The 2022 Carlisle Ford Nationals ended 10 days ago but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to document and share my experience. It wouldn’t be Carlisle without rain! Right? Except, the only rain we experienced was on the trip down. We hit heavy rain for the first hour of the trip. The triple white has brand new General G-MAX tires and did great. I pride myself that this car is never babied, never trailered, and always driven rain or shine to Carlisle. This was its 11th trip. Over 10% of the miles on the car have been added as part of travel to, from and at Carlisle.

Here’s a breakdown of the stats for the trip –

• 641 miles driven
• 23.7 miles/gallon
• $149.48 spent on gas

We had a green tent this year. Obviously, you can tell from this site that I have a thing for the color green so this was perfect. We were farther away from the action than ever located on the western edge of the fairgrounds and not quite in the class for 90-93 Mustang LX stock where many feature cars fall. Attendance for the club was a little down this year due to family and work commitments. But, we still had a great time even without the cookout.

I wasn’t looking for this, but they had a presentation on the 2022 Ice White Edition Mustang on Friday. Luckily, I heard the announcement for this as it was only done once the entire weekend. In the introduction, they referenced the 1993 triple white feature car and I couldn’t help but think that what was missing in this presentation was a 1993 triple white displayed on the stage as a backdrop for the new car. This was certainly a missed opportunity.

They mentioned that the expected production run of Ice White editions will be around 1,500 which is in line with the 1993 white feature car production number. My guess is that they will sell as many as they can and won’t stop at 1,500 if orders are coming in. But, will the orders come in? I’m not sure. It definitely looked better in person than from what I’ve seen online. Especially, the wheels. In person, they have a look that I could live with.

I approached the Ford person doing the presentation, introduced myself and suggested that a photo of both cars would be awesome. He thought so too and invited me to a photoshoot for the following morning!

The rest of Friday went pretty smoothly. On Saturday, I got up extra early to get to the fairgrounds to prepare for the 8:00 AM photoshoot. While they have a car washing area at the fairgrounds, I decided that a rinse-less wash was the way to go. Less water on the car and an easier time to dry it. And, it was really not dirty because I had fully washed it Friday morning. It only had a light covering of dust and pollen.

Spending time in the car washing area and observing, I’m pretty sure most there don’t take the proper steps to wash their cars. It got me thinking that they need a car washing clinic as part of the show. And, it also got me thinking that maybe I need to share car detailing tips here on this site. I’m kind of a car cleaning and detailing nut

They had me drive into the Ford display and park next to the Ice White edition. The official Ford photographer took a bunch of pictures, had me sign a release and said they might use them on social media and in newsletters. So far, I haven’t seen or heard anything at the time I write this. Even if they don’t ever do anything, I still got some great pics and an experience to add to list of unique things I’ve been able to do by going to Carlisle.

The signage at the Ford display had clear mention of the “1993 Triple White Fox body Feature Mustang” that served as inspiration for this new special edition. I thought this was a nice recognition.

I tried to up my game this year on the display of the triple white. I’ve been chasing a reproduction window sticker. There’s a good story there that I’m saving for a future post as I am still working through the process and I don’t want to comment on challenges with it until it’s a done deal. Regardless, I displayed a decent facsimile of the original window sticker for my car. I did see it get some attention at the show. I next need to focus on mounting options for it. The blue tape approach was a little less than ideal.

I also broke out the period-correct blue license plate that would have been issued for a 1993 car. This particular plate is the actual plate I had on my first car, a 1991 Mustang LX hatchback. In my state, we can get permission to use the period-correct license plate as long as we already have Classic Vehicle plates and possess the correct plates from the year. It just takes a form and a visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles to show them the plates and get the approval. The problem is that one of our daily drivers uses the latest plate design with this same lettering. I will have to get a new plate for that car before I can officially get approval to use this blue version on the triple white. I think it looks pretty awesome and would love to be driving around with this full time.

Like last year, I was invited to be a celebrity judge. The car I picked was this 1993 Mustang GT Hatchback. It was a great car that, admittedly, has won lots of awards already (I usually like an underdog) but it called out to me. I have a liking for black hatches and this is a great example of a stock car that has been well preserved by it’s owner.

As a side note, we didn’t stay at the usual Comfort Suites Downtown Carlisle due to being waitlisted by some large car club that took a block of rooms leaving us frequent guests out in the cold. The word was that there were cancellations and some were able to book the hotel only a few days before the show. We never got a call despite being on the wait list. This was disappointing and I’m not sure we will go back.

We stayed at the brand new Homewood Suites right near the fairgrounds. It was their opening weekend so there were some glitches. We were down sized to a smaller room due to an issue with the room we booked, the parking lot was roughly paved and did not have the finish layer of paving and some things in the room didn’t work. Overall, I think this will become a great place to stay. It has some interesting artwork in the lobby, halls and rooms. Various human figures with alternate heads. Pineapples, sloths and cats were all represented.

The weekend was capped off on Sunday when the awards were announced. My triple white won 1st place in the 90-93 Mustang LX Stock class. I only counted 7 cars in the class on Saturday so the competition was less than previous years. Still, the second and third place cars were strong competitors that I am thrilled to have finished in front of.

Holy cow it’s been a long time since I wrote my last Carlisle write-up. Like, 8 years long!

After last year’s low key show (which I attended but just for Saturday), this was a strong return year with a record number 3,241 registered cars! This year I did not bring the triple white. I brought my 2014 Mustang GT. I’m getting soft and wasn’t looking forward to the trip down in the fox. The 2014 is a much better driving experience. Obviously. No leaks when it rains, strong A/C and plenty of room in the trunk.

I spent the week before the show getting the car cleaned and ready to go. I hadn’t properly detailed the car since before the 50th show in 2014. I know, right! I corrected the paint, sealed it and waxed it for a pretty good result. The car went into the 2013-14 Mustang GT Coupe Stock class. I only have a few mods including the exhaust and a few appearance items.

It’s always great to see friends at the show, some of which I only see this one time a year. My youngest son joined me for the weekend. Also, my brother brought both of his kids. It was great to spend time with everyone, go out to eat and just hang out and catch up.

If you’ve been following along, you know that I recently redesigned the club logo. So, along with the stickers, I revealed a new club banner. I know we are not going to win the “cool club” award for this but I’m proud to display a banner every year and to do some other light decorating at our tent. It’s a casual atmosphere at our tent. And, I’m very happy for that. All are welcome, club members or not.

Speaking of logos and merchandise, our friends at foxbodyswag gifted us some nice keychains for giveaways at the show. And, on top of that, Joe from FBS made me a great shirt with the new club logo! It’s really great to have a friend like this!

As with last year, there was no ride and drive event nor was the Expo Center open. This was probably due to Covid concerns. I really wanted to drive the Mach-E this year. I’ve never driven an all electric car so it could have been a great opportunity to do that. Not this year, I guess.

But, there was a chance to see the new Bronco in both 2 door and 4 door forms.

I knew it would be awesome to see in person but I didn’t realize how much I would want one once I saw it. There were demos on taking the doors and roof panels off. There was a walk-through of the modularity of the design with the ability to unbolt and bolt on various accessories. It was clear that this is a well thought out platform. I’d love to own one someday.

On Saturday we had our club cookout. We had enough food that a few of our friends which we didn’t know were coming were able to join us. The potato salad was awesome! I know I didn’t ask for permission from everyone in the below picture from the cookout but just note the fine print on the new banner states that your presence in the shade of the tent constitutes your permission for me to use your image or likeness in any way. Right, Myia?

This year I had the privilege of being a celebrity judge. A couple months prior to the show I got the email invitation but I dismissed it. Only when I got a second reminder did I sign up to be a judge. I was excited leading up to and going in to it but then really felt the pressure on the day of. There were 3,200 cars that I was allowed to choose from! After talking with a friend who had some experience with it, I decided to narrow my scope. I have expertise in fox-body Mustangs. And, I thought it would mean more to a fox-body owner that someone in their community choose them more-so than if I chose someone from a different Ford community.

So, I narrowed to fox Mustangs and, more specifically, those with few or no mods. There were many great cars and I was certain I was going to choose one of the Mustang GT hatchbacks that were there. There were several in great condition and in stock or near-stock form. But, on my last pass through the aisle, I came across a beautiful 1989 LX 5.0 hatch. It has 16,000 miles and is still owned by its original owner. It’s entirely stock down to the 10 hole wheels.

Additionally, it has a red interior. I think the red interior has gotten a bad rap over the years. So many people will dismiss a car with a red interior. I’ve had a Mustang with a red interior and during the time I had it, I had grown fond of the color. When it’s in great shape such as on this car, it really pops. They don’t do interiors like this any more.

The thing about Celebrity Choice is that the owner knows on Saturday that they are receiving an award as a sticker is left behind on the windshield as well as a card with some details on the award. This is done so that a car will only be picked by one Celebrity Judge.

I was told there were to be about 90 celebrity judges this year. I browsed through the awards list and counted 68 celebrity awards. Only 4 fox bodies received a celebrity award and I can proudly say that one was my pick. I hope they ask me again next year as the experience was very rewarding.

Despite there being no official ride and drive event, was able to do a sort of informal ride and drive on Saturday. My son convinced my good friend Tom to take him for a ride in his 2007 Shelby GT/SC. Tom had purchased this car several years ago as a Shelby GT and later sent it to Shelby to upgrade it to a GT/SC. I joined along on the ride in the back seat.

The supercharger really makes this car quick. We drove a little on some country roads close by to the fairgrounds. For the trip back, Tom asked me if I wanted to drive. I was a little hesitant but I did drive it back and WOW! I had never driven a car with a supercharger before. Honestly, I didn’t think it was life-changingly fast with probably 125 HP more than my 2014 but, damn, the way those extra horse power are added is dramatic. As an observer, I think the supercharger whine is a little annoying. But, as a driver, I have a new found appreciation for that sound! It is intoxicating

I was pretty proud of the condition of my car going into this show. The paint was really dialed in -probably over 95% swirl and scratch free. Although, I felt like every time I touched it to clean it, I was adding new scratches and swirls. It’s hard out to keep a car clean while outdoors for a whole weekend and almost always in the sun. For my pre-show detailing, I had used Collinite 845 wax for the first time. I had heard that it would haze a bit in the days after application and it certainly did. I think part of the problem was the heat of the sun and it was tough to keep the haze from coming back as it sat all day. Wiping this hazy wax when it was hot seemed to be just moving the wax around. I did my best but had to just walk away from it and let it be.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have detailed and applied the wax several weeks before the show in order to allow for a longer time to harden and cure. At least one wash before Carlisle in a controlled environment would have helped a lot. The first wash after a detail is always my favorite. Doing that with a shared hose in a shared wash area is not the most optimal way to do it.

The result though was still pretty stunning. And, I’m sure it was the major factor in me receiving 2nd place in the class! I’ve never won any award at Carlisle before with any car I’ve brought. So, this was so satisfying to get.

Overall, it was a great show and great getting back together with friends after the hiatus that was 2020. There was great fun as a celebrity judge in my first time doing that and in wearing that badge around all day. And, great satisfaction in getting 2nd place for my car after spending many hours detailing and obsessing over it. See you next year.

My 7th Carlisle Ford Nationals was a great time. I brought my oldest son with me which made for a very different experience. He attended my very first Carlisle in 2007. That was so long ago that it is only a faint memory for him. My brother also attended this Carlisle with his daughter. He last attended Carlisle in 2008 which was before he had a Mustang. He now owns a 2008 GT/CS.

Both of our children did a great job keeping pace with us. On Friday we walked 7 miles and on Saturday we walked 9 miles. They didn’t complain and were up for anything.

Carlisle wouldn’t be Carlisle without rain. This year it started for the second half of Thursday’s drive down. We drove the last 150 miles in the rain. I again joined 5pt0joe on his “Cruise to Carlisle”. The forecast for Friday was not good. This was the first time that I didn’t wash my car upon arriving in Carlisle.

As predicted, Friday was a full day of rain. We tried to get out from under cover during periods of light rain. Thankfully, we had the tent which allowed some shelter for the kids to play their video games.

The tent was also another point of variance from the usual. It was not located in the class in which almost all of our feature cars fall – the 1987-93 Mustang LX stock class. It was about two classes away. This was a let down. The events staff had a new member in charge of clubs for this year and I had asked ahead of time if our tent would still be in our class and he had communicated that that was the plan. What changed, I don’t know and my question to him in that regard has gone unanswered.

It almost didn’t matter because most people who had registered with our club had not brought their feature cars. I had my ’91. My brother brought his ’08. Tim H. brought his ’07 due to some mechanical problems with his triple white.

Tom brought his 2013.

It occurred to me that I think we really need to encourage everyone who considers themselves a supporter of TripleWhiteFox.com to pre-register next year and specify this as their club. It doesn’t matter that the car being shown is not a feature car, or a fox-body or a Mustang, for that matter. I was very flattered to see cars around the show field with us as their club. We just might get to the 25 car free tent threshold with enough friends of TWF.

Saturday night was the third annual parade and street party. We got an earlier start than last year to get in line and avoided a little of the traffic jam to get off of the show field.

It was a nice drive into downtown Carlisle. I gave my son the option to sit up front. Normally, he has to ride in the back. While we were waiting to go he asked me if it was OK for him to be in the front. He asked a couple times before he decided he wanted to sit in back. He definitely has my tendency to be conservative. On the other hand, his cousin had no problem with riding up front.

Sunday was all about the awards list. Both Amy H. and Mike P. won in our class! Amy won first and Mike won third. There were some nice cars in our class which meant competition was strong. Both awards were well deserved as both cars were the cleanest and best presented that I have seen them.

Going around and talking with people I had two occurrences of being recognized from my picture in the recent Fox Mustang Magazine. It made me feel really nice. The magazine was again there selling subscriptions which I thought was brave of them considering their recent track record of delivering issues. I really want them to survive and encourage everyone to subscribe. Even if they were to go to quarterly (a hint to them) I still would have a high opinion of their efforts.

The ironic thing is that I wanted to renew but couldn’t. I saw Mike on Sunday morning on his way to re-up his subscription at their tent. I joined him thinking I would gladly part with $20 to support them and, in return, would be veryhappy with a renewal and a free t-shirt. When we got to their tent, we found it empty as they had already left the show. The guys at the tent next to theirs said they had packed up on Saturday. This seems weird for a struggling magazine. They lost our two renewals.

That’s it for 2013. See you next year!