Re: British Car Week 2000 May 20 - 28
Hi British car fans,
I thought I'd get the word out early about British Car Week 2000 to enable
early postings for next years calendar of events listings. You will notice
that both opposing weekends are included this year for more driving time for
those of you who are more likely to get your cars out and drive them during
the weekends. You will also notice that in many cases the word "Drivers" has
been added to the title. I've seen this title used by others, and I feel
that it is a great idea because the week is all about driving our British
cars. Either way, it's still the same week.
As many of you may already know, next spring marks the fourth annual British
Car "Drivers" Week. This is a world wide event for all British marques with
the intent that it will continue to grow in popularity as the years go by.
This idea was prompted by a magazine article written by fellow British car
enthusiast, Peter Egan, for the March 1997 issue of Road & Track magazine.
Peters' article centered on the fact that there is a lack of old classic
sports cars seen driven on roads today, and how much he misses seeing some of
his favorite classic marque's of the past driving on the roads of his town.
The British car community responded quickly to his plea, and shortly after
that article was published, the first annual British Car Week was initiated.
This "awareness" week is intended for all British car owners to get their
cars out on the roads in their locality, to have some fun with them, and
promote them for all to see and appreciate. While doing so, we'll do what we
can to recreate the days when these cars were a much more common sight on the
byways of North America and beyond. Of course we'll never be able to
populate the roads with these cars like they once were, but we can make a
difference for one week per year. By getting our cars out on the roads at
the same time during this week, we can create an awareness in our own part of
the world that these unique, charming, fun cars are still around and doing
well, thus hoping to create some new or renewed interests in them to help
keep our hobby and related clubs and businesses going strong.
Very recently in my part of the Country, I've witnessed some changes that I
hope are only temporary. One longtime, honorable major event promoter has
announced that he will no longer be promoting a British car event that has
been one of the staples of the Midwest for around 23 years. In another case,
a local British car club president has announced a merger of his club with
another group of British car clubs because no one answered the plea for new
club officers. I also recently received an e-mail from a gentleman from
Maryland who is trying to get a British car driving event together in his
area during next years British Car Drivers Week. He submitted an article in
a club newsletter asking for interested people to respond. So far, he's only
received one reply, and it was not favorable.
Are these occurrences early signs of the fate of our hobby, or just some rare
cases? I don't know. I do know the British car hobby seems to be doing
quite well in other instances, but like others, when I hear about situations
like these, I can't help but realize how important it is to continue to
promote the hobby, and hope there will be others who will step forward and
take over some of the duties that are so important to all of us and our cars.
The more people who volunteer to help with club activities, the less of a
burden on the rest, thus less tendency for burnout for the people who work so
hard to support our clubs.
In any case, this is a plea for all British car enthusiasts to do what they
can to help promote British cars and this very important British car
promotional event. Let your club officials know about this week. Get
together with your club and plan something during this celebrated week, get
the date listed within your clubs newsletter calendar, post it on your
internet web page, or simply get your car out and drive it more often in your
home town during the week. The most important objective is to have some fun,
spend some quality time with your car, and in turn, hope to attract some new
enthusiasts.
If you're interested in helping to promote this week among the people and
clubs that support your favorite marque, please contact me at:
Trmgafun@aol.com. This would not take up a lot of your time, but simply
require that you contact the leaders of the clubs that are related to your
favorite marque, and make sure they are aware of British Car Week and what
it's all about, and hope they will help us promote it. If interested, I
would add your name and e-mail address to a list, and would provide you with
updates of any information regarding British Car Week that you could pass
along. If you would like to post your own British car related event that
will take place during British Car Week, feel free to let me know, and I will
post it on the BCW web page for others in your area to learn about.
This past May, I noticed an upsurge of British cars driving around my home
town during BC Week as well as some classic German and Italian models that I
hadn't seen before the week started, and haven't seen since the week ended.
Maybe we've got some competition!!
Thanks for your time, and hope to see you on the road.
Scott Helms
Visit the web page: http://members.aol.com/Trmgafun/britishcarweek.html
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