(Words and Photos by Joe Grippo)  April in Pennsylvania is a wonderful time, racetracks are opening, car shows, and cruises are starting to happen and of course swap meets! The swap meet highlight of the springtime is of course, Spring Carlisle, held annually at the massive Carlisle Fairgrounds in Carlisle Pa.

Perfect weather graced the weekend, and the joint was packed. We went just Friday of the 5-day extravaganza, knowing that we wouldn’t see it all, but we did our best. It’s not what it was 20 or even 10 years ago but it was still a great time and we saw some really cool shit.

Some observations…

• Prices are up, way up. Load up heavy.
• The number of seasoned citizens rolling around on handicap scooters was staggering. On one hand it’s wonderful that folks still have the desire to hit these events but looking around, people under 40 were the definite minority. Kind of foreboding.
• Guys with their flea market wagons and carts are getting out of hand. These massive contraptions were clogging up the already tight aisles, making navigating the crowd that much more difficult. Might be time for scooter and wagon only traffic lanes to be designated… (I am half joking and will now dismount my soapbox).
• The Cherry Smash ’62 Corvette in the Car Corral was a mind blower. I remember this car from I was kid drooling at the ISCA shows in the Philadelphia Civic Center. Seeing it at Carlisle again was amazing, it was recently added to the collection of Corvette guru Rod Saboury, so it is in good hands.
• Clean late 70’s, 80’s and 90’s cars are popping up everywhere. Maybe it’s the popularity of RADwood or traditional muscle prices in the stratosphere but they are gathering huge amounts of attention.

Check out the gallery for what we saw: