[Fot] CAR RACING & DEATH

Wed Sep 24 19:36:15 MDT 2008

Hi Bud,

I assume your diatribe is colored with liquor as is my response.

We all know in the backs of our minds that death is a reasonable  possibility 
in our game.  Worse than that, debilitating injury, IMHO.  

Nonetheless, we endure, do all we can to improve our chances and try not to  
face it with ourselves or our families.  But it is there.  It could  happen.  
We don't want it to happen but it could.  Our wives have  already thought this 
through and seen the possibilities.  They still  support our crazy assed 
efforts to win.  So are we lesser than they?   Maybe we're better at 
rationalizing...

Still, we'll all be pulling on the nomex and denying that it could happen  to 
us while our wives know full well what is at stake.

So do we quit racing and take up backgammon?  Some will, most  won't.  We are 
a kind of warrior and we can't leave that.  We'll just  leave homage to our 
brethren, clash shields and move on...Steve

In a message dated 9/24/2008 6:11:18 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
budscars at comcast.net writes:

Hi Gang....Here It Is.......Straight Out....CAR  RACING AND DEATH....I've 
kept  kinda' Quiet about the subject  ..Regarding  Deaths in Vintage Racing...and 
have Layed Back and  contemplated things as I've read the numerous 
emails......
The Essence of Race Driving is to go as fast as  we can to win!
Some of us will die doing that.....That's just  the way it is....That's 
REALLY the way it is.!.....

Vintage...Who the heck knows who's driving over  their heads or not?...No Way 
To Tell.....
Racer Bud's Conclusion..I.f the  word DANGER  creeps into your mind very 
often..DO NOT RACE....... 

Racer Bud..Spitfire #21

In a message dated 9/24/2008 6:11:18 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
budscars at comcast.net writes:

Hi Gang....Here It Is.......Straight Out....CAR  RACING AND DEATH....I've 
kept  kinda' Quiet about the subject  ..Regarding  Deaths in Vintage Racing...and 
have Layed Back and  contemplated things as I've read the numerous 
emails......
The Essence of Race Driving is to go as fast as  we can to win!
Some of us will die doing that.....That's just  the way it is....That's 
REALLY the way it is.!.....

Vintage...Who the heck knows who's driving over  their heads or not?...No Way 
To Tell.....
Racer Bud's Conclusion..I.f the  word DANGER  creeps into your mind very 
often..DO NOT RACE....... 

Racer Bud..Spitfire #21

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _Bill Babcock_ (mailto:Billb at bnj.com)   
To: _John Macartney_ (mailto:standardtriumph at btinternet.com)  
Cc: _fot at autox.team.net_ (mailto:fot at autox.team.net)  ; 
_bdischer at blakedischer.com_ (mailto:bdischer at blakedischer.com)  
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008  5:10 PM
Subject: Re: [Fot] VTR & FoT

You wrote the email I thought of writing but decided not to.  Personally, the 
only clubs I really want to belong to are the ones that have  a bar, a 
restaurant (good one), a pool table and a library (in my case  that's the Arlington 
Club, a truly great establishment here in  Portland), and the ones like the 
FOT, where no twinkie with a claptrap  P.O.S. excuse for a LBC gets up at every 
meeting and rants  about parliamentary procedure and whether or not they have 
a  quorum to decide on tuna fish sandwiches for the picnic.   

I always thought the VTR existed to document the provenance (however  modest) 
of cars. The rest seems kind of ancillary. It's not the cars that  are 
diminishing, it's the members--if nothing else they are kicking the  bucket. No 
disrespect meant for those that love their clubs, but    unless these clubs get a 
lot more interesting, and figure out ways to get  the self-important twinkies 
to shut up, there won't be critical mass of  people younger than 60 taking 
part. 

FOT part of VTR (or any other "real" organization)--perish the  thought. 

On Sep 24, 2008, at 12:40 PM, John Macartney wrote:

Andy Mace wrote:
This does raise an interesting  possibility, were FoT members so inclined: 
perhaps we could become some  sort of "Special Chapter" or "Affiliate" of VTR?

I take a very 'broad church view' on issues like this,  essentially 
summarised as follows:

1. It doesn't really matter how you use your Triumph (or  Standard) and 
because of that, there should be room in your local or  national club to 
accommodate your usage preference.
2. The vehicle parc is getting smaller each year and  current owners are 
getting older. This largely explains the diminution of  club memberships
3. A surprisingly large number of cars will outlive  their enthusiast 
custodians and will need to have 'a home'
4. Clubs (national or local) need to recognise this -  and its my perception 
in the UK that clubs don't adequately do  this
5. There will come a time when the vehicle parc and  custodian base is so 
small that clubs as they currently stand will  probably not be viable as 
heretofore. This begs the question
6. What plans are national clubs making to address that  inevitable 
eventuality?
7. No-one can confidently expect to substantially 'grow  club membership.' 
The vast majority of cars that will survive are already  known. Barn-Finds will 
become ever more infrequent

With regard to point 6, my perception of the evidence as  it relates to the 
UK (and probably elsewhere too?) is "nothing at  all." Additionally, for as 
long as clubs and others continue to  provide 'free' technical information on 
"How to .....?" projects via the  internet, clubs will continue to diminish in 
size.

Rant off

Jonmac

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Bill Babcock

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