As 2025 dawned, word began to spread of a “Chrysler 100” celebration which could draw in guests from around the world. The result of over two years of planning was a gallery of stunning cars from the 1910s onwards in the Expo Center, in addition to the usual thousands of cars on the fairgrounds.
A record-setting 3,201 cars registered for the show fields, beating the 2023 record by 51 cars. As always, while there were more muscle cars than one would believe survived, there was also enough space for a massive number of classic and new trucks, modern cars of all stripes, vintage cars, and every stripe of Mopar heritage including the AMC lines.
By Thursday early afternoon, the grounds were already packed, and the flea market was sold out.
This was an unusual year, though. Not only did the show host things rarely seen elsewhere, like a row of Plymouth Superbirds and Charger Daytonas, but since it was the 100th anniversary of the creation of Chrysler Corporation (a holding company that took over Maxwell Motors for esoteric stock and debt reasons) the Carlisle Events people invited most of the major national clubs to have their meets here as well.
The Walter P. Chrysler Club in particular arranged for numerous key cars from the company’s past to arrive, as did the Plymouth Owners Club, the Airflow Club, the DeSoto Club, Imperial Club, and others. The Detroit Historical Society came in with a turbine car and other vehicles, and Chrysler Historical brought in several cars including another turbine, the original Chrysler letter car (a C-300 rather than a 300C), a 1924 Chrysler from the car’s January 1924 debut, the Chrysler Atlantic concept, and two Halcyon concepts. All but the Halcyon were at the Expo Center.
There were in fact several 1924 Chrysler cars present, along with early Dodge Brothers models, Imperials, and other rarely-seen vintage vehicles, mostly in the Expo Center, while the show fields were dominated by performance cars.
Indeed, the number of muscle cars was so large that one could find nearly identical Road Runners parked next to each other, albeit with different wheels and engines, in a row of Road Runners, next to the row of Superbirds. There was also a gathering of police cars from different eras. New this year, possibly on its only Carlisle visit, was a 1943 Sherman tank.
No Carlisle is complete without numerous celebrities and talks, usually including key racing celebrities such as Herb McCandless, Buddy Martin, the Ramchargers and Golden Commandos, the Mopar Missile and Motown Missile team, NASCAR engineers, and drag racers including Butch Leal. TV talkers included Steve Dulcich from Motor Trend TV and Mark Fletcher of Classic Restos; models Linda Vaughn and Claudia Abel had events, too.
Frank Rhodes, great-grandson of Walter Chrysler, gave a talk and showed memorabilia from the family vault; Bill Adams and Robert Soule of the Walter P. Chrysler Club, who organized much of the event, also gave at least two tours per day of the Expo cars with a member of the Detroit Historical Society. Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell talked at the grandstand for half an hour, then toured the grounds and reportedly chatted with owners.
David Zatz, writer of this article and books on minivans, Jeeps, Vipers, and the Century of Chrysler, gave a briefish talk on the Chrysler’s first hundred years and signed copies of his books at the Expo Center.
Show features included 55 Years of the AAR ’Cuda and Challenger T/A, the 1965 A990 and A864 Hemi Cars, a 30th Anniversary gallery of Neons, and the Mopar Survivors Display. There were also autocross runs, seminars, Chrysler’s Stow ’n’ Go Challenge, a Real Street Shootout track event, and such. On Saturday night, the town hosted its first-ever Downtown Carlisle Association Chrysler Parade, where 140+ cars rolled through the downtown.
Planning for 2026 is already under way; the dates are set at July 10–12, 2026, featuring 100 Years of the Imperial, 50 Years of Adult Toys (Trucks, Vans, and SUVs of the late ’70s), and 60 Years of the Dodge Charger. Registration is already open for the show field.
