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2011 Carlisle Ford Nationals - Later And GreaterAfter a long pause, we return to Carlisle and find our Mustangs are plentiful From the November, 2011 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By Dale Amy Photography by Dale Amy
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For years, we here at 5.0&SF have been missing out on Carlisle’s annual Ford Nationals event, thinking it was still primarily a showcase of vintage iron. Not so any more, as it turns out. While still offering the whole historical gamut of wildly interesting Ford/Lincoln/Mercury hardware, this three-day affair in south-central Pennsylvania has attracted a robust Fox-and-up presence in recent years. In fact, it’s catering more and more to our beloved Mustangs all the time.  Taken from roughly the same...  Taken from roughly the same vantage point as our Friday lead photo, this is the scene of the “late-model” area around noon on Saturday. Well-attended, yes?  Clubs were well represented,...  Clubs were well represented, obviously, including the Yellow Mustang Registry. The clubs even compete to see who has the most cars in attendance and the coolest club hangout on-site.  One trend we noticed was that...  One trend we noticed was that many of the four-eye Foxes in attendance were in stock or near-stock condition, perhaps in recognition of the growing classic status of these early 5.0s. Far more than just a car show, the Nationals event now features eighth-mile drag racing, autocrossing, as well as a well-attended burnout contest guaranteed to bring tears of joy to any tire vendors on site. Now there’s even a cruise to a Saturday night street party that fills the heart of downtown Carlisle with row upon row of the Blue Oval’s finest. Back at the fairgrounds, a huge manufacturer’s midway and an equally large swap meet area and car corral compete for spectator attention. That’s not even mentioning the specialty displays and demos occurring in various buildings throughout the weekend on the massive fairgrounds property.  Of course, there were notable...  Of course, there were notable exceptions to that observation. Thomas Clark owns this radically slammed ’79 Pace Car. Its engine bay was something of a work in progress, but once it’s done, this thing will be wicked.  More typical of the later...  More typical of the later Foxes on-site was Iraq-veteran Ron Koumaras’ tastefully upgraded ’87 T-top GT, with its Dart 363ci stroker wearing AFR 205 heads and sending 407 horses to the rear wheels.  Authenticity of this painstakingly...  Authenticity of this painstakingly restored Florida Highway Patrol special-service LX coupe just wouldn’t be complete without doughnuts within easy reach. Both Ford corporate and Ford Racing have a commanding presence at Carlisle. On the consumer side, Ford constantly shuttled attendees to a new-vehicle ride-and-drive facility just off-site, while Ford Racing’s contributions to the event included not just its usual king-size midway displays of cars and parts, but also the sponsorship of an on-site Coyote-into-Fox swap, and even the giveaway of a complete new Coyote crate engine. Last we heard, there were around 2,400 vehicles registered at the event, surely making this one of the biggest all-Ford gatherings on the calendar. Bottom line? If you’re bored at this gig, perhaps you need another hobby. We’ll likely be paying more attention to the Carlisle Ford Nationals in the future.  As things were wrapping up...  As things were wrapping up Sunday afternoon, we couldn’t resist getting a parting shot of Julie and Terry Allen’s awesome twin-turbo, 331-powered ’84 LX T-top coupe (featured in our June ’11 issue).  The Hall of Kings. This cool,...  The Hall of Kings. This cool, old auto-service building and about a half-acre surrounding it were jammed full of Shelby KRs. Shelby American had a major presence at Carlisle.  Welcome to the Coyote Countdown,...  Welcome to the Coyote Countdown, wherein Ford Racing Performance Parts’ Coyote crate engine in the foreground (along with FRPP’s Control Pack) was swapped in place of the original 5.0 pushrod residing under the hood of this nicely refurbished coupe belonging to Kurgan Motorsports. This took place in one of the fairground’s exhibition halls with a steady stream of onlookers once the swap got underway.  The Kurgan crew did the swap,...  The Kurgan crew did the swap, which started midday on Friday. Working at an unusually leisurely pace, the swap was easily completed in time for the coupe to lead off the contestants on Saturday afternoon’s burnout competition. By the way, Ford Racing awarded $1,500 worth of FRPP parts to the person who most accurately predicted how long the swap would take.  By early Saturday, the coupe’s...  By early Saturday, the coupe’s faithful old pushrod, along with its old supporting hardware, was surplus to Kurgan’s needs, off to the side, and up for sale, as detailed in the inset photo. Seems like a pretty fair deal…  Also swapped was the coupe’s...  Also swapped was the coupe’s transmission, with a new six-speed Tremec T56 Magnum replacing the original five-speed, requiring a new driveshaft in the process.  By early Saturday, the coupe’s...  By early Saturday, the coupe’s faithful old pushrod, along with its old supporting hardware, was surplus to Kurgan’s needs, off to the side, and up for sale, as detailed in the inset photo. Seems like a pretty fair deal…  Speaking of fair deals, the...  Speaking of fair deals, the swap meet area was—like the rest of the event—dauntingly huge, with an abundant supply of late-model parts in the mix. We suggest a push-cart and comfortable shoes.  Part of Ford’s event participation...  Part of Ford’s event participation was the Mustang Garage, wherein owners of S197s could purchase Ford Racing parts on the spot and have them installed free of labor charge by technicians from Fred Beans Ford.  Such on-site installations...  Such on-site installations seemed all the rage at Carlisle, with vendors like MRT, Classic Design Concepts, and Redline Tuning being just a few that we noticed doing a steady business throughout the weekend. The red GT with the hood up was having one of CDC’s popular Shaker scoops installed—you can just see the freshly cut hole in the hood. Close by was a portable DynoJet doing its thing all weekend.  Under the heading of Totally...  Under the heading of Totally Inexplicable falls this 351 Cleveland-powered Cub Cadet mutant. Still, you gotta admire the ingenuity.  No, it’s not a Mustang, but...  No, it’s not a Mustang, but this Galaxie Starliner earned its way into our show coverage simply by the name of its race team.  Spectators anxiously awaited...  Spectators anxiously awaited Saturday afternoon’s burnout contest, which had entrants surrounded by concrete barriers to keep the carnage contained. Nope, this Fox didn’t win...  ...That honor and trophy were...  ...That honor and trophy were taken by this ultra-clean, big-block F-250 4x4, which smoked ’em for what seemed like an eternity until the simultaneous blow-out and destruction of both those rear off-road skins sealed the deal. You should have seen him trying to drive it away.  Somebody’s gotta do it. The...  Somebody’s gotta do it. The guys from Shelby American and our pal Jesse Kershaw from Ford Racing embraced their roles as judges of the Miss Carlisle All-Ford Nationals 2011 bikini contest.
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