[BQS4]

I'll be leaving shortly, soon as Herr Dieter arrives, should get to Carlisle around dinner time. Safe trip to all and see you there!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Holy Cow. What a freakin' mess the weather forecast is.:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/collingswood-nj/08108/weather-forecast/334528

It's been raining off and on all week. Friday is supposed to be dreadful. It's okay for all you guys coming from westerly/northwesterly directions, but the dudes in the South and Northeast will have their wipers on all day.

Muddy showfield. :sigh:

I may have to scratch the group ride(s) to the Michaux forest. I'm not lugging the trailer or Opel bike through this poo.

It's only a 2.5 hour or so drive for me and most of that is the very pleasurable drive down the PA Tpk. It's the 1/2-1 hour slog through Philly getting to the turnpike that's brutal for me........even on a sunny day.

I'm booked to show up on Friday, but I'm thinking of calling the hotel to see if they have room for me to show up today. The link above seems to show that a break in the storm system might be passing through sometime before noon and I might be able to slip between the rain drops and get to Carlisle with a minimal car wash. Friday is supposed to be more rainy and the pre-weekend payday traffic through Philly will be nasty.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Well, gee, whadayaknow, apparently I'm already registered for Th/Fr/Sat, so no problem! Accuweather says there will be a 2 hour gap in the storm around 10-12am.

See you guys there!

:veryhappy

 

[RallyBob]

Have fun everyone! Post pics!

Tina and I can't make it this year.

 

[jerseydave]

Hey Gordon why not just take 130 North up to Florence and then take the turnpike?

 

[The Scifi Guy]

I got here first! I win!

Dave, I went 130N to the Betsy, then to Woodhaven Rd., then to the TPK.

Yucky drizzelly truck tire spray drive. A mysterious slow down occurred well outside of Philly on the Pike for about 5 miles. After 1/2 hour of crawling at idle speed for 3 miles with no end in sight, I got a little worried about engine cooling, so I pulled into a rest area for 1/2-3/4 of an hour to wait things out and see if the jam up dissipated. I checked the cell phone and saw that it was jammed for another 2 miles.

So I took a nappy.

Traffic got moving and I arrived fine.

:veryhappy

 

[GoldGT]

I got here first! I win!

View attachment 365962 View attachment 365970 View attachment 365978

Dave, I went 130N to the Betsy, then to Woodhaven Rd., then to the TPK.

Yucky drizzelly truck tire spray drive. A mysterious slow down occurred well outside of Philly on the Pike for about 5 miles. After 1/2 hour of crawling at idle speed for 3 miles with no end in sight, I got a little worried about engine cooling, so I pulled into a rest area for 1/2-3/4 of an hour to wait things out and see if the jam up dissipated. I checked the cell phone and saw that it was jammed for another 2 miles.

So I took a nappy.

Traffic got moving and I arrived fine.

:veryhappy

I think I win........I am not going to the mud hole this year, but I will miss the fun parts too.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Holy Cow!

Dieter had this wrap put on his car a week ago!:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

More pics of Dis-Count Dieter's car:

Gene says: "My flag is BIGGER."

The triumphant arrival of Knorm and his charming girlfriend all the way from TX/OK. They showed up at 9pm looking fresh as daisies. @#$%&! young whipper snappers!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Only 5-6 cars here by noonish on Friday. The morning was "dry", meaning no drizzle, but damp, foggy, and overcast. Rain was supposed to be imminent, so I headed back to the hotel here after scouting the group ride and then stopping by the showfield for just an hour.

Only about 6 cars have shown up so far and almost all of them are reddish, so if your eyes are hypersensitive to red, don't read any farther......

Morning pics from Friday at Carlisle 2018:

Knorm and I were speculating about redoing his engine compartment with a dead animal/road kill motif as a joke, when he mentions that he's already started work on the idea and that there was a dead mouse in his car that he drove all the way here from TX. Pics of the mouse on the belly pan below his master cylinder:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

The Knorm mobile ready for car show warfare:

 

[Ooooner]

1 PM Friday and 12 Opels have arrived!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

It's looking really unlikely that we'll have a group ride today and who knows what the weather will do on Saturday afternoon, which would be the most likely time we would go for a drive. I scouted the route, hoo-boy, have we missed out all these years by just staying at the hotel and showfield. The ride passed through the center of Carlisle, which is full of colonial era buildings in the Pennsylvania style, then there's lovely rolling farmland as you pass out of town, then another colonial town. Then I saw a mountain looming in the distance, shrouded by fog at the top, so I couldn't see how tall it was. I'm now in Appalatian trail country and apparently the main trail passes through this area. Now the roads are starting to get squirrely with bizarre turns and stuff. I turn toward Grove Furnace State Park and now we're in wood cabin country. Lots of wood cabins perched in the trees and mountain slopes with 45* uphill driveways and loose rock. This area displays the dense, dank, dark woods we have around here.

Eventually I got to what I thought would be our first stop and photoshoot location at a lake near the entrance to the park. The ride had already taken a fair bit of time, so I chose not to proceed any further. I took pics of my car near a huge spillway/dam and then at a canoe rental at the lake it formed. A little farther down the road was a historic area with a mansion, an old general store, and a huge coal furnace that gives the place it's name.

Try to imagine that there are a whole bunch of fruity colored Opels parked all around me in these GT 50th Anniversary Carlisle 2018 Group Ride pics:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

More of my solo group ride pics:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Some more pics from later in the day at the hotel:

 

[Ooooner]

Carlisle winners!

Although everyone was a winner today, some took home some hardware. Here is the list of trophy winners:
If I have misspelled your name, please correct it or contact me and I will correct it for you.

Best In Show: PJ Romano

Best Opel GT: Mike Pilkenton

2nd Place Opel GT: Kyler Norman

Best Kadett/Manta: Jim Erecson

2nd Place Kadett/Manta: Charles Goin

Most Unique Award: Dieter

People’s Choice Award: Ron Mattern

2nd Place People’s Choice Award: Roy Bell

Tom Cavataio Spirit Award: PJ Romano

Congratulations to all!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Pics of the Carlisle 2018 Best GT owned by Mike Pilkenton:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

One of the best or most interesting and certainly the most wackadoodle cars at the show: A custom designed car whose base look is that of a Morgan 3-Wheeler, but which was entirely designed and made from scratch with all sorts of kooky mods. Harley engine, Indian motorcycle fenders, etc. The guy studied how to bend wood and made this boat tail creation as his first project:

Additionally, this car's interior rivalled my own with maroon/cranberry colored alligator skin upholstery:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Avenger kit car:

 

[The Scifi Guy]

A Bricklin: