Listers-
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 (If I
ever hear "Ain't that Morris a cute little guy" or "How much do you feed
the squirles in there?" one more time I'll puke!) and yes, these events do
usually feature LOUD, distorted, and very repetitious do-wop oldies and
burgers and cola are the staple car show diet, BUT these folks do enjoy
their cars. I have a number of friends who have attempted to to break the
Hot Rod barrier by making a rod from a Morris, Austin or Brit Ford only to
find themselves relegated to the novelty section with the pink and white
Metropolitans and Issetta bubblecars. Even the better educated and better
paid people who have flocked to the Street Rod and Harley scene seem to
check their brains at the door at events as they bow to peer pressure.
The British car hobby is suffering from two major problems: The first is
the decentralization of middle class America. Each time I update my 3500
file California British meet mailing list, I'm really supprised at how many
folks have left SF and LA for smaller communities at least a hundred,
traffic choked miles away. I have watched my events diminish to 6-700 cars
from the top figures of 1000-1200 of the late 1980s, yet the amount of
people attending remains the same and there are sure a bunch of sport utes
and minivans in the car park. Our cars don't travel all that well.
The other problem is a concept called the window of appreciation. This
invisable "window" is about 15 to twenty years wide and floats along about
25 - 30 behind the present. That about puts it about 1954 - 1974 and it is,
as Steve Miller (the musician from Marin as opposed to the Morgan
specialist in Emeryville) said "Time keeps slipping, sliping, sliping, into
the future"
This is why people are becoming interested in TR6s, Datsun 240Zs and rubber
bumper MGBs and all of those 1960s muscle cars, yet have little time for
restored Model As, T-Series MGs and stock 1930s and 1940s cars. Most
popular Brit cars have been passed over and are viewed as quaint little
Masterpiece Theater icons for people truly stuck in a different time and
place - AND PROUD OF IT!
Today, an MGA is considered an old classic. Cars from the thirties might as
well have brass headlamps and be considered on the same level as the cars
used on the Mr. Toads Wild Ride at Disneyland!
Don't dispair, as eventually, folks who like cars from these earlier eras
will be able to afford cars that were out of of reach for so many years. As
for the future of the club scene, think "small is beautiful. Because
everyone has been cast to the wind, small 25 - 40 car clube will form in
many areas and there will be more local interaction between ALL marques and
countries of origin.
See you on the Funway! Rick Feibusch - Venice, CA
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