If you ever feel you need to visit the “Mecca” of all Ford car shows, then head for the All Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA.

I have been to all sorts of car shows over the years, some Ford, some all makes, most in Australia and some in the States like Pomona near LA, but nothing comes close to the summer All Ford Show in Pennsylvania. The cars, the parts, the dealers, it’s all there. More Ford, Mercury, Edsel product than you ever imagined in the one place.

The show runs for 3 days and if you are searching for that elusive part for your Ford then 3 days might just be enough time to find it… maybe! The Managing Director (Nan) and I spent one day walking up and down the rows of parts trying to fill a list we were given before leaving Australia. We spent over 8 hours and had basically only skimmed the surface. Our friend Al Morgan from Sydney (a far more dedicated parts hound) spent over 9 hours and covered only 5 rows out of an estimated total of 30. He also managed to relieve himself of a fair amount of cash in the process. The parts are definitely plentiful (Lincoln excluded) but cheap does not enter into the equation. Then again if you gotta have it or can’t get it anywhere else, ah! What are ya gonna do. Here’s an example; Young Tony Chalvatzis is in need of a 1962 Sunliner script. A dealer at Carlisle had one, one pair that is with a price tag of a cool US$600!! He new what he had and new now one else had them so he was calling the shots. Oh! By the way they are still there if you want them. Just some of the treasures on hand can be seen below.

A 1959 Thunderbird that runs for $700

A couple of Baby Bird removable hardtops

A 1965 Thunderbird Convertible + parts

A 1956 Lincoln Continental MkII

1966 Thunderbird Town Landau

1956 Mercury Montclair Hardtop Sedan

By the end of day one it was all becoming a bit of a blur to me, not in need of much and being that Lincoln parts were scarce as, we called it a day around 17.00. However we were not finished with Carlisle by any means. You need to check the weather carefully when in Carlisle. Day one was warm to hot around 85 F and the sunscreen was left at the Motel. Day Two the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees and was accompanied by rain. The jumpers and brolleys were keeping the sunscreen company back at the Motel… However a little rain wasn’t stopping this shutter bug. We managed to photograph 670 Fords and Mercury’s. This was by no means all the vehicles at the show. Folk in the know told me there were in excess of 2500 cars there. Thank goodness for digital cameras. We filled 2 128mb, 1 64mb and 2 16mb smart media cars full of photos. If we hadn’t skipped the Mustangs and late model Fords we’d still be there taking photo’s. All this took us another 8 hours so by the end of  day two we were pretty exhausted. Look below for just a glimpse of what we saw. For all you hardcore gear heads visit the image gallery by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. Be patient because there's a lot of images to download but I can assure you it will be worth the wait.

We caught up with LOVEfords guys John, Adrian, Darren, Dick and Dave plus ITC folk Ken and Ann Leaman, Norm and Kitty Mummert, Malcolm Green, Dick Cheney (no, not the VP) and Sandy Schatz. We also met Mark Manbeavers from Y City Thunderbirds.

Founder and Director of LOVEfords, John Rotella.

Nan with Adrian Clements

Mark Manbevers of Y City Thunderbirds

  Ken Leaman and Malcolm Green from the ITC

So in closing guys, if you want to do the ultimate Ford car show, pencil Carlisle June 2004 into those dairies, you won’t be disappointed….. I know we weren’t.

 Mark and Nan