Car clubs

[Father Ted]

I like the idea of the bigwigs of a car club being treated as revered and respected, that's the most bonkers idea of all.

LOL - bit like that on BXC where for a while people thought I was important and knew things ( Im not, and I dont, unless its about how cocaine and alcohol metabolise to form cocaethaline or how to make a weapon out of a bog brush). Then it got a bit cliquy, then some shit went on in my personal life that made me realise that getting too het up about it and whether one member was being "ungentlemanly" by rescuing cars, polishing them and selling them on, was just silly in the grand scheme of things. Its a fine forum for technical support but a bit too serious for me now. I tend to gravitate to BXP where people call you cnuts but in a nice way and spend time getting pissed and occasionally fixing old French cars and buses.....But obviously what suits one person wont suit another and all that. I suppose at the end of the day if there wasnt these "clubs" there would be fewer of certain marques of car about as people would struggle to keep them running.

[whitevanman]

I have only ever been in two clubs, a custom van club and a transit club, both have seriously disappointed in some way or another, mostly due the politics of the club, once you get just a bit active you are a target. Just pay your subs and come and get pissed at runs and you are fine.

also my experience of all but two clubs that I have ever been assosiated withprops to the MTOC and the FSG the only clubs I'll ever be in I suspect

[pbottomley]

who the hell wants to drive say a 50s car on crossplys , sealed beam headlights and no seatbelts in todays modern traffic just coz thats how it" left the factory " , not even safe IMHO .

Ohh man a wee little car on skinny crossplys is ace fun.... highly recommended.... shame no one sells 6.20 x 12 anymore

[shite_meister]

Owners of the original Mini can be a very strange bunch, particularly when it comes to the current Mini (or MINI). The Mini Cooper Register can also be quite unpleasant and standoffish.

As a Mini owner myself I really don't get why classic shape Mini owners are so aggressive about towards new MINI owners, I thinks its pathetic, I've been there when someone has made a minor comment and I felt ashamed, sure BMW have effectively 'bought' themselves some heritage but so what? I don't know about these people but I certainly have more important issues in my life. Picture the scene:Mrs Smith buys a new shape MINI because she likes the looks/fact that its a modern Mini so its not cramped and noisy and unreliable like the old Mini, she goes to a meet to a gathering to show her new-found enthusiasm and what do the classic Mini owners do? "Thats not a Mini etc etc" Mrs Smith goes away feeling downbeat thinking what a bunch of cunts-I guarantee this happens.I've mentioned this before but about a year or so ago I bought a tidy MGB to make a small profit on, as the annual (anal?) MGOC meet is here in Jersey and at the time I owned one I thought I'd pop down (not in the MG) for half an hour (half an hour is about my limit) because they usually have a few other cars there. Anyway I thought I'd make small talk with some fuck-wit from Birmingham and despite taking an interest in his car the aforementioned tosser confirmed every stereo-type anal stuck-up dick of a classic car owner you could possibly imagine.Its an age old comment that Autoshite regularly returns to, snotty faced stuck-up owners and their clubs and that gentleman is why I like to frequent the good site Autoshite. There are a few good sites that are worth their weight in gold for the technical help and advice they offer. Hopefully its a case that the cream always rises to the top. I leave the cliquey clubs to themselves and if they are too reluctant to evolve then hopefully they die though sadly alot of the members np doubt move on to other clubs like a disease.There was a situation in the nineties before the internet took off where there were so many Ford Granada clubs the classic car press even wrote about how ridiculous it was becoming.

[VWPowered]

That's how it should be. None of this doing smoking doughnuts lark in the car park and showing off your 3000 cuntawatt sound systems.

that was why i picked the name no-rice i.e no jap cars with 100ft long bodykits, novas with 10,000,000 watts systems etc

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

There was a situation in the nineties before the internet took off where there were so many Ford Granada clubs the classic car press even wrote about how ridiculous it was becoming.

If I recall correctly, there was both a Cortina Mark 11 owners club, and a Mark 11 Cortina owners club. Two clubs, same name, words juxtapositioned."Are you the people's front of Judea....?"

[nottinghamphil]

Owners of the original Mini can be a very strange bunch, particularly when it comes to the current Mini (or MINI). The Mini Cooper Register can also be quite unpleasant and standoffish.

As a Mini owner myself I really don't get why classic shape Mini owners are so aggressive about towards new MINI owners, I thinks its pathetic, I've been there when someone has made a minor comment and I felt ashamed, sure BMW have effectively 'bought' themselves some heritage but so what? I don't know about these people but I certainly have more important issues in my life. Picture the scene:Mrs Smith buys a new shape MINI because she likes the looks/fact that its a modern Mini so its not cramped and noisy and unreliable like the old Mini, she goes to a meet to a gathering to show her new-found enthusiasm and what do the classic Mini owners do? "Thats not a Mini etc etc" Mrs Smith goes away feeling downbeat thinking what a bunch of cunts-I guarantee this happens.

I can assure you that I speak for many many Mini owners when I say that most Mini enthusiasts DO NOT WANT, OR WISH to be invaded at their shows by the BMW small car.This car although it maybe a good small car in its own right is not and never will be a Mini in anything more than name only, the sooner the owners of this modern abomination which trades on the Mini name realise that there is no place for them at classic Mini shows.Maybe thats why the are banished to a far corner of the shows, so they can chat amongst themselves without being bothered by the vast majority of paying public who are not in the slightest bit interested in paying to attend a show only to be confronted by what they can see at the local Tesco car park.

[Timewaster]

Owners of the original Mini can be a very strange bunch, particularly when it comes to the current Mini (or MINI). The Mini Cooper Register can also be quite unpleasant and standoffish.

As a Mini owner myself I really don't get why classic shape Mini owners are so aggressive about towards new MINI owners, I thinks its pathetic, I've been there when someone has made a minor comment and I felt ashamed, sure BMW have effectively 'bought' themselves some heritage but so what? I don't know about these people but I certainly have more important issues in my life. Picture the scene:Mrs Smith buys a new shape MINI because she likes the looks/fact that its a modern Mini so its not cramped and noisy and unreliable like the old Mini, she goes to a meet to a gathering to show her new-found enthusiasm and what do the classic Mini owners do? "Thats not a Mini etc etc" Mrs Smith goes away feeling downbeat thinking what a bunch of cunts-I guarantee this happens.

I can assure you that I speak for many many Mini owners when I say that most Mini enthusiasts DO NOT WANT, OR WISH to be invaded at their shows by the BMW small car.This car although it maybe a good small car in its own right is not and never will be a Mini in anything more than name only, the sooner the owners of this modern abomination which trades on the Mini name realise that there is no place for them at classic Mini shows.Maybe thats why the are banished to a far corner of the shows, so they can chat amongst themselves without being bothered by the vast majority of paying public who are not in the slightest bit interested in paying to attend a show only to be confronted by what they can see at the local Tesco car park.

Your post is EXACTLY why I dont bother with car clubs anymore.The last mini club I was involved in included a founder member who had a fantastic 68 Cooper that everyone swooned over, and a 2003 Cooper that they could barely stop themselves from spitting at.There were people who would choose whether or not to talk to him depending on what car he drove that day.Do you really want to be associated with pricks like that?

[nottinghamphil]

Your post is EXACTLY why I dont bother with car clubs anymore.The last mini club I was involved in included a founder member who had a fantastic 68 Cooper that everyone swooned over, and a 2003 Cooper that they could barely stop themselves from spitting at. What you say sums it up in the one sentence, The '68 Cooper is a real Mini, the 2003 is not... I rest my case

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I rest my case

You don't have a case, other than the case of you being a cretin. If you are representative of 'real mini' owners i'll take care to give any mini gatherings a wide berth as you could clearly title them 'bigoted moron conventions' without losing any accuracy in the description.I suppose BMW mini owners should be forced to give up their seats on buses to 'real mini' owners etc in your ideal world.

[Richard]

I can see no reason why a BMW MINI should be at a Mini show, except as transport to get there. It's a different car altogether, and one that has enough of a following to have its own shows.

[shite_meister]

Owners of the original Mini can be a very strange bunch, particularly when it comes to the current Mini (or MINI). The Mini Cooper Register can also be quite unpleasant and standoffish.

As a Mini owner myself I really don't get why classic shape Mini owners are so aggressive about towards new MINI owners, I thinks its pathetic, I've been there when someone has made a minor comment and I felt ashamed, sure BMW have effectively 'bought' themselves some heritage but so what? I don't know about these people but I certainly have more important issues in my life. Picture the scene:Mrs Smith buys a new shape MINI because she likes the looks/fact that its a modern Mini so its not cramped and noisy and unreliable like the old Mini, she goes to a meet to a gathering to show her new-found enthusiasm and what do the classic Mini owners do? "Thats not a Mini etc etc" Mrs Smith goes away feeling downbeat thinking what a bunch of cunts-I guarantee this happens.

I can assure you that I speak for many many Mini owners when I say that most Mini enthusiasts DO NOT WANT, OR WISH to be invaded at their shows by the BMW small car.This car although it maybe a good small car in its own right is not and never will be a Mini in anything more than name only, the sooner the owners of this modern abomination which trades on the Mini name realise that there is no place for them at classic Mini shows.Maybe thats why the are banished to a far corner of the shows, so they can chat amongst themselves without being bothered by the vast majority of paying public who are not in the slightest bit interested in paying to attend a show only to be confronted by what they can see at the local Tesco car park.

I take your point about seeing stuff that you could see in Tescos car park but surely you are missing the whole point of why people have certain cars and go to certain shows-its the enthusiasm that they have for the car that they like and I'd wager alot of MINI owners are people who want modern car reliability with something a little different to the usual modern hatch and whether the new MINI is any different to anything else in its class isn't the point, the point is people who aren't mechanically minded and who might be scared by an old car peceive the new MINI to be something a bit more exciting than a Fiesta or Corsa whilst carrying the new MINI to a new generation so they pop down to a Mini show with their enthusiasm and whoooops who's just pissed on their parade but a load of Mini owners who are in fact WORSE than MG owners because at least MG owners embrace the MGF.

[Timewaster]

I can see no reason why a BMW MINI should be at a Mini show, except as transport to get there. It's a different car altogether, and one that has enough of a following to have its own shows.

Good point, you wouldn't take a Mondeo to a Cortina show and expect to exhibit it, but would the Cortina owners treat you like a lepper - or worse?Can anyone shed any light on original Beetle owners attitude towards the "new" Beetle?Have they got their heads as far up their own arse as original mini owners?

[RedSparrow]

Being the owner of a 'not a proper' Triumph and a 'not a proper' MG, I have found it easier to not bother with clubs or shows at all. I just cant be bothered with the sad old wankers who just want to talk about themselves and how great their fucking MGB is. Maybe I've just been unlucky, I don't know.The only reason a new mini shouldn't be at a show is because they are still in production and I see probably 20 of them a day.

[nottinghamphil]

I rest my case

You don't have a case, other than the case of you being a cretin. If you are representative of 'real mini' owners i'll take care to give any mini gatherings a wide berth as you could clearly title them 'bigoted moron conventions' without losing any accuracy in the description.I suppose BMW mini owners should be forced to give up their seats on buses to 'real mini' owners etc in your ideal world.

I had hoped that this forum was a mature and 'Grown Up' place to discuss old cars and vehicles, their running and an appreciation of 'Shite' , sadly it would appear that namecalling and insulting people of a different opinion is rife ( see above ), well if thats how it is then Mr Bollox ... I presume your first name is 'Utter' , as what you spout clearly is !

[155V6]

Being the owner of a 'not a proper' Triumph and a 'not a proper' MG, I have found it easier to not bother with clubs or shows at all.

I bet my MG's less proper than yours

[dollywobbler]

It's a tricky one with Minis. I mean, at 2CV events, if you tried parking up your C3 Pluriel in a line-up, I think you'd be asked to move it. Though we only have one traditional 'show and shine' type event a year, and that's thankfully a relaxed affair.My wife, who owns a 'proper' Mini is very anti-MINI. The newcomer does seem to cause upset because it's too much like a BMW and not small enough. I don't think that's snobbishness though. Snobbishness is telling to you piss off because you've used a non-standard bolt or something.I'd be interested to know whether the Fiat 500 old/new enthusiasts are in the same boat, or is the new one accepted because it's not German?

[ChinaTom]

I rest my case

You don't have a case, other than the case of you being a cretin. If you are representative of 'real mini' owners i'll take care to give any mini gatherings a wide berth as you could clearly title them 'bigoted moron conventions' without losing any accuracy in the description.I suppose BMW mini owners should be forced to give up their seats on buses to 'real mini' owners etc in your ideal world.

Absolutely. Look guys, this is bordering on "fundamentalist" and that, historically, hasn't done anyone any good. There's nothing wrong with having a passion for the purity of the marque - but it only constitutes an opinion that you are free to voice and stick too; but it doesn't do any good to dismiss people that think differently and make them feel unwelcome. Especially here.I think it is time for Shite-owning members who haven't posted up pics of their motors for the last year to post them up again and steer this back to the celebration of autoshite. It isn't often that I stand up and say something like this, but calling people offensive names is getting a little worrying, and I'm sure it may be putting people off contributing. Swearing is fine when there is a backbone of underlying humour behind it, but it isn't really fair on the moderators to try and manage the "you're a tw*t" scuffles.Let's lighten up and cheer up eh?

[155V6]

Funny,but all the VW/Audi owners seem to get on regardless of what they drive.

[garycox]

Can eveyone stop having bloody arguments please?!Jeezus.I can see where RR got their 'you can't say anything even slightly negative about anyhing ever' policy from.Don't let this one go the same way please.Ta.

[nottinghamphil]

Funny,but all the VW/Audi owners seem to get on regardless of what they drive.

Yes, but thats because they are all usually Sandal wearing, Lentil eating Vegetarians or Vegans, who burn josticks, don't wash regularly, wear charity shop clothes, have 'Freecycle' in their favourites and keep smelly dogs in their rusty VW camper vans

[VWPowered]

lucky i own only 5 VW's at the moment then isnt it

[shite_meister]

It's a tricky one with Minis. I mean, at 2CV events, if you tried parking up your C3 Pluriel in a line-up, I think you'd be asked to move it.

Yes but I bet they would be asked with more manners and less abuse than a MINI owner would.I own a classic Mini, I wouldn't really want to see a new MINI in a classic car show either but if someone came up to me in one and started chatting then even I could understand their enthusiasm for the marque regardless of its form or year of production. Yes they're still in production yes you can see them in any car park why berate the owner of such a vehicle so harshly?

[Timewaster]

Funny,but all the VW/Audi owners seem to get on regardless of what they drive.

Yes, but thats because they are all usually Sandal wearing, Lentil eating Vegetarians or Vegans, who burn josticks, don't wash regularly, wear charity shop clothes, have 'Freecycle' in their favourites and keep smelly dogs in their rusty VW camper vans

From the same man who wrote:"I had hoped that this forum was a mature and 'Grown Up' place to discuss old cars and vehicles, their running and an appreciation of 'Shite' , sadly it would appear that namecalling and insulting people of a different opinion is rife ( see above ), well if thats how it is then Mr Bollox ... I presume your first name is 'Utter' , as what you spout clearly is !"I've seen enough of this thread now. The attitudes shown here are the same as the ones I was bemoaning in the car clubs.So I'm off. See you in the other, far more pleasant posts. Peace Brothers!

[aled]

there is also conflict at car shows where you get modern cars, modded cars, classics all together. i know that the singleton park show at swansea that used to be a classic car show has suffered greatly by modern cars, and modded cars, and classics all on the same field, but the organisers have enlarged the funfair area, the market stall area, and greatly reduced the autojumble area where you could get a marvelous amount of tat cheaply. i personally haven,t taken a car there for about 5 years, the last time i did it poured down and the grass became waterlogged and the fuckwit security guards wouldn't let people leave even tho they were queing up to leave.somone with spanners in hand took down some temp fencing and and opened up another route out. i went back last year with my family for a look around and the show now is a shaddow of wot it was with more modded with 10,000000 watts of power booooming and modern cars than classics. big shame really as it is a cracking venue.

[RedSparrow]

I had hoped that this forum was a mature and 'Grown Up' place to discuss old cars and vehicles, their running and an appreciation of 'Shite' , sadly it would appear that namecalling and insulting people of a different opinion is rife

Yes, but thats because they are all usually Sandal wearing, Lentil eating Vegetarians or Vegans, who burn josticks, don't wash regularly, wear charity shop clothes, have 'Freecycle' in their favourites and keep smelly dogs in their rusty VW camper vans

[155V6]

there is also conflict at car shows where you get modern cars, modded cars, classics all together. i know that the singleton park show at swansea that used to be a classic car show has suffered greatly by modern cars, and modded cars, and classics all on the same field.

See also Chelsea Cruise,Guildford Cruise etc etc...

[M'coli]

MINI owners seem to have the attitude that they drive something cool and trendy, and is cooler and trendier than the car that started it off, because it's been sold to them as such. It's also comfortable and has such modern refinements like electric windows, aircon, more than 4 speed gearboxes and proper suspension that doesn't mind shit roads, but still trades on the reflected glory of the original. They think that having a MINI means that they can rock up at classic Mini events, look at the old cars and marvel at how small they are, how uncomfortable they look, and how unsafe they are and how unreliable they must be, and how they love them but because of these "faults" could never own one.

 

Can you see how this could upset the Mini owners? These are the people who do wear the hair shirt and drive the original Mini.

 

Still, neither's as good as a well-sorted Imp.

[aled]

there is also conflict at car shows where you get modern cars, modded cars, classics all together. i know that the singleton park show at swansea that used to be a classic car show has suffered greatly by modern cars, and modded cars, and classics all on the same field.

See also Chelsea Cruise,Guildford Cruise etc etc...

i went to the retro rides show this year and really enjoyed. i enjoy the retro scene but i dont like the modded scene ie new to 10 yer old cars with stupid body kits and ice that flattens your battery in 5 seconds if you turn your engine off.

[shite_meister]

MINI owners seem to have the attitude that they drive something cool and trendy, and is cooler and trendier than the car that started it off, because it's been sold to them as such. It's also comfortable and has such modern refinements like electric windows, aircon, more than 4 speed gearboxes and proper suspension that doesn't mind shit roads, but still trades on the reflected glory of the original. They think that having a MINI means that they can rock up at classic Mini events, look at the old cars and marvel at how small they are, how uncomfortable they look, and how unsafe they are and how unreliable they must be, and how they love them but because of these "faults" could never own one.

 

Can you see how this could upset the Mini owners? These are the people who do wear the hair shirt and drive the original Mini.

 

Still, neither's as good as a well-sorted Imp.

I totally understand with what you are saying and my point once again is why talk to the owner of said vehicle like they're an arsehole? They're showing enthusiasm that could with the right attitude end up with them buying an old classic Mini....or at least it would if they weren't spoken to like they were dirt.

They might be mis-guided but they have enthusiasm and that is something every club needs to survive and prosper and if in this example MINI owners end up buying classic Minis then the classic Mini scene has benefited but some individuals are too short sighted to understand this.