Citroëns at Carlisle – 2017 Report

by George Dyke…..

Citroëns at Carlisle is the kick-off to the US driving season for Citroën owners in the Northeast US.  Each year Brad Nauss organizes the event concurrent with the Carlisle import show, and this year Citroëns made an impressive showing indeed. 

View a complete photo gallery of Citroëns at Carlisle 2017 here: 

John McCulloch and I made the trek from Toronto on Friday in my 1969 DS21.  We had a pleasant drive through the rolling hills of New York State and budding mountains of Pennsylvania eventually taking the river road that snakes along the Susquehanna River.  After arriving in Carlisle we grabbed some dinner downtown and relaxed the rest of the evening in preparation for a busy day Saturday.

We arrived at the show field early Saturday morning as Citroën #3, Brad having already parked his concours Traction 11BL, and Kim Barnes arriving in a stunningly restored “Sausse Ente” vibrant green 2CV.  Although the weather was chilly and overcast, the only dampness was some sporadic mist.  And most folks found it nice not to get sunburned and sweaty as they mulled about the show field and parts market.

Speaking of the parts market, it is definitely shrinking each year and aside from one Volvo booth and another selling Saab parts, the choice of used parts was relegated to a handful of old British Austin Healey, Jaguar, MG and Triumph vendors whose offerings were decidedly more rusty than years past.  Nevertheless if you wanted deals on new tools, and those little parts like fuel filters, light bulbs, heat shrink, and stuff that you continually reach for in the garage, deals were there in abundance.  And Brad was there with vital Citroën parts that people had pre-ordered.  

In the used car area, a blue/black 1953 Traction 11BL was trucked in from Atlanta.  The car ran, but needed a full restoration, something that the buyer who purchased it from Maryland didn’t seem to mind undertaking and no doubt Brad is happy to supply parts toward.   🙂

Brad kept the group busy in the early afternoon issuing a quiz about Citroën parts.  Take it yourself (click here and scroll to the bottom) and see how well you do.

Brad also gave an interesting history of Citroën parts in the USA.  (We have that featured in a separate article).  And he dug through is past photos to present 3 sheets;

1) Brad at Red Dellinger’s crushing SM’s that were deemed no longer valuable at the time.

  

2) Another of a DS repair from a strong rear end impact.

3) And pictures of a DS owned by Ken Betsh that was in a severe front end accident with an after picture showing how the repair returned a perfect car!   Most impressive!

Brad also displayed an invoice from about 1960 he was recently given showing the Suggested List Price of a ID-19 Super from Citroën Cars Corporation in Brooklyn NY to Red’s (Dellinger) Citroën Sales & Service in Etters, PA. 

The highlight of the weekend was a demonstration of 3 wheel driving in DS by two participants; Paul Anderson and Dave Agar, who both tossed off a rear wheel (Paul removing the right side and Dave removing the left) on each of their cars.  The session on how to do it provided some great tips.  For example;

1)    Before removing the rear fender, put a rag over the bumper corner to prevent scratching the paint.

2)    The little “J” extension on the jack stand insert support bar is the tool you use to pry the fill-size hubcap off the rim.

   

3)    The thin portion of the extension bar to tighten the lug nuts can be inserted into the little hole in the center of the brake drum to easily guide the spare wheel back on the hub save having to lift it trying to struggle with getting it lined up over the lug posts.  

Watch a video of the demonstration here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8pHEI1A430

Paul and Dave drove their DS around the Carlisle fair grounds to the amazement of the other car club attendees.  

  Click here for the video

As the afternoon waned away, some attendees went on a road tour of the region hosted by Paul Anderson, while others (like John and I) went back to their motels to freshen up for a lovely dinner buffet put on by George Lois at the Mayapple Golf Course.

At the end of the dinner, Brad handed out the awards for the Citroëns at Carlisle People’s Choice Winners – 2017 compiled from the voting ballots filled out on the show field that afternoon.   The winners were:

Best early D                Dave Agar

Best late D                  (tie)  Paul Anderson & Peter Bandy

Best 2CV sedan         Kim Barnes

Best Dyane                Martin Gambony

Best CX series two   Lou Bevier

Best SM                      Marie Bentley

Best TAV 11CV          Rich Pazar

Best “special”           (tie)  Brian Peters (Visa) & Eithan Giffin (Mehari)

Best of Show             Peter Bandy DS21

 

John and I had to get back to Toronto by dinnertime Sunday so we forfeited going the traditional Sunday breakfast at Boiling Springs’ Café 101.  And this year Brad arranged a road tour Museum after breakfast to the nearby Rolls Royce Foundation in Mechanicsburg.  http://rollsroycefoundation.org/

We had a wonderful time and it was great to socialize with Citroën enthusiasts we met for the first time and many who we were fortunate see again this year.  Thanks Brad for another commendable Citroëns at Carlisle!