[GTO JUDGE]

MANY older gen GTOs didn't show because of the rain. The old gen GTO showfield was laid out in accordance to the registrations and there was much room in each class because they didn't come out. I was really disappointed. Had Saturday's weather been like Friday's, the GTO showfield would have been busting. Friday there was the busiest its been there in some time that was a good sign, then the weather tanked.

As far as the new gen GTOs. The 2 weeks leading up to the show registrations on them were piling in. Again, weather kept many of them away, their show area had a lot of room open.

[64CatalinaVentura]

I went this year for the first time, having only read posts and seen pictures on the show. My dad and I showed up at noon on Saturday and spend the night in Carlisle. We went back on Sunday morning as well from about 9:30 to 11:30.

If you're into the 70's and newer performance cars then this is the place to be. There were modern Camaros, Buick Grand Nationals, modern GTO's, etc everywhere.There were tons of parts and plenty of cars to look at.

Being a full size guy (64 Catalina) were didn't find much. I was a bit disappointed because the ad said 1200 vender spaces, but there were far fewer than 1200 filled (I get it, small print, but it was still a bummer) and many of those spaces were filled with items I had no interest in (how many places can sell the same tin signs that I can get at Hobby Lobby for $5 less?).

We came from CT so we couldn't be there on Friday (work) or much earlier on Sat (we left at 7 am). I don't know if we just missed the "best" of the show or if we were just expecting something that wasn't. I was hoping to see many 50's and 60's GM boats, find some parts I need (such as trim parts), dealer stuff, and meet fellow full size owners to exchange stories and check out their cars. By 5 on Saturday night we realized this might not be the place for us.

There were a few bright spots, I saw two 64 Bonneville 'verts, and spoke to the owner of one of them. I also found the factory shop manuals for the Catalina and got to take dad to Gettysburg since he had never been.

I don't want to be seen as "bashing" the show in any way, it was professional, organized, and huge. I think I wouldn't feel so bummed if it has been called the GM 1975+ Performance Nationals...then I would have saved myself 10 hours (total) in the Grand Marquis.