One of the events I look forward to every year is the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals. Despite my friends and I taking over a hotel for three nights and chowing down on plenty of pizza and beer, the highlight is actually showing up and the gate and taking time to wonder the show field and swap meet areas.
And this year, 2008, for me at least there were a couple of interesting observations. One it didn't rain, but it was hotter than heck, particularly on Saturday. Can't remember the last time I had to scrape salt off my sun glasses without going into the water. Secondly, I noticed that the show grounds were packed full of all kinds of Fords, some examples of which I haven't seen for years. Don't get me wrong, the Mustangs were cool, there was a really nice Mach 1 up for sale, though I was about $33,000 short of the funds required to puchase it, but what I really got a kick out of was some of the other stuff. I saw a plethora of Merkur XR4Tis (which I really like), a couple of REAL Ford Sierra Cosworths at the show (when I was a kid in the UK, this was the hottest thing around); a 1979 Ford Capri Mk III V-6 (before the Cossie this was king of the Euro hill in Fordom), some Australian XA and XB Falcons, one of the nicest Escort EXPs I've seen for a very long time, several nice late 1960s Galaxie Station Wagons, plus a mint condition 1979 Fairmont 2-door post (yes, not a Futura), still wearing that original Beige paint. And despite on the verge of almost melting from the heat, seeing all these cars and talking with the owners, showed me, that no matter what is going on in the world, there are a lot of people who love their Fords and like working on them, driving them, racing them and just generally having fun with their cars. I'm also amazed (and glad) at some of the vehicles that are still out there and cherished by their owners. As far as I'm concerned they all have a place in our hobby and we' have to be thankful for shows like the All-Ford Nationals that helps us celebrate everything that is Blue Oval. Long may it remain so.