RENAULT OWNERS CLUB!!???

[RENOMAD]

Guys, maybe this is not the place to air this, but this is what I see!!!I only got into the old Renault scene in the last 3 years and joined both the ROC AND RCCC.Last week I saw 10 issues of RENOTES on ebay from 10 years ago--I bought them. Boy was the ROC different 10 ago.It will take me a week to read them-----what has happened.The current issues are half the size and you are lucky to have 2 cars foe sale as opposed to about 15/20 for sale back then. Even the suppliers of parts seem to have dwindled.Surely all the cars that were advertised as near mint havn't all disappeared--or have they.Surely all the Renault Fanatics havn't disappeared also----or have they moved????John

[Guest greenvanman]

Hasn't the ROC been dead for a couple of years now?

[RENOMAD]

No---I still get RENOTES ,,though it seems to be a shadow of its former self.

[Hertz]

Hasn't the ROC been dead for a couple of years now?

I thought it had gone tits up as well Seem to remember alot of members leaving the club.On the spares front I had a chat with the guy who runs/owns Renault Turbo Spares near Accrington and he says that business isn't great. Main cause is that people are sourcing their own parts from ebay and having a go at repairs themselves as well.Also there just isn't that many survivors left on the road as you are finding out......

[nigel bickle]

Paul Cunningham -my 'local' Renault man who seems to know EVERYTHING 60-80's REgie, (and posts here-!) says biz is dire right now -no ones mending Old stuff -just buying new 'white goods'.Certainly when I've been there, punters have been very price conscious....Bodes badly -I fear

[mk2_craig]

I think most car clubs were different 10 years ago. Those that have embraced internet forums etc since then have prospered. Those that haven't are struggling/merging/giving up

[pogweasel]

Don't know what it's like for Renner's but there's the 'People's front of Judea / Judean People's Front' syndrome that happens in the strange world of old cars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb_qHP7VaZELike the 1,567 different clubs for old Granadas, each with an average of 1.03 members....

[j-j]

God, I was at the Citroen Club national rally at the w/end and it was great and really sunny but there's been a bit of a falling out between some folks and the people's front in this case printed out their own version of the CX column and attached it to every car's window wiper over night (when we were all drinking happily in the dark) to wake up next day to find a little laser printed mag with lots of rants for brekkie and to announce there's going to be a break away CX club. CCclub is still going strong mind, and after a low point a couple of years ago it looks like it's on the up again. I only enjoy these events to see the cars and meet the nutters who own them, hang out with the BX boys and generally not give a stuff about the club organisers and their warfare as to me it's just a car club FFS and not like it's local government or something.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

'Breakaway CX club' LOL, what is it with people.

[Spottedlaurel]

Datsun OC is pretty much defunct nowadays too, kind of awkward when non-internet people ring about it but when Datman has a good forum on the go which covers everything it’s difficult to find the time and enthusiasm to assist in running a ‘proper’ club.

[garethj]

Don't know what it's like for Renner's but there's the 'People's front of Judea / Judean People's Front' syndrome that happens in the strange world of old cars. Like the 1,567 different clubs for old Granadas, each with an average of 1.03 members....

Fords seem worse than most for this breakaway thing, and when they already have clubs specifically for the Mk3 Cortina which is nothing to do with the Mk4 Cortina Club....Compared to 10 years ago there's so much info out there on the www that the reason for most car clubs forming has pretty much gone now?I remember when the internet was all just porn

[Pete-M]

Naaaaaaaah, nananananananana!Land Rovers. That's where the mentalists all want to run their own club.I joined Liverpool Land Rover Society a couple of years ago because there was a flyer in my local LR place and thought I'd go along for a laugh. Turned out that was their first meeting, they'd split from Liverpool Land Rover Club and decided to form a friendlier club. I was at the first meet, so they were more than happy to have me there. A year or two later they decided "not to renew your membership" because someone in my car had smoked a spliff on a green lane (10 months earlier) and that wasn't in the spirit of the club.. they didn't mention that my Range Rover was the only one that didn't break, and the only one that was carrying spares and tools, or that we fixed more than one of their cars on that day.I posted about this on a couple of LR forums (more for a laugh than anything) and I've been flooded with invitations to join other LR clubs in Liverpool. There must be a minimum of 10 of them, just near me.Ees-a-crayzee.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Well, on the plus side that R18 Turbo listed in the classifieds for resto is now down to only £800!

 

It seems I joined the ROC party too late. I joined about 3 1/2 years ago when the rot had already set in & it was on the slippery downward slope. Shame. Even the online message board was as lively as a nursing home during afternoon nap time, basically because they made it 'member's only', so you made your post then returned 2 weeks later to see if anybody had responded......it's just not cricket! I think it's open to everyone now, it was last time, not that I've bothered to check in the past year or so there's just no enthusiasm. I'm basically paying my 25 quid a year to flick through a quarterly magazine. I'm not sure why I'm bothering.....just like to say I'm 'in it' I suppose & keep abreast of what's going on (nothing much).

 

Compare it to the FMCGB though (Fiat Motor Club GB) which I've been a member of for about 6 years now http://www.fiatmotorclubgb.com/ & it's a world away from the ROC, the members are enthusiastic, the forum is constant like this place, the magazine is informative, people are always willing to contribute, always events listed......etc etc. Why can't the ROC be more like those guys?

[carlo]

I used to go to Club Peugeot UK events regularly in the early nineties and you would inevitably see around 20 to 30 204/304 Cabriolets & Coupes (I had a 204 Cabrio at the time.)Despite relocating to Devon seven years ago I thought I'd venture to their annual rallye a couple of years back and there was not one of them there, and a pretty meagre selection of other types as well.Seems to be the general story, doesn't it?

[Mr Lobster]

I joined the ROC in about '93 and back then it was actually quite good. The annual events were particularly good with at least 100 cars turning up, the magazine was great and it was generally all good. Then in about 2000 it all seemed to get very political, the RCCC was formed as a breakaway club and is now probably both bigger and better. I gave up with the ROC about four years back, it was generally being run by the power crazed (though not all, there were some good people still involved at that time) and seemed to have lost any real relevance and the magazine was full of fairly uninteresting toss.It has gone through my mind that it might be worth joining the RCCC but then I can't actually see much point or be arsed...

[Guest greenvanman]

Why can't the ROC be more like those guys?

I've been a member at various times in the past and found your experiences to be fairly typical, Reg. The last contact I had with them was a few years back when I was trying to help an acquaintance find a workshop manual for an R10 auto he owned. Their message board was open to non-members at that time, but someone there took the trouble to delete my post and send me a snotty message that I should renew my expired membership. When I replied to ask them how I was any different from the dozens of other non-members posting all over their forum, I got no reply. Quelle surprise.I eventually got a manual from a nice man in Western Australia, but the R10 got scrapped because it's owner was an idiot. The last I heard he was trying to get an MOT on the world's rustiest Volvo Amazon...

[marinast]

Ford owners clubs have always been fights waiting to happen. Too much self-rightous thinking and not wanting to work with anyone else. I looked for an owners club for my Mk2 Ghia Escort many years ago, the only one about catering for Mk1/2 Escorts was the Sporting Escort Owners Club.But mine being a Ghia meant zero respect unless it had been extensivly modified and bazzered up.I went from that to the Allegro Club International, boy what a difference, totally different club, different attitudes and best thing of all a fantastic spares facility and a lovely club magazine which will actually print articles written by its members and not the 'hard core' selective clustered around the Chairman.

[reallyloud]

I've always thought that Renault seem to be well represented at classic car shows - Bromley in particular always seems to have at least 20 cars - there must have been at least 10 16's there last year. The problem is basically that you put a bunch of guys together and egos one way or another start developing. Some clubs don't really help themselves - I put that down to the fact that social skills and unusual cars are not mutually compatable all the time. I try and chat to owners when photographing their cars, most are quite receptive but not all. Curiously the chaps at the Lamborghini owners club and the Mercedes W113 Pagoda guys stick in my mind as being quite friendly. I doubt whether I will be bothering them for ownership details but that didn't seem to matter at all.

[r.welfare]

Clubs are a mixed bunch, aren't they? I've only been members of two - Club Audi and the Autobahnstormers.Club Audi, at that time (2001) had no forum or whatnot, but ran a trackday at Curborough that I toddled up to in my 80 quattro. The older contingent loved it, and the younger, monied members (all in S3s and TTs) looked at me like I'd just peed on their shoes.The Autobahnstormers were better - good (members only) forum, and a decent turnout at Billing the two years I went, including one member who went out of his way to meet up with me at Oxford and select a route that avoided Silverstone due to the show clashing with the Grand Prix that year - but there were still plenty of big egos present at the top who, if they had their way, would change the entry requirements to Lotus Carltons only.Since then I've just used club forums wherever possible, and not taken any of my cars to shows (or just left them in the car park).CPUK's forum is exactly as you described the ROC one, Reg. If you have a French car and want technical advice, the French Car Forum is pretty good.

[AnthonyG]

I have been a member of three different clubs within recent memory - the Avenger & Sunbeam owners club & the Mercedes Benz owners club - as I owned relevent cars at the time - and the Mazda Mx5 owners club which was joined at the NEC show in a fit of potential purchase enthuiasm.The Merc and the MX5 one were similar - they were run like a business (in fact they probably are), with a professional quality monthly magazine, and lots of activities.The Avenger one was much smaller as you might imagine, and seemed to be running OK, didn't notice that much change from when I was a member in the 1990s. Forum was fairly useless - member's only as usual, and frequently not working. Since there have only ever been two clubs for Avengers - this one and the Hillman Owner's - the split issue has not reared its head.Although I haven't been a member for the last five years or so, the 1100 (BMC Ado16) club always seemed to be friendly, with a very good magazine and excellent club displays at shows.

[Rocket88]

I've had some odd experiences with various Vauxhall clubs, especially when I was told that my Royale convertible "was never made", and it must be a home chop job. When revealed, the Vauxhall part number on the roll bar resulted in much muttering and shuffling of feet from offending party, but no apology.......................

[jonkw]

Breakaway CX club' LOL, what is it with people. Rolling Eyes

As it goes, I started up www.bxclub.co.uk as one of those pesky breakway clubs over 3 years ago as Citroen Car Club seem to try and disreagrd BX, and only really appreciate Traction Av, DS and the like; and we are doing well. Sure there isn't some monthly owners club mag or anything, but what you do get is a free forum, no fees of any kind, club insurance scheme, and merchandising such as T shirts, mugs, stickers and the like, basically most of the "club benefits" without an annual fee. Its not very difficult, and unlike many of these very regimented clubs, our lot do like a bit of a laugh and a drink. Which is becoming increasingly rare in the club scene these days.

[55bloke]

I've looked at the ROC several times, and always decided it didn't look to be worth joining unless you own a Laguna or a Megane. Best, most enthusiastic, and most knowlegable forum I've found yet, by a long way, is Aussiefrogs.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Best, most enthusiastic, and most knowlegable forum I've found yet, by a long way, is Aussiefrogs.

Hmmm can't see too many monthly meets being made!

[pompei]

This all reminds me of my student days:- there was the Labour Party, the Broad Left, Militant, Socialist Worker, Communist etc etc, and on the other side, the Federation of Conservative Students. The left all hated each other more than the Tories. Funny how that persisted right through the 80's and 90's (sorry got a bit Ben Elton there)