At the 2008 IKR the spotlight was on British vehicles and we had lots of them! It was nice to see the Fun Field looking a lot like it did in the ‘80s with British roadsters filling many of the spaces. We had what seemed like an endless line of Sprites thanks to the Austin Healey Sports & Touring Club and a sea of MGs many of them courtesy of the Keystone Region MG Club. Almost everywhere you looked there were Triumphs and Minis as well as just about every other British manufacturer from Jaguar to Land Rover.

The fiberglass dune buggy as we know it today was created in California in the ‘60s by Bruce Meyers and we were honored to host a very rare East Coast appearance by the godfather of the dune buggy. The IKR show doesn’t see many special guests because they are usually overseas but Bruce Meyers was able to make cross-country trip and he was definitely a hit. In fact, he was so popular with the buggy crowd that he ended up validating real Meyers Manx buggies for their owners and he conducted an impromptu seminar right on the field for owners and enthusiasts of the dune buggy.

A new addition to this year’s IKR event was the Carlisle Elite classification. The Carlisle Elite are ten vehicles that are hand-chosen by the Carlisle Events’ planning staff. These cars were selected on Friday only and the only other criterion is that the vehicle had to catch our collective eye. Winners received a very nice award, a hat, t-shirt, window decal and they become a lifetime member of the Carlisle Elite. The Elite winners were assembled at the Stage on Sunday as part of the awards ceremony and each vehicle owner was asked a series of questions and given a few minutes to talk to the crowd about their car. Be sure to arrive on Friday next year if you want to be considered for the Carlisle Elite.

• Click here for a complete list of this year’s winners.
• Elite Awards Photos

Each year we notice more and more clubs are calling Carlisle “home” during the shows and some of the set ups have become downright impressive. This year we decided to start to reward the clubs that go above and beyond with an award called the Coolest Club Hangout. The rules are simple: create an atmosphere that would make the Carlisle Events’ Planning Staff want to hang out in your tent for the weekend – if we didn’t have work to do! As you can imagine we’ve seen some pretty wild stuff so far and IKR truly had some of the best. It was a tough call between The Audi Club and Saabs @ Carlisle but in the end it was The Audi Club that was presented with the title of Coolest Club. The Coolest Club Hangout has become a regular component of the show and we hope to see even wilder displays next year!

On Saturday evening when the judges turned in their sheets they commented on how nice all of the cars in this year’s Standard of Excellence judging were. The cars ranged from a replica that was just completed to a super well cared for driver that sees thousands of miles each year. The cars compete against a standard set of criteria rather than each other and regardless of the score the judges felt that each owner should be very proud of his vehicle. The quality and quantity of vehicles entered in the Standard of Excellence judging in 2008 was impressive to say the least.

As always, the Autocross was the place to be for speed and excitement at IKR. Members of The Susquehanna Region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and its Chapter Club the Appalachian Sports Car Club conducted the Autocross on Saturday and Sunday on our own six-turn mini road course. This year spectators were able to watch the action from our new viewing deck on the hill above the track. Additional days were added for 2008 to meet the demand from our guests as the Autocross has become the place for action!

• Results for Saturday 05/17/2008
• Results for Saturday 05/18/2008

The Coolest Club Hangout is all about having fun but the Club Challenge is all about the numbers. We’re looking for the clubs that bring the most cars to IKR. Once again it was Saabs @ Carlisle taking home the trophy on the Import side of the show and the Speedster/Spyder Owner’s Group winning the Kit portion with 194 and 33 vehicles respectively. Each of these clubs has won their respective portion of the challenge for several years running but they need to keep an eye on some of the competition. The Audi Club has moved from 3rd last year to a solid 2nd place finish in 2008. Carlisle Events would like to thank all of the clubs that attended the show as well as each individual car owner whether in a club or not.

• Click here for the results of the Club Challenge.

Mazda Miata Giveaway This year's IKR Nationals giveaway car was a 1992 red convertible Mazda Miata. The winner of this great car was Paul Alexander Tegler, Jr. from Severn, MD. Paul will be cruising in style this summer with the top down on his Mazda Miata - Congratulations!