I agree with most. Don't start or join a club. I'm sure some can be cool and fun, but most are filled with drama. Keep an eye out around the valley. There are quite a few clubs. And if some of those clubs are in the same area... DRAMA. I was in a club, but stepped out because I couldn't stand the drama. Good luck!
that sounds about right,,,maybe members should meet some criteria such as oh,,maybe a character reference from current member or not being a guest federal/state prison/asylum... unlike the hamb where joining is just a matter of ticking the "agree'' box
I guess the reason the club I am involved in works because it was started when just a few guys owned a hot rod or custom,42 years and counting and we still have one original member,several of the original members have passed away. Years ago we put on outdoor shows and a yearly show at the national guard armory and donated the money to different civic organizations,,we were the only club around at that time. We still have about 15 regulars at a meeting,we stopped doing shows and really are more or less a social club meeting once a month at a designated members house for a pot luck supper and decide what we want to do,helping a fellow member on a project,picnics,leaf runs,shows or runs. First we are a bunch of older guys and foremost we have been friends most of our adult lives,,no one has anything to prove and it gets us out of the house and a opportunity to hang out and shoot the breeze with our friends. There is absolutely no drama,just a hour or so of good food & friends and occasional helping turn a few wrenches at the meeting. As far as officers,yeah...we just have a good time. There have been several clubs come and go in this area and drama played a big part in their demise. HRP
I don't want to sound "negative", but there is an awful lot of truth in these three posts I selected. First of all, you'll quickly find out, 10 percent of the membership do 90 percent of the work; that means 90 percent will be doing little to nothing, ever, except to reap the "rewards" of membership. IF there's ever ANY money involved, as in a particular officer normally handling it, there should always be TWO who actually have to CO-SIGN checks and such. You can't avoid the cliques that develop, keeping the booze hounds out of meetings is tough to do (as well as the smokers VS the non-smokers), and the issues of just what members are entitled to. I belonged to a a non-profit group for four years, and worked my can off, while I watched others sit on theirs. It finally came down for me to a Givers-Workers VS Takers-Bums situation, and I had to remove myself. I also think it's best to have a service oriented goal the public can see, such as the Marines "Toy's for Tots" used to have (course on a much smaller scale). If you have never belonged to a "club", that's where you should start. JMO. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Here's a club for you.....About 3 years ago I got 10 guys in my area that had been in clubs and had always been car guys....I got them together and this is what I asked them to do....I want you to think back over your lifetime of building, driving and racing cars....name 2 guys that their name always comes up when it comes to people who were always there to help in any way to get your car ready for a Cruise or a race or just someone who you know that has ALWAYS been a car guy.......after about 2 weeks they came up with 20 names, so I started the club....no one knows who nominated them for the club, you can't join it, there's no dues, no meetings or anything like that....then those 20 people got to nominate 1 person who has meant a lot in their life as far as being a car guy and then those were added.....this has taken place over about a 3 year time period and right now we have around 100 guys in the club spread out over about 150 mile radius...everyone gets a formal letter telling them why they were picked and a decal for the lower passenger corner of the windshield...we had a few ticked off because they didn't get chose but it has worked out great and all the people recognize and help fellow members like a brotherhood when they see a car with the decal.......I wanted to start this for several years to honor Real Car Guys and it has.... I get so many letters about how proud they are to display their decals....I have really enjoyed it and the trick is no one knows who nominated them or who the original 10 people were......I'll try to download a picture of the decal later...it's called The Geezers Car Club.
I was in a car club....once. Don't think I could do it again. MONEY is usually where the problems start, along with egos and secrecy. Money is what broke up the one I was in, it was spent as fast as it came in, without good accountability. Members starting asking questions, and didn't get the correct answers, so everybody went their own ways, some with hurt feelings. A couple of the officers weren't as honest as they claimed to be it seemed, and the money was unaccounted for. I can't speak as to their honesty, but I know more was put in than was in the treasury. What happened for sure I can't say, but I left with the rest of them. I am close friends with several guys in another club. They put on a monthly cruise in and a big show in the fall that I attend. Their club is a pretty close knit bunch, but even they have some disagreement amongst themselves. They are an invitation only membership, and even though they have never asked me to join, I help them out sometimes at the cruise in's just because they are good folks. The only way is to just have a close bunch of gearheads get together, no money involved. Everybody pays their own way, no club dues, no rules except have a ride and have fun. And if you decide to put on an event, make certain you know who's doing what, so no surprises. I have a small group of friends around here that we go to some shows and cruise in's together. Sometimes we go eat together afterward. It's all fun, sometimes it's a bunch of us, sometimes it's only two or three of us. And we're all different ages, too, from 30's to 70's. As long as it's car related, we all speak the same language.
Another thing we ran into were hard feelings between us and other clubs in the area. They would come to our shows and events but we couldn't get enough of our people together to go to theirs to pay them back for being nice to us. Eventually, the other clubs wrote us off and didn't come to our things any more. I tried to get our members to go to their events but they always had excuses. I know a club seems like fun, but it isn't all it is cracked up to be. Don
Dont There a pain in the ass and just as it gets going well somone will know more then you and take the club in other directions. I know !
They are a very tough thing. My club is based on friendships, not cars. It was started in the 50s and still has one original member. Once you're in, you're always in. Some guys have had to sell their cars to make ends meet, but they're still members. I like it that way. And yes, keep money out of it!
All depends on what you want to get out of a club. Another guy and I started meeting for lunch every Wednesday and talked about our cars and projects, after a couple of weeks we had two other friends join us, well 9 years and 146 guys now, we still meet on Wednesdays for lunch at the local sports bars ( spread the wealth around town ). No dues, no officers, no shows but we now have everyone you enjoys old cars and old racing, 92 to 28 years of age and so far we haven't had and fights in the parking lots. If someone wants to put on a chili supper in the winter or a wennie roast in the summer, that's great, expect about 30 -60 members and wives , if no body wants to put one on, that's fine to. Other than fellowship with other car guys, all you get is your name on a list and a chance for the older guys to get out of the house at least one day a week and talk to someone with the same interest. Of course these old guys can be worse than old women so there will always seem to be a little bit of drama, but if you not involved, it can get pretty funny !
Club Stuff........ most of you guys are right. Most of the time its a lot of drama and bull shit, but I gotta say, the one I am leading now The Acse And Eight of Pa.is a solid pull together bunch of good hot rodders. We do have our problems, but they seem to work themselves out. Just hanging out would be the perfect thing except you still need someone to get it started, that's always the issue. Just think, no clubs, maybe no car shows, if that's even important to you. Personally I like driving to the show, looking at the stuff, then driving some more. To some, like myself, a club can define who you and your ride are, buy association. I think its cool to roll into a function with an organized club. There is good and bad in any organization. Just saying...
Clubs can be a pain, or fun, it just depends on how structured they get. The fun part of a club is getting a bunch of guys together with similar interests, and either going out for a drive, or meeting for a bite to eat. You can also have club events, car shows, charity functions, meetings, dues, etc., etc., but all that just makes them a pain. The best clubs I've been involved with have had little or no structure. If it wasn't for having a club name you'd almost not know they were clubs! Get togethers were not planned well ahead, and nobody really cared who showed, and who couldn't show. No dues, or officers, so no drama. We have this setup in our small club now, and it's very relaxed and very enjoyable. We help each other out when a car needs it. Get together occasionally for a lunch. Go for a cruise, or car show together, and have no idea if anyone is in charge. It's the perfect club format in my opinion.
We are all members of the Hamb and like it or not it in the grand scheme of things it's a club,,, Some here are quick to point out there is a lot of arguing and drama on these pages..sounds like some of the clubs people complain about doesn't it! HRP
If you're hanging with fellow gearheads who's idea of getting dressed up is putting on a clean t-shirt,spend most of your spare time in the garage,and most of your spare money(?) on your car, you don't need a club. Unless you want to do things you really don't want to do, with people you don't want to do them with, and basically spend your time like you're on a trip with little kids;" Are we there yet? That's too far away! What if -----happens? I'm hungry! I'm thirsty! Where are we going to eat-I don't like that place!" And the real clincher" Are the wives invited?".Then you have to spend time designing the clothing line with logos (t-shirts; long and short sleeve,sweatshirts- regular and hooded,jackets-winter and summer weight . . I'm going back to the garage and hide!!! Good Luck! Mike from Mass.
If you do, keep the club rules to a minimum. My suggested rules would be as follows; Rule No 1 --- Have Fun Rule No 2--- Don't be an asshole . The simpler the better.
rule 3....No meetings rule 4....No dues rule 5....No officers rule 6....If anyone suggest a meeting...disband what you already have going
Well I'm going to chime in here to say I belong to a great car club, Vintage Tin of Western Pa. It has been around since the early 1970's and with a lot of fun and sucess along the way. A club is only as good as the people that are in it in my opinion. It's ALL in what you make of it. I enjoy my membership and the great people I get to meet along the way. Good luck with your indevor.
Go for it! Clubs are a good idea. They promote the hobby and show community pride. Sometimes they can be ruined by ego's. I currently belong to a Tri-Five Chevy club that is 30 years old and has gained a lot of respect in the community. We are family oriented and the gals are an equal part and probably the hardest workers. To the guys who say no gals, they don't know what they are talking about. Yes, we have even had a gal as president. We work our butts off to sponsor one of the bigger swap meets in the St. Louis area. We are rewarded for our efforts and we share our rewards, we have donated $30,000 plus to dozens and dozens of local charities. We have monthly meetings, and nearly every month we have a cruise to a restaurant, usually one we have never been to before. We have a couple of workshops a year where we get together to share knowledge on our cars. We organize cruizes that may visit any state or states in the lower 48. Some of our cruises have been 3,300 miles plus. Our main focus is having FUN and seldom do we have to remind anyone who shows an attitude they are out of line. There is another Tri-Five Chevy club just across the river that is quite a bit older than us that we do a lot of traveling with also. If it weren't for clubs there would be no organized large cruises or swap meets. I have been to cruises and swap meets all around these great United States and I have not seen one where there wasn't a hard working club to provide the manpower to put it on. Car clubs seldom receive the recognition they deserve.
Amen brother. If its old, american, and has pieces of your knuckles attatched to it, then were good, grab two beers outta my cooler and come hang out, youve met the requirements. the metric system? never heard of it.......
Been there done that. I was in two clubs, first was cool, no body in charge, no dues, all you had to do was show up and drive your car to shows, help each other with your rides, was fun time no drama. Club two dues, pres, and all the people under him, help each other "not" drive your cars to shows "maybe" but the one thing they all agreed on was on club night at meeting we all could set and drink beer and talk shit about some of the other clubs and some hot rod builders in town who would bend over and kiss their ass, joined in may was gone in June. Shame because it's one of the oldest clubs in town.
Our club rules: 1. No wives, daughters or girlfriends. 2. No pets. 3. No officers. 4. Don't park in the host's wife's parking place. 5. You must be out by 9:00 PM. No dues, just a good time. Anything more becomes a pissing contest with ex-friends.
I may have posted in here before. I love clubs, I think they are bad ass....BUT, man is it hard. At least in my club anyway. We have been together 4 years and still battle over the same bullshit. For the most part, we are on the same page but a couple guys make it harder than it should be. We throw a KILLER show, respected by other clubs, get offers to do a lot of stuff, etc....but sometimes it seems too hard to be worth it. Not sure if we are going to recover from some of the un-called for drama that has happened recently so I am backing off and just seeing where it goes. I worked hard for the club, building it up, doing what I thought the club would like and then we BATTLE over giving away a $5 dollar shirt, or a post on the clubs facebook page, prospecting lengths, what show to hit, etc.... I don't want the club to die or lose members but fuck is it hard.
The Jalopy Journal
