I went to my first Mopar Nationals when it was outside of Detroit in 1985, and I was hooked. I followed it to Columbus in 1986, with my newly completed 1967 Coronet 440 3-seat wagon. I think we were the only station wagon on the grounds that year. We went most years until the Nats moved to Indy for 1993. For 1992, the organizers were going to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the 1967 GTX and R/T, Chryslers first package muscle cars, with special group parking, to have all these cars in one spot. I talked a couple of my R/T buddies into pre-registering and attending the event. We received our registration packages in the mail with the special parking pass and a commemorative 25th. licence plate. Columbus is about a 6-your drive from where we live, and after finally getting there, we went to the registration area to find out where the special parking area was. Even after we showed our special pass and commemorative licence plate, the registration people said they knew nothing about it, and said just find a parking spot somewhere. I parked beside an older Oldsmobile that had a Mopar Nationals sticker on the windshield. I was very disappointed! When the Nats moved again to Indy for 1993, we did not follow. We later heard it was a disaster there, with Indy's enthusiastic police force.
We went to Chryslers at Carlisle for the first time in 1993. Although it was twice as far a drive through the mountains and valleys of Pa., the show was worth it. This show was actually very organized with clean washrooms, good food court, and well organized vendor area and show field. There are always themed special displays inside the pavillions, and an organized cars for sale corral. I actually won a 2nd place trophy for '66-'67 Dodge B-body there, a total surprise. I met a lot of good people and bought a lot of needed parts over the years at this show. My only complaint would be the hot, humid weather some years, beyond the control of the organizers. One Friday night, we went to the 1/8 Mile drag strip outside of town, and watched Ronnie Sox face off against Dick Landy in their respective Hemi Barracuda and Hemi Dart. The Drag Racing at Columbus was much better, but I was usually out on the field looking at cars or looking for parts, anyway.
We used to attend the Norwalk Mopar event in September, as well. This was only a 5 hour drive away. There were never much motel accommodation there, so we always stayed North of there, in Sandusky. If you like to see early B-bodies racing, this is the place to go, as there is always a good turnout of these cars. However, the car show and swap meet are pretty dismal. They used to sell a pound of ice cream in a big cup for $1.00, but I understand this has now been discontinued.
If I could only go to one Chrysler car show in the year, it would definitely be Chryslers at Carlisle!
