For Immediate Release

Carlisle Ford Nationals Show Cars Up 8% in 2010

The Largest All-Ford Gathering Shows the Strength of the Blue Oval

Monday, June 07, 2010

You may recall Ford Motor Company's marketing slogan, Have You Driven a Ford Lately? The new question ought to be: Have You Been to Carlisle Ford Nationals? If the answer happens to be “no,” then the 2010 edition, held June 4-6, was an incredible opportunity to take a test walk through this unparalleled Ford festival. With everything Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, this show attracts new car buyers and vintage lovers and provides customers with a vendor shopping experience that is second to none.

The Carlisle Ford Nationals was truly a blue-oval weekend with the event showing an 8% increase in show car registration and a 200% increase in test drives at the Ford Ride & Drive Experience which is an all-time high for the automaker since its inception at the event. The Ford Mustang Garage with trained technicians from Fred Beans Ford of Boyerstown, PA, also reported an increase with time slots being sold out for the weekend.

John Clor, Communications Manager for Ford Racing's Ford Performance Group of enthusiast organizations, comments from Dearborn that Carlisle - "the quintessential Ford fan destination" - has been club- and grassroots-enthusiast-focused consistently throughout the past decade and a half. He notes, "Carlisle has evolved into the perfect platform for Ford to come out and interact with our loyal owners and enthusiasts, both to celebrate our long heritage of great vehicles and to showcase new Fords that are destined to be the stars of this show in the years ahead."

Signing autographs and meeting with fans, Rachel Veitch was a crowd favorite at this year’s Carlisle Ford Nationals. At age 92, Rachel Veitch has piloted her '64 Mercury Comet Calient -- nicknamed Chariot -- for the last 46 years logging well beyond the half-million-mile mark on the odometer. As a patriotic, U.S.-criss-cross-driving great-great grandmother, Rachel loves her Comet dearly and will go to any length for her ride. With the original engine still purring after all these decades, there are plenty of miles to go.

The 2010 edition of the Ford Nationals is sure to be remembered for having one of the most unique and exciting displays of Ford vehicles ever presented to the public. A spectacular display of Ford history, design and performance was featured with Ford Models T & A’s, original Cobras, GT-40s and Ford GT’s. Helping focus attention on the long-lived heritage of the Ford Cobra Jet Legends, Carlisle Events helped orchestrate a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of these race cars and drivers, past and present. Fans were invited to experience this rarest of opportunities to get up-close and personal with true automotive heritage, to see history happen and to soak up the excitement these cars and their drivers generated. The crowd was electrified when Jim Ronzello, Engine and Power-train Development Operations & Chief Test Driver for Ford Racing, performed an exhibition burnout with the 2010 Mustang Cobra Jet turn-key racecar during the burnout competition Saturday evening. Other highlights included 2011 walk-around presentations by Ford Motor Company, the Freedom Truck by Malibu Customz, and a special display of Ford Merkurs and Mercury Capris at the Ford Euro Garage.

The 2011 edition of the Carlisle Ford Nationals will be held June 3-5, 2011. For more information please visit www.carlisleevents.com or call (717) 243-7855.

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Journalist note: Information about Carlisle Events, its event listings, auction offerings and the Carlisle Expo Center is available to journalists by phone:


Chris Hann
Director of Creative Services & Technology
717-243-7855 ext. 123
chrish@carlisleevents.com

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