One of the more eccentric groups at Carlisle, or at ANY car gathering, for that matter, was the bunch of Micro-cars (think Liugi and his friend from the tire store in Radiator Flats in the movie "CARS" - I kept waiting for him to get excited and flop over on his side).
One of them was a two-cylinder, lime-green micro-Messerschmitt. We would watch him putting around the show field (it must be over 20 acres, just on our side) and everyone would give him a big wave wherever he went.
One afternoon we were taking Cory's Hoopty for spins and drivers would often go over to the steep hill at the edge of the show field and blast up the hill (there are paved lanes right up the hill) feeling the "G's" as they pulled 2'nd gear. Pretty cool....and they were getting a lot of attention, too (what the heck, it's pretty loud)
Suddenly, at the far end of the hill where it is least steep, the Messerschmitt takes off from a down-hill start on top of a foothill approaching the "Hill Climb" area. We watch and listen as he's gunning that little two-cylinder engine for all it's worth, heading for the "steep part". He Zooooomms down the hill (well, maybe "zoom" is too strong a word, here), bottoms out in the hollow while continuing to slowly gain speed and then starts to climb "the mountain" (it is about a 15 degree hill and climbs up, maybe, 150 linear and 40 vertical feet).
The driver continues to gun the heck out of his "Micro-Hoopty" while starting up the hill. "He's really moving now!" someone shouts, while the rest of us stand there, transfixed at "the little car that would" as he's now about halfway toward his goal. Dauntlessly, he pushes forward, now slowing a little (ok, a LOT) but still steadfastly forging ahead towards that hillcrest.
Then, like the Salmon which tries that last time, only to have the waves of water and Gravity turn him back, "the little car that would" slowed to a stop with only 20 short feet to go, rolled backward and turned to the side so he could go back down the hill that vanquished him.
"Awwwww......He almost made it!" someone said, and we all felt bad that he tried and failed as he made his way across the show field over to where his "micro-friends" were gathered.
As everyone turned back to what was going on in the Speedster/Spyder area, I continued to watch the little car drive over to the "Micro Group" where, as he approached his friends they were all waving and cheering and giving him the Hero's Welcome they felt he deserved.
No, he didn't vanquish the Carlisle Hill, but he drove the greatest hillclimb of his life.
