2011 Carlisle Show Report

Customers Take Center Stage at this Year’s Show

The Ohio C-Car Club displayed their 2011 give-a-way car which is a replica of
one of the most famous 427s of all time, Dick Smith’s #198. Photo Courtesy of the Ohio C-Car Club.

The annual Carlisle Import and Replica Nationals was a big success this year and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. Saturday was 80° and sunny and the crew from Factory Five was joined by a number of very well-built customer cars in our booth and on the fairgrounds.

In the Factory Five main booth, we displayed a base Mk4 Roadster kit “as shipped” complete with all the boxes, body, frame, and aluminum panels. The kit was delivered to customer Butch Shoemaker from Hagerstown, MD after the show.

Next to the Mk4 kit, the Ohio C-Car Club displayed their 2011 charity give-a-way car benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Throughout the weekend, club members sold raffle tickets for the car. Click here to get more information on how you can buy a raffle ticket and win this car. On the other side was the Factory Five 2008 SEMA-winning Hot Rod followed by Glenn Martin’s highly customized Gen 1 GTM and Bob Dilks show winning Type 65 Coupe.

Outside on the main fairgrounds, over 25 Factory Five customers gathered including some very impressive cars like a twin-turbo powered GTM and some show winning Roadsters. Also in the field was last year’s “Best in Show” winning Factory Five GTM owned by Bill Noeth. Click here for last year’s story on Bill.

We have been attending the Carlisle Import and Replica Nationals show at Carlisle since 1996, when it was THE place to go to see C-car replicas and other kit makes. Today, the show is not as big as it used to be and the industry has undergone a tremendous number of changes, but still it is a great place to go to see the very latest offerings in the kit car industry.

Huge thanks to the customers who attended with their cars and helped in our booth.

Jason Lavigne
Factory Five Sales & Technical Support

The Ohio C-Car Club has generously built and is raffling a Factory Five Mk4 “Dick Smith #198” replica.

Ohio C-car Club member George Dalton explains the details of the raffle car.

Factory Five’s Josh Dione was one hand to help customers understand what comes in our packages.

Above and below: Eric Perchak drove his twin turbo GTM 150 miles to the Carlisle show.

Above and below: Factory Five Roadsters dominated the customer entries and Saturday was the PERFECT day at Carlisle.

The booth was crowded and busy both Friday and Saturday.

Factory Five’s technical support specialist Dan Golub was on hand to help customers understand the product.

Factory Five customer Bob Dilks brought this absolutely beautiful Type 65 Coupe to display in our booth.

Factory Five customer Bob Dilks won a very nice “Standard of Excellence” award from the Carlisle Show.

Factory Five’s Josh Dione helped load Butch Shoemaker’s Mk4 kit Saturday night.

Above and below: Factory Five’s Josh and Dan taking a break in the ’33 Hot Rod at the end of the day.

Latest Factory Five News

Ryan B. Unveils his ’35 Hot Rod Truck ‘MACH 35e’!

The Factory Five ’35 Hot Rod Truck is designed to be built with a small block Ford or Chevy, 5.0L Coyote, LS, or Hemi engine, but every so often these days, we hear a story about someone going down a different path and building their own custom EV out of our kit. Ryan B. from East Coast Cobras in Hollis, NH did just that, and recently graduated his Tesla-powered ’35 Hot Rod Truck! Read More »

Read More

The Bostrom’s Mk4 Shines at First Car Show!

“This is a lifetime dream come true for me!” John exclaims as he shares the news of graduating Mk4 Roadster build and attending his first car show with the completed car earlier this month. John found a partially built Mk4 Roadster for sale back in November 2023. He took a trip to talk to the owner in Katy, TX, and was soon bringing it home for him to complete the assembly. “I built a 454 Windsor Ford with Inglese 8 stack injection for it myself,” said John. “Installed it and got it to the running stage. My younger brother, his friend,… Read More »

Read More

Jim and Cecily T. Graduate Their Mk4 Roadster!

Congratulations to Jim. and Cecily T. from Heathsville, VA on graduating their Factory Five Mk4 Roadster build! They received their kit in April 2024. “I was in no rush since I planned on enjoying the build just as much as cruising in it.,” said Jim. “Goes back to my old drag racing days in the 70’s. Tinkering on that car was as much fun as racing it.” Jim’s plan for his Roadster build also included building up a 427 stroker engine as well as doing the paint as he saw it as an additional part of the build that he would enjoy… Read More »

Read More
Top