Just wondering how many people are part of a car club and why? Whats the pros and cons? do clubs get along with other clubs? is it like a gang type of thing where you stick to your own? or make friends with everyone?. SCHOOL ME!
Most organizations and clubs tend to have 3% of their members doing whatever work has to be done for the other 97% of the members. it's a fact of life. I belong to a few, and the one I really like is the local club of 6 members. Why? We usually work on each other's projects, etc, and the rest of the time we cruise! I'd rather do that than sit around in meetings etc; just my 2 cents.
i am a werido,,,with that said,,i dont think i would ever "join" a club just to join a club,..unless there are hot ***y babes in the club to check out all the time,,, ...,if me and my OGhomeboys wanted to start a club,,then that would be a different story...but i dont have any HOMEBOYS where i live now,,....... ........so i have no plans to join a club,or do not see any point of being in one,,,,,,, ,,any other questions??
There are all kinds of reasons to join or not join clubs....usually they're a pain, but also they give you a chance to socialize with other car people. Generally you get out of it what you put into it. Take your time seeing how things work in a club before jumping in too deep, you may not like it. Or you might. oh yeah...usually there's more than one club because some guys didn't get along with the jerks in the first club, and started their own club! but the second club fell apart because it was made up of people who don't get along with anyone
Guess it depends on what your looking for, or who is in the club. I was in a local club that was made up of friends who just decided we should form some sort of "club" for the hell of it, to be a member you had to be voted out! It was great for a long time, but it ended up with some guys handing club stuff out to people who had not been original members, the group ended up kind of splitting into "cliques". The club is gone ( well it has been reformed in the UK actually with the blessing of the founder so thats cool) but at least most of the original/early members are all still friends and hang out together. I just joined the Strangers out of San Jose, I've known them for years, and they are a great group, very active and help each other out plus put on a great show each year. If you want to join a club, get in an active "car" club (not a "lifestyle" club!!!). There are some great clubs in the bay area who have been around for a fair number of years and have good folks in them (Strangers, Vultures, Road Zombies etc...), there are different levels of member participation expected from club to club but I think it can be a worthwhile thing if you get in with good folks and it suits what you expect, or want from a club.
I started a group here in Tx. It's not even a club. There are no entrance fees or monthly dues and no monthly meetings. No Pres, Vice Pres or Sect, just Founding Members The rules are simple, don't have a criminal past, don't be involved in drugs, show up sober, and respect the women and kids. We meet at a burger joint, cruise to another designated spot, then another, then back to the burger joint. But nothing is set in stone, we come and go as we please. Anyone who has built a car or truck, Rat, Rod, Antique or Muscle is welcome. I got tired of the at***ude, drama and the power struggle that goes on in clubs.
I belong to the Non-Car Club in the Youngstown, OH region. A bunch of folks in their late '50s-'70s I'm the youngest at 56, get together and have a dinner at a member's home once a month. Most, but not all have '50s rods. No dues, no BS....bring a side dish, eat a bunch and have a good time.. We may meet for a cruise or two per year, but that's it. All fun, no egos. I'm not into rod clubs, per se.Scheduled (required attendence)meetings, huge egos, duties, etc remind me far too much of the 3 patchers that I hung with for years. Jan
Here in Georgia there are a lot of car clubs (of all types).. There is also a 'council' of the car clubs that helps to organize the calendar and share info from all the clubs. (a pretty neat deal if you ask me)... Clubs are clubs... I don't care if it is a bowling league or a bridge club. There will always be those that want to stir the pot. I belong to two clubs and one is a bunch more fun than the other, and that's due to the people in the club. http://www.dixielandcruisers.freeservers.com/ So search around... Be a guest at a couple of meetings.. Then choose. Sometimes it's better to just know their schedule and just show up.. An opinion only... Jeff
I was in an "old guy" club in high school that did cruise nights, 1 show a year, a lot of chainer types and a bunch dont work on thier car nor drive em a ton. When I was in high school 10 yrs ago, that was baaaad. So I quit, joined a local club a few towns over that had all young guys building thier own cars, had jackets, club plaques, etc etc. The statement of 97% get thier cars worked on by 3% of the members isnt far off....and drama is nuts. Quit that ****. Now thinking of rejoining the first club just to help set up shows etc, all of thier money goes to charity, usually childrens charity. I guess I look at it like this, Im 28, I dont need to cruise around at 2 am with club plaques s****ing the ground anymore causing trouble. Id rather justu build a ton of cars without drama or relying on anyone to "return the favor" for my work on thier ****.
AMEN to both! I have been in a club for yars now- first Eastern MA Cl***ic Chevy (when I came back from Cali in the 80's) then Cyclone Car CLub from Revere(nuff said about that!) and now Bearing Burners. Its WORK to keep a club going.... most members forget that the club is where you met, but a friendship can actually come out of it and you can actually LIKE spending time with each other. We used to do a one day car show up here- and my wife was the one who did 90% of the work and the club would get the credit. Dont do the show anymore cuz of it. I would suggest to anyone that if you are in club, or want to be, to get ACTIVE and help out- the club is what you make it.
The secret of making a car club work for you is very simple; you have to like the people involved. We formed a high school club 50 years ago and a bunch of us still get together a couple times a year and we all have pretty nice rides. Another club that I "belong" to has no rules, no dues, no meetings and everybody is president! This group is doing an eight day tour over 4th of July including stops in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Great people, lots of fun and neat cars.
I disc jocky about 12 car club events every year, and I have found that it is true that no matter what club I DJ for there are only 3 or 4 club members that actually do any of the work at the events....sometimes less. I am not a member of any of the clubs that I work for, I do belong to a non-club, we get togather once a week and work on each others vehicles, rat rods, rods, customs, restored all are welcome, no president, no dues, no rules...we do have orginized road trips from point a to point b.... I like the national clubs, KKOA, KOA, Goodguys, NSRA but the best is this club if I could dare say it is a club...the H.A.M.B.
You get out of a car club what you are willing to put in,,,,I have been a member of Tri-city rod and custom for over 27 years. I am currently president and I have held every office in the club many times,,,It ain't always fun,,,but we have raise a lotta money for all types of charities over the years. When I joined the club I only knew the guy that took me to the first meeting and there were no more than 12 guys ,,,all were older than me and all were active members. Most off these guys have become very close friends and sadly some have p***ed away,,,a few have dropped out of the club and the car hobby but we still remain friends. The club is planing a 35th anniversary party/cookout and going to invite all the past members and their familys,,,,we did this on our 30th and had a hugh turnout. As far as gang type activitys,,,I have never seen it! Car clubs may not be for everybody,,,,but when our club was started there were just a hand full of guys that were interested in the old cars today more and more people are interested in them,,,,the HAMB is a prime example,,,,, As far a joining a club,,I think it was the right thing for me and my faimly,,,then and now. HRP
i HATE clubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!of all types. i have been involved with a few. and it always turns into a control *****ing thing! we have a good sized vintage motorcycle club here in Ktown. and i helped to get it started. and it has turned into a bunch of ****! i blew up on all of them one night. cussed all them *******s. i never really liked clubs anyway. but got talked into to help out by some friends. and wish i had never done anything. i like to do my own thing. soooooooooo CLUBS ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll have to check that out. The only clubs I knew of in GA were the chainer, Boyd, pastel billet rod type folks. Do you have a link to this council of car clubs? i didn't see it on the link you posted.
I was in that same club, slightly after Chris was. Same deal, the 3% of people that worked on everyone's cars are the number of people that I'm still friends with. The rest were never in it for the cars at all, they were in it becasue to them it was a gang. I was part of that 3% and got ****canned by the other 97% the minute they realized I grew out of the daily bar runs and fist fights. I then became the enemy. Every show I went to that they happened to show up at, their was some kind of prank with the 3% as the **** of it. Now I stay far far away from it. The certain shows I go to I do my own thing with my own friends. I got to my day job, run my own business on the weekends, and work on my cars as well as the 3%'s cars when they need a hand. To be honest its never been better. All your friends don't have to be club members, but all your club members must be your friends. Otherwise it will never work.
The only chance of myself joining a club is if I moved to another city. Here in my hometown, not counting the low rider clubs, there are two "rod" clubs. The founders of the second club were members of the first until they had a falling out. Now the second club is mainly made of people that are a lot better off financially than others. In my opinion it is a big mess. Both talk about one another, won't attend one another's shows, there is even talk of one the clubs not being completely truthful about their nonprofit ways. I don't know. I am sure the clubs can be a good thing, but in my home town they ****.
I kind of like my club. There are 9 of us who regularly attend shows together. We put on our own shows. We work on each other's cars and help each other out. I guess it depends on who you are in a club with. Some are better than others I guess. Mine could use a little work I suppose, but I do not regret starting it or being in it now (we have been around about 3 years).
I was in two different VW clubs,when I was younger. Too many rules,demerits,etc..I stayed away from the club thing for years. Then I met the FoMoCo MoFos. Jeff and Primo are the coolest. No drama,no rules,no meetings,no ********! Now,I have a click of buddies,that seems to be getting bigger,that consists of HAMBers. We do the Anti-donut breakfast,Village Idiots Meet,and whatever else someone wants to do,like caravaning to shows. Most clubs are OVER-organized! I don't need that. Low key is the best.
To each, their own. If I don't get invited to the local car club "event" that has my friends as members..fine. I just tend to gravitate towards the events and people who do not pay attention to the ********...just the cars and great people who want to share their ideas, thoughts and hot rod experiences. I don't get pissed if I am "eliminated" from local events because I am not a member of a club...I just jump in one of my cars and DRIVE!!!!!!!
I helped found a local club here about thirty years ago and in that time it has changed a lot. When we started we drove what we were working on to meetings now we're closer to gold-chainers. We used to have show-and-shines, now its judged shows. In spite of this I still go to the meetings as there are still a lot of nice people there andI still get leads on cars, as far as the shows go, no problem, I just don't enter. I guess my point is if you feel you need to belong to a club find one that seems compatabile and pick the things you want to participate in.
President of an O/T car club for a while. I folded the club when I realized that I was the only one doing any work to keep it alive. It turns out I would rather work on and drive my cars than sit around talking about the car I'm going to build someday. Most car clubs I've seen are a bunch of goofs bench racing and not actually doing anything real. I'm sure their not all this way but the ones I've seen are. Shawn
Clubs are a funny thing. Depends on what your after? Do you want noteriaty or do you just like old cars? Some clubs are only interested in mag coverage, so they only go to certain shows and then there are some that just like to go to shows, any shows. I co-founded the Road Zombies with HotRodHahn and things were great for years, when I moved and Hahn had some personal issues, other members jumped at the chance to change ownership, we basically got the boot! I formed the Checs, my wifes grandfathers car club from the 50's. This time though, I knew what I was looking for. There is no pres or VP or anything like that, I run it, period! I only take people that gravitate toward us, quani***y means nothing to me, just headaches. I could care less how much mag coverage we get. We have been through some hard times but my family has stayed true. This group of misfits is the best group of people I have ever met in my life. So, again its what your looking for but if you do join a club, make sure you really know the people that your going to call your friends. It can be the worst decision you've ever made or the best. Just dont jump in blind, get to know every member, get to know what the club represents, if it feels right then go for it!
WE did the same thing. the only other rule we have is if your going to the show you must help setup or teardown the canopy. If you start trouble you are no longer envited. We have a pretty good time and no problems. We seen the same problems with some of the clubs.
FIRST RULE OF CAR CLUBS IS DON'T TALK ABOUT CAR CLUBS! lol. That is one of the most accurate statements ever.
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