CARLISLE, PA, June 3, 2007 – Whether they came to see the anniversary of The Deuce, Edsel, Ranchero or Cougar or to chat with Huggy Bear of Starsky & Hutch renown or to check out the Ford Motor Company Test Drives, Blue Oval fans were not disappointed this past weekend at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.
Attendees were greeted by a veritable sea of gleaming Fords that spanned the decades. There was something to warm the heart of nearly any Ford lover.
Ford Motor Company brought two concept cars,The Interceptor and the Reflex. Under the hood, the Interceptor touts a Ford Racing 5.0-liter Cammer engine that runs on E-85 ethanol and produces 400 horsepower. Recently, an automotive critic described the concept this way, “The Interceptor concept is much like a Marine in dress uniform. He looks smart and elegant, but you can see the raw power that lies beneath.” The Reflex is a technological showcase with its advanced diesel-electric hybrid engine – delivering up to 65 miles per gallon.
Starsky & Hutch fans were thrilled with the turnout of red and white Torinos. Ford only made 1,000 of these Limited Edition “Starsky & Hutch” Gran Torinos in the spring of 1976 recognizing the popularity of both the show and the car during the ‘70s. Additionally, Antonio Fargas, who played Huggy Bear on the show spent the entire weekend greeting fans and signing autographs.
David Pearson and Bud Moore, two legendary NASCAR icons were on-hand to sign autographs and chat with fans. Bud Moore Engineering brought a 1967 Cougar prototype race car. Al Joniec of drag racing fame joined in the fun with two of his race cars.
This year Ford added a Ride and Drive demonstration that allowed attendees to actually test drive new Ford vehicles during the show. The Fusion, Edge, Escape and F150 were all available for test drives. This proved to be a very popular addition to the show.
2007 was the 40th anniversary of the legendary Mercury Cougar. Fans saw some of the nicest cars to ever come out of Detroit. Cougar fans saw many fine examples of the Cougar.
Also featured was a fine display of all years of the Mustang Mach I. These invitational cars demonstrated why the Mach I was such a powerful and popular Mustang legend.
As always there were lots of fun activities like burnouts, a beauty contest, dyno testing, wing-eating contest, a huge show field, swap meet, rock crawl and car corral, and plenty of great food. There was something for the entire family including a Kids at Carlisle activities center.
Brian Compa of Morgantown, WV was the 2007 Wing Eating Champion. Compa managed to get 25 wings in his stomach in less than 10 minutes.
A bevy of beauties was on-hand for the annual Miss Carlisle All-Ford Nationals Beauty Contest. The winner was Ashley Gertz of Gordonville, Pennsylvania. Following in second place was Carlisle’s own Amanda Lawson, and in third, Kim Bergens from York, Pennsylvania.
Shane Hiney took the honors in the Burnout Contest in his ’78 T-Bird. Hiney managed to spin ‘em ‘til they popped. He blew both rear tires to win the contest.
This year’s lucky Giveaway winner was Mary Ann Baysinger of Connellsville, PA. Baysinger had the choice of a beautiful, all-original ’71 Mercury Cougar or $5,000 in cash. She elected to take the money and run.
A complete list of award winners will be posted on the Carlisle Ford web page
http://carsatcarlisle.com/ford/index.asp later in the week.
For updates and information on all of the Carlisle events:
www.carlisleevents.com
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