[Fot] CAR RACING & DEATH

Wed Sep 24 20:56:56 MDT 2008

Terrific Stuff Steve...We are what we are!
Racer Bud
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gt6steve at aol.com 
  To: budscars at comcast.net ; Billb at bnj.com ; standardtriumph at btinternet.com 
  Cc: fot at autox.team.net ; bdischer at blakedischer.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 6:36 PM
  Subject: Re: [Fot] CAR RACING & DEATH

  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 
      To: John Macartney 
      Cc: fot at autox.team.net ; 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
      Babcock & Jenkins
      Billb at bnj.com
      503.936.7660
      www.bnj.com

      Editor
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      Paddlesurfing's Web Journal

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      www.kenalu.com
      blog: www.ponohouse.com/ponoblog

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