The Kaiser Brothers Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram of Muncy, Pennsylvania, hosted the significant 25th annual Mopar Muscle of Central PA car show on September 14, 2024. This milestone marks a long journey from its inception in 2000. The show has been held at a few venues, but Kaiser Brothers has been the location for almost two decades. Each year, the show’s popularity continues to grow, making it a must-attend event for Mopar enthusiasts.
For the last decade, the event has been tied in with the Ford car show at the dealership next door and the Corvette club car show taking over the main drag downtown. However, this year, the Corvette club officials could not cut through all the state’s red tape to get permission to close a few downtown streets for twelve hours, so the club moved their show to a different day in another town.
Attendance at the Ford show was way down, likely due to several other car shows within twenty miles of Muncy. Still, the Mopar faithful shunned all the other shows, with over 200 Mopars rolling onto the Kaiser Brothers dealership grounds.
As in years past, the weather was perfect, with plenty of sun and wispy clouds for the entire day. The DJ pumped out great tunes all day, and a special guest announcer kept the crowd busy with several Mopar trivia contests. Another change for the special show was the lack of a celebration of any vehicle, model, or year. However, the Kaiser Brothers arranged for several NHRA/IHRA Super Stock (SS/AA, SS/BA, SS/DA) and Stock race cars to be on display at the event.
Like most Mopar shows, the event has seen an influx of the late-model Challengers and Chargers, but this year, the vintage Detroit iron was out in force. A-Bodies seem to be the car of choice, as the grounds were full of slant 6, 318, 340, and 360 Darts, Demons, Dart Sports, Dusters, and Scamps.
The B-Body crowd showed strong displays of Chargers, Satellites, Belvederes, and Superbirds. Nearly all sporting 383s, 400s, or 440s, and several had factory 426 elephants and larger aftermarket Hemis wedged between the fenders. One B-Body convertible still had the factory slant six, a rare sight that drew much attention.
Several E-Body Barracudas and Challengers came thundering into the show. Shaker hoods were everywhere, and 340, 383, 440 Six Packs and Hemis were the choice for motivation. Chrysler sold many stick shifts during the muscle car era, but the percentage of manual-shifted Barracudas and Challengers was much greater than what Chrysler did produced in the early 1970s.
The rest of the car show was filled with Ram Trucks, Diplomats, Volares, Aspens, vans, FWD cars, and a smattering of AMC products. The crazy Mopar High-Impact colors abounded, with Sublime Green (Dodge) and Limelight (Plymouth/Chrysler) being the most popular. Plum Crazy (Dodge), In-Violet (Plymouth/Chrysler), and the ultra-rare Panther Pink (Dodge) and Moulin Rouge (Plymouth/Chrysler) were out in force, evoking a sense of nostalgia for the vibrant history of the Mopar brand.
Hopefully, the Corvette club can return to downtown Muncy next year, and the Ford show can regain its momentum. However, regardless of what those shows do, the officials of Mopar Muscle of Central PA are already planning next year’s monster show for mid-September as well as its next twenty-five years.
