I was BSing with some guys today at a local car show. I asked them why we did'nt have a local car club. the town had one 10 years ago that went by the way side. my question to the cowd here is what do we need to do to get one started and headed in the right direction. so let the fun begin with you're replies, and thanks in advance.
Hi Goat.. A Open mind for starters.Also ,, what type of car Club??. .. Car clubs these days pretain to certain types of cars and years.. when a event occurs, you will have a wide assortment of cars.. probably because others do not have any other place to go.. its tough to get something started and try not to offend others if they cannot join.. make it a open deal..even Old Timers and there Original Rides..
Starting one is the easy part, making it work is the hard part. We started one a few years ago, mostly to revive a local car show that was going to go away if something wasn't done. Its a lot of paperwork, but we have since become a non-profit organization,'so when we get monies for car show sponsorships and such, and we make some monies from the events, we don't have to pay taxes on it. There are many rules to follow for these type organizations, so you have to do a lot of homework, and probably involve a lawyer to write up the club bylaws. Unfortunately, we do spend most of the year at meetings once a month talking about and getting ready for the upcoming show we put on, so we dont enjoy each others cars much, but thats the price of putting on a quality car show. One of the fun parts is actually finding local schools and organizations that can benefit from our money raising, as we give it all back to the community in the end. It all depends on what you want out of the club.
you are right about the type of cars. the guys I was talking with were in the 40 to 50 range, with one exception being around 70 +. as for the type of cars most of us own pre 60 era cars, most of them hot rodded in one way or another. the exception being my self with the stock 57 retractable. I don't think that we would want any of todays style ( TUNERS) involved with this new club. but not for me to solely decide. I understand this would be a group effort and a group decision to make. what I don't know about, that some of you can fill me in on is what kind of so called by laws have worked well with you're clubs. Are there any legal issues that need to be addressed. and so on. the club that used to be here dissolved because of a few bad apples. the guys that I talked with were former members of that club. Do you place in the bylaws about removeing these problems or just deal with them as they come. just want some advice from those of you that would know.
I couldnt help you in the Car Club thing.. Ive been a member of a few and left when the politics started.. I like the Normal gathering of cars once a week like on a Weds.. where every one can join in at a mall parking lot and just enjoy the evening. meeting different people with different tastes... being committed is a commitment.. The Mustang Club up here started one.. when its nice out.. 200 plus cars show up.. a wide variety..
Get everyone's name and email address, and send out an email telling about what you're planning to do, such as meet at some place to eat, or drive to somewhere, or whatever. Hell of a lot less work that way. I've been in our local open car club for 20 yrs, served on the board a few times, been at most of the meetings, work at all the car shows, etc. it's a lot of work, and you need a good sized group of dedicated people because usually only about 10-20% of the people do 90% of the work.
Our club works coz its not a "club". Theres about 5 or 6 dedicated core members who are just friends. All in all I think we number close to 20 though. We all are goin to the same shows anyway so we caravan and hang out and BBQ. We dont have rules, we dont have "dues", we dont have leadership outside of someone throwing out an idea of an adventure, there are no meetings outisde of getting together to turn wrenches once in awhile. We all like the same kinda cars...as a result we all fly the same plaque. The club name is one from the late 50's that was local club. One of the members dads was in it then and had the stuff around for us to use. The best advice is to not take it too seriously. If "members' can make it cool, if not....catch you at the next one. If they are good enough friends to have at your house and BBQ they are good enough to wear the same tee shirt and club plaque.
Don't do it unless your willing to work hard at it and put up with the good times and the bad. I, for one stay away from club membership, I'm just too independent to be a good member. Hanging with club members is cool, but that's where it stops. Never been able to get into the brotherhood thing. Just my two cents................. CRUISER
Don't have anyone in the club you don't already know as a good friend and trust well enough that you would have them house sit for you when you were on vacation. Don't invite people you know are ass-holes regardless of how cool their car is. Don't put ANYTHING in writing. That way you don't exist (as a group) if some ass-bite wants to "sue the whole club" for some stupid shit just one member did. Yes, that can and does happen. Don't have any rules, presidents, dues or initiations. The only "officer" you need is a treasurer and that's only if for some reason the club collects money from somewhere, show or hotdog sale or whatever. All a "non profit" is allowed to keep around at the end of the year amounts to "Chump change" anyway so just keep any club funds in a tin box. Bank accounts just make a paper trail and will cost you more for the damn account than the chump change you keep in it. Don't "recruit" members. Quality over quantity, plastic "Club Participation" trophies are a joke. If someone is member worthy, you and they already know they are. If you do have new members pledge do the traditional Black/White ball in the jug thing and require acceptance to be unanimous, not just majority vote, otherwise, in a very short time, the "new people" will take over with more and more "new people" and the OG's will disappear. I speak from experience on that one, sad experience... (Traditional Custom club got overrun with Mustang owners.)
I have been in several different clubs, that were not car clubs, but the above mentioned experiences are pretty much universal when you deal with a group of people. If you go the club/officers/members/by laws/non profit/community oriented way, there is alot of paper work, and "legalese" that gets done. Meetings and minutes and "must do's" can detract from the fun of a bunch of folks getting together. And while I think a car club should be open, there should be a limit. IMHO, American built, 1979 and older and 6 or more cylinders required (unless it is a pre 1950). While I have nothing against the guys in the import tuner community, in my experience, some of them are the "new breed" and have a somewhat different set of values than what I prefer to associate with. But that doesnt mean you couldnt have a sister club that caters to that group of people. However, I do like the more informal approach of a bunch of friends getting together with similar interests, doing the hot rod thing. Maybe as a club, do a once a month community service project to generate interest in the hobby. Or a tech "how to" class on sheet metal work, body filler, etc., to work with budding rodders.
non-profit with a board of directors, no voting members and then you can stick to your original mission statement ,pm me for more,we just went thrugh a 'bad' split in our club
i would start off with making all members qualify by placing a cable to the rear end of a parked cop car , followed by a blood initiation! if they refuse attach them to the bumper and drag them!!
Be ready for you and a couple of guys to do all of the work while the majority of the club does nothing but bitch and moan. I am in a club and there are some good guys but most do nothing but complain. Do yourself a favor and keep the club small, its much easier and fun
My two friends and I just started a club of sorts. We all like the same style of cars, music, and go to all the same car shows. I've known that both for close to 20 years. I think to bottom line in a good car club is if you already hang out and wrench together just come up with a name and roll in to shows together. Have fun with it, just because your a "club" doesn't mean you have to do all the stuff like trying to put on shows, maybe just offer to help to club who already puts on a show.
I have been a member of the oldest Hot Rod car club in the state of South Carolina for 31 of it's 37 year history and I can assure you it does take hard work and dedication. We have monthly meetings,dues,by laws,and officers but it's kinda laid back at the same time,,,we have raised a lot of money for different agencys in our local community and surrounding areas. Early on we adopted the pre-48 Hot Rods and 50's Customs only,,,the name of the club,,Tri-City Rod & Custom. We are a little bit more flexable today,,one member has a 70 Chevelle,,the rest of the members are 30's,40's and 50's models Our membership has been as high as 75 guys,,and currently we have about 33 on the members list,,probably 20 are as active as the day they joined. And a big plus is that we are able to get along with each other and work at it! I also know that clubs are not for everybody and that's cool HRP
don't forget there is a growing group of people who have "tuner" cars from the seventies and eighties, they are a world apart from the guys running around in the wingding cars with the loud mufflers. I belong to an online group like this,it's existed for ten years already and we sometimes meet up,lots more out in Cali then here, but nothing formal. 90 percent of the guys who are regular people on there have the same values and attitude towards old cars that people here do. That group of cars is getting old enough to be needing a lot more then cosmetic work to stay running. I've seen some people take rusted out japanese cars and do some fantastic metal work to bring them back from the dead, the car is worthless moneywise, but they do it for the love of the car itself. Really no different then anyone here would do. why not make it pre 90? Chances are anyone who is driving an 80's car that is nice, has put some serious time and effort into it to make it that way, they are getting really hard to get parts for. Don't exclude a group just because of what they drive, I could understand if people pull up in fast and furious cars with bass you can hear a block away, , but you might meet some pretty cool other car guys in this community who aren't like that. good luck with your club!!
When I was a kid, our car club put a swap meet on every spring, the money made from the swap meet would pay for hotel and entry fee to several car shows throughout the year. That was back when car shows were more than just looking at cars!!
Another thought,,there is no such thing as a one size fits all,,same as a car club. Guys that are my age don't see eye to eye with the kid in the tuner with the big LOUD thumpin' bass ,,likewise I'm sure he doesn't car for my taste in music, The Generation gap still exist in taste and cars and has always been around but with a site like the Hamb,,most of us have the basic understanding of what traditional cars are,,,unlike some clubs,,including the one I am involved in,,,,some are over the top Street Rods while others are drivers that have been on the road for years. You get out of a club what you are willing to invest,,like I said in a earlier post,,they ain't for everybody! HRP
Form the club around PEOPLE. Approve members, not their rides. If they guy is a good guy then it shouldn't matter WHAT he drives. Once you make it a "Traditional" club or a "hot rod" club or whatever, you have rules that must be upheld and enforced and that will piss people off. If you want a traditional club thats great. Be aware of the grief you're gonna get when a guy with a lot of work in a '71 Challenger gets turned away.
best way i've seen it put yet. I think the main thing is to get members who really like cars and appreciate what the other members are driving. As much as some groups like to put others down and all the bickering that goes on, people who have really put a lot of time and work into their rides care just as much about their cars as some of the more traditional clubs, if anything we all ought to be trying to get along better and the clubs ought to be working together against the powers that be that are trying to stop us from enjoying our hobby . we ALL have that in common, traditional rodders, gold chainers,low riders, customs, tuners, whatever style of ride you have.
I want to thank every body that responded to this post. From reading these and talking to some more friends in town, the same thing keeps coming up. that is 5% will end up doing 90% of the work. I do agree with who ever said look at the people and not the cars they drive. I don't care for the loud bass or the annoying mufflers that the younger crowd seem to like. but you're right they might be o k. I also agree with smaller is better, when it comes to club size you guys and girls have educated me on this. My time away from work is short, not enough hours in the day and I can't hang like I used too. I will have to think about this some more before I stick my neck out. THANKS AGAIN, GOAT
it's all open to interpretation. a friend and i are starting a car club of our own. the "rules" are pretty loose. you have to have a cool old car and you have to show up once in a while. by show up, i mean go to the local cruise in's and just in general drive your car. we'll meet once a week to "wrench" on whatever, and probably do like a sunday breakfast thing or something. nothing big. no "pre 64" or whatever, just within reason-no modern cars of course, just 20's through 60's shit that's cool. we're not trying to start a revolution, we are just wanting to be around like-minded people and talk about and drive vintage iron.
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