2019 CORVETTES AT CARLISLE

Fueled by the C8 Corvette, the Corvettes at Carlisle show set a new attendance record in 2019

- John Machaqueiro

Located just outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Corvettes at Carlisle, presented by Corvette America has become a mecca for Corvette enthusiasts from all over the world, and this 37th edition lived up to that honor. The folks that organize the event thought this one would be a down year due to a Corvette caravan that travels to Bowling Green, Kentucky, every five years. To their surprise, it ended up being a record-setter with a total of 2,901 Corvettes registered for the Fun Field and over 5,000 on the fairgrounds. This year the special ingredient in the show recipe to push those numbers was called C8. Of those roughly 5,000 Corvettes on hand, 14 of them had the engine behind the driver and a serial number that ended in EX. Combined with spectacular weather for most of the weekend and the full-on presence of Team Chevrolet on-site with numerous pre-production examples of the new C8 Corvette, it was the fuel that helped propel the new attendance record.

It’s pretty clear that GM knows they have a hit on their hands with the C8, and the Carlisle show was low-hanging fruit for them with a captive audience of rabid Corvette owners who were curious to see the new Corvette and place orders. On display were a few pre-production cars that folks could sit in and touch, along with a C8 cutout display, and engine. They also brought along a bespoke boutique building with a fully loaded C8, and wall-mounted displays with all the color, interior and wheel options available on the new car. The line to get into this space was always long during the weekend. There were also a number of other C8s in various color and trim options roaming the fairgrounds, and for those that wanted additional information, there were scheduled walk-around demos performed by GM engineers during the weekend in front of the main stage.