Carlisle 2008 All Ford Nationals Wrap-up

Overall, it was a great show and the weather was unbelievably hot but no rain. We had a mix of those who had told me they were joining us and a couple that we added to our group at the event. The attendees were as follows:

Tim H. (from PA) – Fri, Sat, Sun – 1993 Vibrant White
Bob H. (from PA) – Fri, Sat, Sun – 1990 Emerald Green
Nick P. (from NY) – Fri, Sat – 1990 Emerald Green
Pete V. (from MA) – Sat – 1993 Vibrant White
Ken B. (from NJ) – Sat, Sun – 1992 Vibrant Red
Clint P. (from IL) – Sat – 1993 Vibrant White
Luis G. (from MD) – Sat – 1992 Vibrant Red

Here’s the day-by-day summary:

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Carlisle: it’s almost here

It sure came fast and as usual I am rushing to the end in order to get ready.

I attended a local show over the past weekend and there was some white dandelion-type stuff floating through the air all day. It made my semi clean interior a mess. I should have kept the windows closed. I spent most of tonight getting my car ready including some much needed interior cleaning. It still has a way to go.

My plan is to arrive there on Thursday either late in the afternoon or early in the evening.

I hope that anyone who is on the fence about going will seriously consider it. I look forward to meeting many of you there.

Carlisle banner

This year one of the Carlisle policies for having a club tent requires having a banner. Not a bid deal but the problem has been getting the inspiration for a design. I want to do something different but also not too specific as my plan is to hang it in my garage after the show and to possibly reuse it in the future for other events. My inspiration thus far has led me to this:

Carlisle Banner Draft

At this small size some of the refinements that are still required are not noticeable. The final print size is going to be 42″w x 28″h.

You may have noticed that the font I use for the twf.com logo at the top of every page is derived from the font used for “Mustang” in the fox body era. I had originally done the font a long time ago in software I no longer have a license to and thus cannot access the source file in its native format. This time around I needed it to scale larger (each character will print at about 4″ x 2″) so I really needed that source. Unfortunately, I had to use my current graphics software and recreate the font from scratch!

The banner uses the same green as this site which has sort of become the “classic” color for the site and all things related to it. The addition of red and yellow bands around the ring join the white and green to represent (roughly) the colors of all of the feature cars. The circular logo was inspired by a gift given to me by a friend just this week. The gift was given for my garage and is a Texaco thermometer. It uses a classic round logo with the star on the inside. Writing is present around the ring.

Texaco thermometer

My green background seemed too plain so I was browsing looking for banner ideas and found a discussion on using a tire tread as a photoshop brush. One recommendation to someone looking for such a brush was to create their own. I thought, “I could do that.” And, I did. I used the same tread pattern as is on my current set of tires. The tracks overlay the rings but not the white font.

I have more tweaking to do but I’m getting closer. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and how I might improve it.

1990 7-up Registry helps spread the word about our Carlisle plans

Steve Cracknell from the 1990 7-up Mustang LX 5.0 Convertible site and registry was kind enough to post on his home page information about our plans for Carlisle and even included a link over to my Carlisle page.

Steve has been very supportive of me in the past and continues to be. I should have acknowledged this earlier because as soon as Steve got my email about the plans for Carlisle he had it up very promptly. The best part is that I didn’t even ask him to do it. It is great to have this support in the Mustang community.

And, with all of the talk here lately about convertible tops, you might want to check out his writeup on his top replacement.

Registered for Carlisle

Carlisle LogoI have finally put my planning for Carlisle into full gear. I have been ramping up for this through the first two weeks of March. I registered my car and did the updates to this site to make the planning official. These things always take a little longer than I think they will.

After I updated my mailing list, I sent out an email to 205 people that have contacted me through this site about feature cars. I always worry about getting this part right. I don’t want to generate unwanted email into people’s inboxes (I get enough spam myself). So, I spent a good amount of time refining the list. I know that, odds are, it went to some people who don’t want it. Hopefully, they will forgive me as it is pretty easy to get off my mailing list. In case you are reading this and didn’t get the message, here it is:

Greetings,

I am trying to get the word out about the second iteration of a “reunion” of the 1990, 1992 and 1993 Limited Edition “Feature” Mustangs LX 5.0 Convertibles at the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals held in Carlisle, PA from June 6-8, 2008. Last year was a huge success! If you haven’t made plans already, it is definitely time to start planning for this year.

Last year we had a tent and I am planning on doing the same thing this year. I don’t mind paying the up front cost. We register as a club and if we get 25 registrations under our club name, the tent will be free. I have posted specifics on how to register for Carlisle and make sure that you are counted as part of our club which is called “TripleWhiteFox.com Feature Mustangs” on my web site at: http://www.triplewhitefox.com/mustang/carlisle

Please consider coming to this event and, after you register, please let me know that you have. I would like to have an idea of how many people are planning to attend. I have included a discussion item in my forum for the show and will be updating my blog, with pertinent information as we go forward.

Keep checking back for more updates. The hard details will be on my official reunion page, my personal thoughts and experiences will be in this blog and everyone can weigh in with their own thoughts in the forums.