Carlisle Custom Compact Nationals
2003

May 2-4

Pictures and Article Written by
Robert Parenteau

Assisted and Pictures by
Achilles Papadatos

The 3 S’s of any car show are

Slammed Rides, Sound systems, and Sunburns.

Carlisle 2003 was no exception.

Among events at the fairgrounds this year were the
Falken Tire Bikini Contest,
Falken Tire Burnout Contest,
BMX Super Show,
a paintball arena,
the SLAP Audio Competition,
SCCA Performance Driving Experience,
R/C Car Racing,
StreetGlow Neon Contest,
the Ford Focus D.A.R.E. Car Project,
and of course the Show Field.

As I entered Carlisle I notice that once again the streets of Carlisle, PA filled with the sounds of engines everywhere.
This was going to be a good weekend.

The trip up to Carlisle was definitely an experience in itself as we repeated our trip up with friends in a caravan. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and this trip was no exception as once we reached our halfway point, I began to see white smoke pouring out of the hood of the turbocharged neon that was leading the pack. About an hour and a half later, AAA arrives and we are back on the road…one member down and tasting the first inklings of sunburn. Rattled, but not defeated we continued on to Carlisle.

The city was a lot quieter on Friday night than it was last year; I can only assume that this is due to the fact that the show officially didn't’t start until Saturday. So we headed straight for the fairgrounds and claimed our passes. Upon picking up my pass I come to find, however that things are not the same as last year, and that a media pass truthfully has no bearing on what you can do, or where you can go…it simply gets you in the gate. After a bit of confusion and some discussion with the folks at vendor services we managed to get a hold of 2 stage passes…thank you Becky. A quick glance over the show field, picking up Achilles’ show participant goodie bag and window information (Somehow he went from being in Team Street Tuners to Team Street Level…not pleased about this but we fixed it with a sharpie!), and then it was off to the hotel to sleep until the bright hours of 7:30.

Saturday morning, and I come to a realization…my sunburn is MUCH worse than I thought. A bite to eat, a few sprays of sunscreen, and it was off to the fairgrounds once again. Traffic this year was much better than last year as police were directing traffic into the other gates at the fairgrounds and not through just Gate 1. I parked the car and headed down to help Achilles with the final detailing work on his Civic and it was off to explore the sea of automobile glory. All makes and models showed up including the more common Civic's, Integra’s, Corollas, 240sx’s, and a few new makes and models, including the Matrix, TSX, and the highly coveted 350z. Right off the bat I saw many cars that made me drool, but the ones this year that stuck out in my eyes were as follows: A 6th Gen Civic with what I can only describe as a fade effect paint scheme from red on the rear, to yellow in the center and blue up front ALL following a marbled paint scheme,

A VW Jetta with a Green and Silver paint scheme showed us how to make the complete package with an amazing audio and video system, Fiberglassed Dashboard, and polished up under the hood and undercarriage as well, and of course, a right hand drive Nissan Silvia in burnt copper color with what is my dream engine as of now…a nice beefy SR20DET stuck right under the hood where it belongs and a beautiful front mount intercooler to keep the temperatures in check under hard acceleration.

One day, Project Street Tuners will get there, I promise you.

Focusing my attention on what I did last year so to better compare my experiences, I promptly went to the stage for the Bikini Contest at 5pm
.

Admittedly the girls were gorgeous as usual, but I must question the layout of the stage. From my point of view, I was not able to take as many pictures as last year as the DJ was directly behind me, and the girls were then lined up directly in front of me. Still, to quote a Beastie Boys song, Paul Revere,
“The beats was bumpin’ and the girlies was hot.”

Next on the agenda was the Falken Tire Burnout Contest. Now, I am not sure if I am getting more used to the smell of burnt rubber or if the winds were just with us on that bright Saturday afternoon, but breathing was not an issue this year. That wasn't to say that the competition was just as fierce however as 35 individuals burned their way through tires ranging in styles, sizes, and quality. Why did they do it? Was it for the free set of tires Falken was giving away? I think not, rather, I believe it was for the crowd, because without them, there would be no contest. Parts were broken, smoke was flying, cars, trucks, and bikes alike were catching on fire…and to these individuals; the burnout kings and queens, it was more than worth it.

With the ladies off of the stage and a pile of burnt rubber on the side of the burnout pit, it was time for us to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Sleep was not expected, as the nightlife at Carlisle is quite amusing. Police patrols came to the parking lot every 15 minutes or so, but somehow that didn’t stop the tuners from having a little fun.
Doing burnouts and doughnuts in the parking lot,
turning it into tuner central were just part of the activities.
After a few hours of watching these events,
I decided to turn down for the night and prepare for the next day.

Sunday came with yet another surprise upon awaking…
yes, somehow my sunburn got much worse yesterday.
I came to ask myself, why didn’t I think to wear a hat this year like I did last year? The answer is very simple…I just didn’t think. Now that the mystery was solved, there wasn’t time to eat breakfast because it was back to the fields of the fairgrounds. Much to my surprise, there were a lot more people on the grounds on the third day this year than last year (or perhaps my perception was skewed by the burning of my skin) though hardly the turn out of the second day. As I did last year, I ventured out on Sunday…making it a day for me…a day to buy parts for my cars. I ended up purchasing nothing, as the vendor’s selection this year was not as good as the year before. I could not even find an oil cap for the Civic if you can believe it. So that is my only suggestion for next year if anyone from Carlisle manages to read this…if possible, try to get some higher quality vendors in there. Other than that my experience was believe it or not, more pleasurable than last year.

My suggestion to all you tuners, enthusiasts, and people with just a general interest in the tuning world…make Carlisle one of your stops next year in your show season.

With that, my tuning experience for the weekend was over and all that was left were tire marks on the pavement and this burning sensation on my skin!

Now on to the pics!

EDIT:
Since the writing of this article, it has been disclosed to me that the Carlisle Productions Company has decided to take the Compact Jam off of their yearly schedule due to a few people acting inappropriately. For more information please check out their site at http://www.carsatcarlisle.com