The car corral contained everything from cool cruisers to completely toasted hulks waiting for a new home. For the discriminating enthusiast, Barrett-Jackson held an auction for the high-end crowd—the high collar car of the auction was a '67 roadster bringing the price tag of $114,000.
Well, to prove this is a family event, they have the "Kids at Carlisle" show which includes everything from pedal cars to high power go-carts, of course with Corvette resemblance, some even having elaborate fiberglass bodies. For the women there was the "Women's Oasis" which included activities and crafts, some Corvette oriented, some not, but was a retreat if the smell of fiberglass curing in the sun got to be too heavy.
Of course, the NCRS was on hand and had about 150 cars going through the stressful judging. In the video they run you through what the judges look for when judging your Corvette for Top Flight honors.
There is the Corvette "theme" fashion show, which is where couples show off their "Corvetty-type" apparel in a runway style. Well not my style, but it looked like they were having fun. At the benefit auction were many collectible Corvette items, which were auctioned off for the benefit of a charity, for 2000 it was the American Cancer Society.
By far the exciting part of the video for me was the complete collection of nine experimental Vettes, starting with a brief history of the '59 Cerv I, completely restored with its aluminum 283.
Next up was the '59 Sting Ray racer—you know, the one that Bill Mitchell built using Zora's old SS chassis, re-bodied and drove daily, not to mention that it gave up many of its styling cues to the '63 Sting Ray. The Mako Shark, Manta Ray, Astro III, VP 895, Aerovette, Cerv III, and the Stingray III were all restored and on display for everyone to enjoy. The video gives a brief but interesting history of each of these cars; this alone made my night. (I like stories.)
Another must see car with an interesting history is the "cutaway" 65 F.I. car. This car was built to show off all of the suspension and engine movements, the entire body lifts on mechanical screw jacks to reveal all of the working components, then closes up and looks like a normal '65 Vette. The car, which was built for the 1965 Autoramas, was later bought by a Chevrolet dealer in South Africa, then found last year by an American enthusiast and shipped back to the states.

All of the tuners were in attendance with their hot rods—some of these tuners included Callaway with their Kevlar composite bodied, 190 mph screamer, Ligenfelter, Mallett, and Specterwerkes. Each of the tuners have a brief description segment, which is actually quite informative; rather than bore you with useless info, the narrator gets right to the point and gives you horsepower and top speed spec's.
The "beauty contest" eats up about 2 minutes of the tape. This provides you with the guidelines for judging and lets you hear some of the contestants talk. The ladies are trying to wow the crowd, since the judging is a sound off style, and the crowd's response selects the winner. Doesn't every woman want to be "Miss Corvettes at Carlisle?" Whatever.
Celebrity pick is a very prestigious award since there are few given out, and the few that receive them get to participate in their own parade. This year's included everything from pace cars of all years to custom Sting Rays, which sure seems refreshing to me.
Saturday night, the cars all go for a cruise to downtown Carlisle where there are festivities for the whole family. Picture this—the entire street filled with nothing but Vettes; it's unbelievable.
About the only thing I felt was really silly in this whole video is when they interview people during the parade, and in the upper right hand corner of the screen it says "parade cam." Made me think of "Wayne's World" but what do I know. (Remember I'm trying to fix the mess called Lazarus)
The video closes with the giveaway of an '86 Vette convertible. The only requirement to win is your admission ticket and that you are there for the drawing. Al Kirkwood of West Virginia was the lucky cat this year.
The show brought together several thousand cars, and tens of thousands of Corvette enthusiasts for a wonderful weekend with fellow Vette owners, and to see more Vettes in one area than nearly anywhere else I guess that's why they call this "the big one."
It probably sounds like I was there. Well, I wasn't, which goes to show that if you aren't lucky enough to attend the Corvettes at Carlisle show, you can feel like you were there just by getting the video. Maybe I can convince Editor Bob that I need to cover this event this coming August!