Carlisle Ford Nationals 2026

[Canadian Crimson]

Myself and a couple friends are talking about making the pilgrimage to Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA next year.
Anyone have any experience at this show? Just looking for the general rundown as I have never been .

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[ModernSVO]

Bring good walking shoes/ sneakers. I has to leave early as my Grandma passed while I was at the event, but I've been to other swap meets and you'll be doing a lot of walking.

 

[NoReins]

Myself and a couple friends are talking about making the pilgrimage to Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA next year.
Anyone have any experience at this show? Just looking for the general rundown as I have never been .

I been going almost every year since 2008. If you and your friends all have cars and different gens/models you wouldnt be able to park with eachother. You need to park in your class all weekend (except for Sunday)

Ford and Ford Performance usually brings a nice selection of Current Model Years Vehicles plus special vehicles to the show. This year the GTD was there, previous year they had one of the LeMans winning Ford GT.

The Fairgrounds is about 80 acres, so alot of walking if you are trying to see it in one day.

Friday is a nice turn out usually, just depends on the weather.

Saturday is the "Dance", especially if the weather is nice, probably come by noon would be hard to find a parking spot in the show field.

Sunday is dead. Mostly the ones that stay behind on Sunday is usually people that want to see if they won an award or try to get a good deal from the flea market

Want to say 85-90% of the show is just Mustangs.

 

[Canadian Crimson]

I been going almost every year since 2008. If you and your friends all have cars and different gens/models you wouldnt be able to park with eachother. You need to park in your class all weekend (except for Sunday)

Ford and Ford Performance usually brings a nice selection of Current Model Years Vehicles plus special vehicles to the show. This year the GTD was there, previous year they had one of the LeMans winning Ford GT.

The Fairgrounds is about 80 acres, so alot of walking if you are trying to see it in one day.

Friday is a nice turn out usually, just depends on the weather.

Saturday is the "Dance", especially if the weather is nice, probably come by noon would be hard to find a parking spot in the show field.

Sunday is dead. Mostly the ones that stay behind on Sunday is usually people that want to see if they won an award or try to get a good deal from the flea market

Want to say 85-90% of the show is just Mustangs.

So that sounds about what I was expecting. “Atlantic Nationals” up here in Moncton NB is 2000 ish cars in 3 sections pre 88 and post 88 with a “blend “ area in the middle. But parking is a free for all mostly with marked spaces. And yes all the cars are S550’s just different years

 

[NoReins]

So that sounds about what I was expecting. “Atlantic Nationals” up here in Moncton NB is 2000 ish cars in 3 sections pre 88 and post 88 with a “blend “ area in the middle. But parking is a free for all mostly with marked spaces. And yes all the cars are S550’s just different years

Some of their classes dont make sense....if i remember correctly, there was like 6-7 classes just for the S550 stuff, but at the same time probably makes sense due to the amount of cars that show up

 

[Canadian Crimson]

Some of their classes dont make sense....if i remember correctly, there was like 6-7 classes just for the S550 stuff, but at the same time probably makes sense due to the amount of cars that show up

Yeah I was reading through the winners list for this year and it looks like there is a stock and modified for almost every year and then the special edition ones as well

 

[Mikepol2]

Just registered and got a hotel, this will be my first time. Driving out Friday and leaving Sunday, it will be about a 3 hour ride. Doing the Saturday parade to see what that's like too. Unbelievable number of show classes, for some reason there's a 2021 Mach 1 class?! Hard to imagine there will be many entered.

 

[TonyNJ]

@Mikepol2 Hey Mike. I went last year. There was a nice showing for the Mach 1 classes. They put the Machs in a decent show area on the field.

Watched the parade from a barstool in town. It was pretty cool. Hopefully the weather will be better this year. Maybe see you out there.

 

[Mikepol2]

@Mikepol2 Hey Mike. I went last year. There was a nice showing for the Mach 1 classes. They put the Machs in a decent show area on the field.

Watched the parade from a barstool in town. It was pretty cool. Hopefully the weather will be better this year. Maybe see you out there.

Awesome! Looking forward to it.

 

[23GreenGremlin]

Here are some shots from the 2025 event. We had some on and off rain but the show was great as always. Ford and many vendors brought some amazing stuff to look at and buy. The second image with the Green Mach 1 is what my car looked like early on Sunday morning.

 

[Gregdd]

Went last year. Will be there. Should be 50 mach 1s

 

[offroadkarter]

This forum really needs a like 'Carlisle Master thread' sticky every year or something, I see the thread stuck in the mid-atlantic section is from 2020

I've gone every year since 2011, the show is mainly mustangs but you can find other Fords if you actually walk around the showfield (last year I saw an alarming amount of Ford Probes at the show). I'm normally in the Marauder section every year, although 2016 I also brought my 96 Bronco and during the pandemic years I brought the Mustang because I felt like being lazy and not getting the Marauder ready.

2020

2025

 

[Gregdd]

The deadline for early registration , they call it gate and go is 4/13. I received a promo code for 10 percent off in the mail. Code CNF2026. The mailer showed up 3 days after I had already registered. Hopefully it works if anyone tries it.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Just curious -

How has the turn out been the last 5 years or so? Is the field still filled to capacity with vehicles and are there still lots of sellers selling used car parts?

 

[TonyNJ]

Just curious -

How has the turn out been the last 5 years or so? Is the field still filled to capacity with vehicles and are there still lots of sellers selling used car parts?

Yea. Pretty much. Last year was a muddy mess on Friday and Saturday morning. Cleared up Saturday afternoon, and it was still pretty full. I'd think it would've been even more packed if it was nice the whole weekend.

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