitsky 11. '72 GT, blue, Dave Smith 12. '69 GT, red, Vickie Gage 13. '75 Manta, yellow, Allen Gage 14. '73 Manta, yellow, John Dyas 15. '74 Manta, bronze, Mitchell Shapiro 16. '70 GT, white, ?? Upper row, starting at the tent. 17. '70 GT, forest green, John Grosh 18. '69 Kadett L, silver, Kevin Fier 19. '75 Sportwagen, white, Gene Smith 20. '71 Sportwagon, green/purple w/ 4.3L, David Krizon 21. '75 1900 Ascona, yellow/black, Shelby Foley 22. '59 Rekord Olympia, pale green, Pete Anastopoulos 23. '73 GT, fireglow, Bill Shreiner 24. '71 GT, yellow, Derek Burroughs, (Kay's) 25. '72 GT Conrero, red, Rob Cassidy 26. '74 Manta, yellow, Jim Erikson 27. '75 Manta, silver, Bill Hoffman 28. '73 GT, red, Rick Gradwell 29. '75 Manta, blue, Adam Gradwell 30. '74 Manta, blue, Todd Kirby 31. '70 Kadett wagon, bronze, Lynn Foley 32. '72 GT, blue, Ron Mattern 33. '68 Kadett wagon, red, Bud Joyner 34. '74 Manta, bronze, Don McLean 35. '70 GT, blue, Karl Senula 36. '73 1/2 Manta, black, Ben Goin 37. '72? GT, dark green, ??? To the familiar faces who couldn't make it this year (you know who you are), we missed you. Hope you can come next year. We also welcome new faces. We'd love to see yours next year as well. --John Grosh Salunga, PA

[nhopel]

Safe at home, here at 10:15 what a ride had a great time enjoyed seeing everyone can't wait until next year

Dennis

[Gary]

Originally Posted by nhopel Safe at home, here at 10:15 what a ride had a great time enjoyed seeing everyone can't wait until next year Dennis

Guess that route cut at least an hour off your trip Dennis. Gotta love those GPS's!

[oldopelguy]

Originally Posted by nhopel Safe at home, here at 10:15 what a ride had a great time enjoyed seeing everyone can't wait until next year Dennis

Damn it Dennis, where were you hiding all day Sat? I was even looking for you.

Back myself as well just now. Passed another Opel heading south on I-81 but not sure who it was probably not spotted in my Chevy truck camo. Got to get an Opel to Charlotte, this is getting silly....

[Rionart]

Hey Everyone,
Lynda and I are home safe at 10:15. Totally non-eventful drive home (the best kind).
Well almost non-eventful...there must have been some VW event on around Erie, PA.
We were 'swarmed by about 15 various tuned VW's...all young guys (and a couple of girls), lot's of thumbs ups and some picture taking antics...all at 70mph!!...I just did my best to keep the truck and trailer straight and steady.
It was great to see everyone again, and meet the 'newbies'
I'll post the list of contributors tomorrow for the room/website funding....right now I'm going to put my feet up and relax...oh, and clear a spot in the "trophy hog" cabinet.....
Thanks everyone for making it another great Carlisle weekend..it really is the people who make this event.
Rob.

[Ooooner]

I made it home to North Carolina around 10:30 this evening after a fun filled 13 hour drive home! I took Terry and Harold to Terry's home in the mountain's of North Carolina, where Harold got in his car for another six hours of driving to get home. (Now, that is dedication) What made the drive home so much fun was the heavy rains and some hail mixed in for good measure.
I had a lot of fun meeting with old friends and meeting new Opelers. The Opels that show up every year seem to be getting better and better, which is good for the preservation of the cars!
I'm looking forward to the Nationals in Charlotte in September and to meet with my Opel friends and meet new ones!
Thanks to everyone for a great time.

[kevinfier]

Made it to Illinois. Limped into Naperville where my daughter lives. It appears that my alternator has gone south. Will replace it tomorrow and finish out the last 2 hours of this Opel adventure.
Had a good weekend, was good to we you all and meet new friends.
Looking forward to September.
Kevin

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by Ooooner I made it home to North Carolina around 10:30 this evening after a fun filled 13 hour drive home! I took Terry and Harold to Terry's home in the mountain's of North Carolina, where Harold got in his car for another six hours of driving to get home. (Now, that is dedication)

Technically I made it home safely today since it was just past midnight CST when I arrived. I behaved most of the way home until I got to the park(3 miles from home), not sure what the LE thought when I met him but he didn't even hit his brakes so it's all good.

Ditto on Roy's really enjoyed it part. I wish there had been enough time to meet everyone and visit. I got a really detailed look at a few of the cars (thanks for volunteering me Roy!) but there were many others I would like to have looked at and asked questions about.

Harold

[anastosmotors]

Well, I maded home sunday 6:15 pm. We had great time at the show.
Nice to see everybody. We had very nice cars.
The ride to Carlisle and back was interesting. People was giving me thums up
for my 59 record, I had to answer to " what year is your car", An older guy
was trying to talk to me in German at the gas station and after he told his
Opel story ( in english). ...........
That was a great trip.
ops i have to work now, see you guys later.
Pete

[jlthunder]

Made it home without any problems. She ran like a champ. Wipers were on fast during some of the journey.

Stopped at Hershey to pick up some treats for the family.

Peeled out the carpets and they are hanging up to dry. I gotta break down and buy new door gaskets

It was great seeing everyone and some new faces. I think we all gained some weight after the dinner on Sat night.

Gary, let us know if you ever leave your lights on again. We will turn them off for you, again

[Phoenix]

I really wanted to see the Conrero GT in person. I suppose that it'll be another 10-20 year before I see it, what with Rob's buying sprees and the ability to go about a decade without showing the same car twice.

Missed some other great cars and really wanted to see Vicki and Allen's restored GT.

Next year for some, Nationals for others.