Rick Feibusch pondered:
> Interesting ideas on the winding down of the club portion of our hobby.
> Clubs are changing and the people who want to participate are a different
> breed as well. I have formed, led, resurrected, and closed a number of
> clubs in my day. Things are just different today.
>
> There are thriving clubs throughout the US, overflowing with active and
> enthusiastic members who work on their cars in their spare time all week
> and go to events, even far off events, every weekend. Unfortunately, these
> folks would rather see your Model A with a chopped top and a big V8 oozing
> out the sides of a cut down bonnet and wheels as big as an airliner on the
> back. There is even enough interest for Chrysler to issue a limited
> production street rod called the Prowler.
>
> Sure, most of us BritCarGuys are fish out of water at these events
Good point. I have driven my GT6 to several local cruise
nights, only to find that it had become completely invisible.
Idling into the parking lot with the cam loping and headers
popping did cause a few people to look up briefly before
turning back to their burgers. I presume that it would have
attracted more interest had it been equipped with a 289 Ford
and 12" slicks.
The age difference is also something worth noting. I belong
to two different British auto clubs with a total membership
of about 300 families and I can count the members who are
under the age of 25 (if not under 40!) on the fingers of
one hand. I am trying to steer my sons toward British
cars but, so far, my 18 year old would rather save up for
mag wheels for his VW Fox than buy a TR or MG. The 14
year old is still undecided but has admitted that the
Triumph Herald looks pretty cool so there may be hope.
Interest in chopped Model A's and muscle cars does seem to
be spread pretty evenly across all age groups in my
opinion.
My local Triumph club has been fairly successful in
increasing its membership in the past couple of years.
Perhaps our focus for the next year should be trying
to attract younger members? If anybody out there has
any ideas, I would be interested in hearing them.
Rick, I am going to forward this to the Triumph list.
I will pass any interesting responses back to you.
Dave Fain
|