Citroëns at Carlisle — 2025 Report
By George Dyke….
The tradition of Citroëns gathering on the Carlisle PA fairgrounds as part of the Carlisle Import & Performance event continued this year. Once again Paul Anderson of Brad Nauss Automotive, and Paul’s wife Rose, organized the Citroën portion.
I decided to return to the USA with Whimsy — the 1958 2CV artcar that Bill Stevenson once owned and had his artist friends in Maine paint inside and out during the early ’90s. Of course, coming from Toronto, its limited speed and the steep hills I would be facing in New York state and in Pennsylvania, necessitated that Whimsy get there on its trailer.
On Friday morning I got an early start at 7:00 AM with Whimsy in tow behind my Dodge Durango. It was a most entertaining drive seeing Whimsy bouncing merrily around on the trailer as checked my rear view mirror!
I managed to get across the border in Buffalo in record time and with no issues as there were only three cars in front of me at US Customs. I showed my passport to the officer, he asked where I was headed, to which I replied a classic car show in Carlisle, and with quick glance at Whimsy, smiled and said “have a great trip!”
With that out of the way, I motored on to Carlisle arriving at the show field at 3:30 PM. There were already a few folks gathered under the Citroën tent, and I unloaded Whimsy to join a row of Citroëns on the show field.
One notable car that was on display and for sale at just $15K was a lovely 1964 Panhard 24 brought by Dave Burnham. It sold immediately to a very happy Brent Bartly, who also owns an exceptional GS Break that he has shown at Carlisle in previous years.
Friday afternoon, the weather turned from clouds to rain as we wrapped up for the day. To preserve the hand-painted art on Whimsy, I put it under the tent for the night before going to a group dinner that Dale Martin arranged in downtown Carlisle at the 1794 The Whiskey Rebellion restaurant. Burgers, beer and great conversation — it’s always fun to get together with those you haven’t seen for almost a year.
Saturday was the main day of the event, and the number of Citroëns doubled under sunny skies. People’s Choice Judging of Citroëns on the show field produced results that were announced at the Saturday dinner and listed at the end this article.
View a full photo gallery of Citroëns @ Carlisle here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCfdNG
Two Citroën seminars were offered;
At 1:00 PM — “Fun experiences with D Models” was presented by Dave Burnham. In recognition of the 70th anniversary of the introduction of the iconic DS19 in 1955, Dave gave a delightful recount of how he first got involved in Citroëns.
It was not as some thought that Dave would cover his repair and restoration business, which he retired from last year. Rather, he focused on how he acquired his first DS in his teens, managed to get to the 2nd Citroën Rendezvous in one, cobbled together a couple of Citroëns to be a daily driver, and then became infatuated with ice racing, in which his first DS played a significant role and prompted him to build an even more specialized ice racing DS called Pumpkin (named for the orange paint job) in which he won a number of races.
Pumpkin was featured in Citropolis magazine and that prompted a miniature model of Pumpkin to be offered for sale in Europe, Dave bought one and brought it along.
Both of Dave’s DS ice racers were shown in a special display during the ICCCR that was held in Amherst, MA in 2002. Full-size Pumpkin can be found these days on display in the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN.
Dave mentioned that he is working on a book documenting his full involvement with Citroëns. Whether that will be one or two volumes, remains to be determined, but what is assured is that it will be packed with photos and anecdotes of his extensive experiences with them.
At 3:30 PM – Ben Boyle provided the group with “The continuing saga of Ben’s 2CV”. 2024 and 2025 have been eventful years for Ben as his 2CV was first rear ended and then experienced a nasty engine fire during his drive back to Michigan from Rendezvous at Saratoga Springs, NY.
Ben told us that after two insurance claims, his rate actually went down! A lucky break indeed. And to bring the car back to new condition, he handed the bodywork repairs over to Trinity Citroën Restoration and showed us pictures of the nearly completed project that may be ready for a fire-free trip to Rendezvous this year!
When the day came to an end on the show field, many of us went for dinner hosted by Paul and Rose at the Carlisle Ribbon Mill in downtown Carlisle. It was a functioning ribbon mill until 1987. In the early 2000’s it was restored and reopened as a banquet facility. Catered by Mission Barbeque and served as a buffet along with a selection of beer and wine, we were very well fed, and got a chance to mingle once more before the Peoples’ Choice awards were presented and we said our goodbyes.
Thanks go to Paul and Rose for all their effort in making it a great venue for us Citroën afficionados.
And one more thing…
On the way to Carlisle along Hwy 15 South as it goes beside the Susquehanna River, I quickly glanced at, as I drove by — an old Lincoln limousine by the side of the road with overgrowth all around it. I recalled that 15+ years ago on the way to Carlisle there was a Lincoln limo that sat parked there that had been rotting away for a number of years. It was stretched version that had a hot tub in the back. I took these pictures at the time;
It disappeared from there around 2010, but I wondered if I had simply missed it driving by in the intervening years, — and was still there?
I made a point of stopping to look on the way back. This one was shorter but pretty much equally far gone, — and no apparent hot tub.
As I was taking these photos, an elderly fellow in another old Lincoln limo drove up and waved at me with a smile. He rolled down the window, said he was on his way to church and a bit pressed for time, but wanted to let me know that he loved Whimsy. I mentioned my curiosity about the Lincoln limo, and he said it was his, he collected them and that he has had quite a few over the years. I asked about the one with the hot tub that was there 15 or so years ago and he said; “Yea that was the one custom-built for ZZ Top. It was featured in an article in a men’s magazine back in the ’80s driving down Las Vegas Boulevard with the appropriate number of Playboy bunnies soaking in back.”
He said that he sold it to an automotive dealer in Shippensburg, PA where it was put on a sign, up in the air for a few years and has since been removed. I did a little research on my return home and discovered a semi-rig perched on a sign by Interstate 81 at Truck Mart in Shippensburg. I called them and they told me that yes, they had it up there for about 5 years. They worked on it quite a bit to get it to look presentable, “there was tons of bondo”, but eventually it began to sag even more and they replaced with another semi-rig (that is still there).
Unfortunately they scrapped the ZZ-Top limo.
Still — a cool anecdote and neat way to wrap-up a Carlisle weekend!
“People’s Choice” Awards:
- Best early D series – Lauri Virkkunen
- Best late D series – John Beltrante
- Best 2CV sedan – George Dyke
- Best A series Truckette – Manny Barrieros
- Best Ami – Jeanne Bosch
- Best Dyane – N/A
- Best Series One CX (’74-’85) – N/A
- Best Series Two CX (’86-’91) – Mark Lizewskie
- Best SM – Paul Robinson
- Best XM – Roland Sotello
- Best GS/GSA – N/A
- Best Traction Avant 11CV – Peter Bandy • Best Traction Avant 15CV – N/A
- Best Citroën: Special Category – Dave Burnham (1964 Panhard 24)
- Best of Show – Peter Bandy (1952 Traction Avant 11BL)
Tags: Brad Nauss Automotive, Carlisle, Citroens @ Carlisle, Citroens at Carlisle, Dale Martin, George Dyke, May 16-17 2025, Peter Bandy,