Hershey Swap Meet - 2019

[silverton_ford]

Is anyone going to the Hershey Swap Meet this year?

I just booked my plane ticket.  This will be my first one.  I am excited!

[Shelby_r_b]

A bucket list item for me that will go unchecked for now. 

[Steve McDonald Formally known as Mcdonas]

Bring your walking shoes, it's big. The flea market portion is gigantic, and there hundreds of cars for sale. The Saturday show is something to see, but is so big you can't see it all. Been going there since 1965 and it always amazes

[Richstang]

Best to get their early for the first day of the swap meet if you are looking for any special parts.
This place is huge. It could take three days to really hunt through every vendors set-up.
By Friday vendors are packing up. By Saturday the large majority of vendors are done.

Saturday's focus is the car show, many types of cars from brass era up until late 70's (maybe early eighties?).
Nothing modern!
They have them set up in rows by era so it is easier to navigate to your favorite areas first.
I've seen a couple of neat old buses like those old greyhounds, some vintage racecars, and always several classic Shelby's.
Enjoy the show.

[mark p]

... Saturday's focus is the car show, many types of cars from brass era up until late 70's (maybe early eighties?).
...Enjoy the show.

+1
The Show is incredible

2019 - 25 = 1994 cars are eligible this year 

Also, for a chance to sit down, the cars in the the Race Car classes must do a "Condition Run" around in the Stadium on Friday AM.

[silverton_ford]

Thank you for your insight!  I appreciate it.  I have wanted to go to this for a long long time.

I am joining a friend who is driving his 24' enclosed car trailer which will be our home for the week.  He goes almost every year (for the past 40+ years).  He has his entire way paid for by hauling other people's cars or parts to different stops along the way from Oregon and back.  He told me that he has a camp site figured out that is right across the street from the entrance (I assume there is more than one entrance?).  The camp site costs $275.00 for the pickup and trailer for the entire week (seems very reasonable considering we don't have to fight traffic all week).  It is going a great trip.

[Special Ed]

My last hershey trip was in 2008 and all on pavement now and very organized but i never found much to buy compared to the good ole hershey (pre ebay days). Back in the 80s it was much more fun walking in mud fields and standing water but running out of $ since there was so much to buy but had to leave parts behind as too far to carry and so many different areas you would forget where you left your parts and a long way to drag parts back to your truck. Motel rooms were very hard to get back then as most were reserved years in advance and much traffic on 2 lane roads.  Its much nicer now and  still the biggest car event in the U.S.A and they now have there own muesum AND you can smell and buy all the fresh chocolate you want being made while you are there and see the street lights made like big chocolate drops in the oid downtown hershey area.

[propayne]

^^^ Just throwing my support behind what Richstang and Ed have said -

Been to Hershey many times and made the mistake once of just thinking I can zip up there on a Saturday and check things out.

Vendors are well on their way to being packed up and gone.

Hershey and Carlisle et al just aren't the same since selling on the internet became an option.

Still love getting out on a brisk, sunny morning, seeing the cars, smelling the funnel cakes and racing gas and digging through parts and boxes full of literature.

- Phillip

[jswoody]

A bucket list item for me that will go unchecked for now. 

1+...maybe next year. 

[JD]

My dad would go every year in the late '60's through the mid-'70's and my brother and I would go too. He had a '34 Ford and a 1911 Buick at the time.  Got so that he bought a space to sell stuff just to get a close parking space every day and we sold stuff.

I noticed all the cheap cars you could buy and one year went prepared to buy a car, ended up driving home a 1950 Buick (straight Eight with Dynaflow automatic) that I got for $325.00 and drove it as a daily driver year 'round for a few years.  Snow tires in the winter.

There was an airstrip in front of the Orphan boys school that was on the hill and they had a guy that gave biplane rides for I think it was $30.00 - the best money I ever spent was getting a ride in that plane, the radial engine straight exhaust about 6 feet in front of you was unbelievable.

some photos...

[mark p]

Great story about that Buick 
I'm pretty sure that there are remnants of the airstrip still there... and that is all part of the parking area.

[Steve McDonald Formally known as Mcdonas]

There was an airstrip in front of the Orphan boys school that was on the hill and they had a guy that gave biplane rides for I think it was $30.00 - the best money I ever spent was getting a ride in that plane, the radial engine straight exhaust about 6 feet in front of you was unbelievable.




I remember the airplane rides seemed expensive then but still a bargain

[silverton_ford]

One week away!     Anyone else going?  Does anyone have a stall?  It would be fun to meet.

Thank you.

[68stangcjfb]

About 10 years ago, I made a point one of the days to walk every single row at Hershey including the cars with a step counter on my belt. 21000 plus steps. Over 19 miles!😵 I'm planning on going there on Saturday for the day.

[pmustang]

Hershey is massive!!!! I almost crawl back to the car at the end of the day, I usually go for 3 or 4 days as my dad lives in Lancaster but not this year as Dad is with me here in the UK

Lots of real interesting stuff there even if most of it is not in my sphere of interest car wise but its great to see it.

Carlisle is tough, used to be a gold mine of parts but not very difficult to find decent stuff. Seems to be a huge amount of worn out junk yard crap and the cars are extortionate and when someone with something half decent pulls in its a race of the golf carts to the owner trying to steal the car before he gets out of the car.

There is usually one guy there near the first 2 or 3 rows along the fence after the entrance. Red and white or blue and white tent, He has LOADS of stuff. Normally standard, not shelby or boss items but great stuff you need for a regular restoration like you found 20 years ago in droves at the shows. Clusters, fold downs, tail lights, every bracket and bit you can think of. Great guy, great prices. Don't know where he gets all the stuff.

A few years ago a guy pulled up in a 60s Camaro, 1969 if memory serves, gold. nice older looking restoration, a driver. he was swarmed by dealers in golf carts. His first words were it had a VIN issue. Something about the VINS was wrong. They fled in droves. I spoke to him and his price was very reasonable. I asked him the issue was there was a mismatch between the vin on the firewall and the vin in the car. . Later he was told they don't match from the Factory although they can look similar. One is a body number and the other is the VIN number. And that guy also confirmed the car was an SS. Price was up substantially at that point. I shied away due to the colour.

I bought a super nice 1970 SS Chevelle, Killer restoration for $25k, Guy was ill and needed it gone. I made an offer and he took it so he could enjoy the show.

I also bought a 73 Challenger, SUPER nice, purple, detailed like crazy, no data tag, tri power 340. $27,500. Beautiful car I should have sold in the USA as the UK folks didn't appreciate it, Same with the Chevelle. No one knew what it was :-)