How/when did you join your first car club?

The how part is easy,,I had an acquaintance that had a cool 1932 Plymouth PB coupe and I was blown away by that car,,the guy only had that one car to drive day in and day out and I wanted to hat a hot rod too!.

He took me to my first meeting in that car and even let me drive it,,the hook was set!

The when part was just a few years after the club had been formed.

Tri-City Rod & Custom was established in 1972 back when very few hot rods were on the road in this area.

The bylaws stated you didn't even have to have a older car just the desire,,most members were in their early 20's and we have seen times of unbridled grow and membership swelled to 50 or 60 members over the last 38 years.

Today we have between 16 to 20 members that attend most meetings and drive a hot rods on a regular basis but sadly our youngest member is in his mid 50's,,we are getting older and have one original charter member that was at the very fist meeting.

a hand full of us have been involved over 35 years with the club.

These guys taught me a lot about building hot rods ,,much like the hamb helps guys today,,as for car clubs,,they are not for everybody but these guys are like part of my family.

I'm also a member of the local Early Ford V8 Club ,,but don't get to make too many outings with these guys,,most of their activity's are designed for folks that are retired and can pick up and go at a moments notice.HRP

 

I joined Minisink Valley Cruisers about 3 years ago. Our slogan is "No Dues, Just Cruise". We meet every Sunday morning (weather permitting) and just drive wherever. Ususally about 75 miles or so. It's a lot of fun with none of the BS that comes with many clubs. I'm gettin' ready to leave here in a few...

 

My wife and I joined the "Down Shifters" Huntley , Illinois about 5 years ago.
The original club was founded over 35 years ago and later died out.
One of our founding members had an old aluminum cast car club plaque,
and he ask a bunch of us car guys & gals if we wanted to re start the club.
The club has NO rules, No by laws, NO meetings, No dues, no restrictions,
anybody can join. We have a leader we call "The Gran Poo Bah", Louie is a real
neat guy. We have cruise nights, go to car shows, help each other with our cars,
or chasing parts. We all wear our club Tees or hoodies, and all have replica car plaques. There are probably 40 members or so. There are cl***ic, muscle, custom
cars and trucks.
Lots of fun!

Bob _ Hampshire, Illinois

 

I was 15, almost 16,when I became the proud new owner of a '57 Chevy Belair 2 dr hardtop (1985). The interior was pretty trashed (ripped up diamond tuck black front seat, and modifed with '63-4 Impala rear seat and arm rests. Everything but the front seat was maroon, and I always suspected the car had matching Impala bucket seats in it at one time, but the previous owner removed them when he sold the car. Anyway, my dad and I had noticed a little upholstery shop behind a guy's house in Forsyth, GA, and there was a nice '56 210 2 door wagon parked in the driveway, so we stopped by. The owner's name was Rudisill Pippin, a nice older guy (probably late 60s, early 70s then), and he made me a pretty good deal on recovering the seats (put a '57 rear seat back in). Mr. Pippin told us about his car club, the Metro Macon Mid-Fifties, and we met up with him one weekend soon afterwards to go to the meeting. There weren't many members my age, but it was a good group with lots of knowledge of the cars, and willingness to help a 16 year old who had no idea what he was getting into. Mr. Pippin has been gone maybe 15-20 years, and by the time I started college the club wasn't doing so well. I don't think they still exist, but I occasionally see former members at drag races or swap meets (saw one at the Perry meet last weekend).

BTW, if you have ever seen "Macon County Line", Mr Pippin's car was in it (in the background, driving down the street). It was turquoise and white.

 

Sounds cool!

 

in about 1964 me and a couple buds kinda started our own car club, but due to our wonderfull intentions and cain raising and acting like normal teen agers we had a little meeting with the cops and sheriff who told us to cease, diesist and disband, and we were perfectly well behaved
when I got drafted in 1966 the sheriff made sure i got on the bus and seem happy I was leaving, and even"offered to drop all the charges" more of my perfect behavior

 

Good story...thank you for your service!

 

Me neither. I actually found an old Lone Wolf No Club plaque in a dusty corner of an antique store the other day. I bought it since it seemed pretty fitting.

 

I joined the Corvair club about '87-'88, went to a few (OK 2) meetings and found out that only one guy in the club actually ever worked on a car that wasn't his own... He was one of my best friends until he dies a few years ago.

In 2007, see below.

 

1998 Premier Performance back in High School when I was a 5.0 Mustang *****... Then I got smart and made my move to REAL HOT RODS....

 

I joined the "Stags" car club in 1958 and am still a member. The club is still going strong although I've slowed down a bit!

Mick