The club and the future...

[staginhiding]

I'm not wishing to scaremonger in anyway or be critical of the Club, or the people that give a huge amount of their time to run it..
In fact they all deserve our thanks on a regular basis..

I was just skipping through this months magazine,as is the norm for me as I'm not a big fan of some of the content.
What I did notice is that in some of the pictures that the most of the men(not all) like me are Grey on top and probably over 50..

Now I know when the Stag first came out these very same men were in their 20's (ish) and back then I lusted for a Stag and couldn't afford one..
When I did in my mid 20's eventually buy one,I couldn't afford to run it and any repairs,good or bad were mainly done by me..

My concern is that what are we doing as a club to encourage younger people to get involved.
I know my 22 year old son probably has less interest in the Classic car scene than my 20 year old daughter.

He has his own modern car and would rather pay to have it fixed than for me to guide him through the repairs.
This is even though as he Student he cannot afford it.

I know computer games and computers in cars have killed off some of the things we can or want to fix in this modern world we live in..

How do we get the youngsters interested for the future of the Club and the cars we all love(most of the time)
I have in the past and still do spend any spare cash on the Stag projects I have going.
I would hate to think that when they do take me off in my box that the cars that have been lovingly built will have no interest to my kids.

Just a few random thoughts and no offence meant to all you youngsters(under 50's) in the club.. or indeed the overs..

Just out of interest do you think I'm right in guessing that the people involved with the Forum might be the next generation down from the majority the active club members..
And is that the Club in its own way keeping up with times..

Sam

[Guest]

Well, I'm only 41 so some life left yet!

Jason

[MandM]

Well, I'm only 41 so some life left yet!

Jason

But are you Grey

[Guest]

Nope, not yet (well, just a few)

[Guest]

When the young become older, they get interested. Same with researching your family tree, only grey haired people do that. I've done mine!

[MandM]

This is my first classic, but have owned loads of cars, and had been looking for a hobby after my wife was ill, my Son has no interest in old cars and has said that he would sell it if anything happened to me, as he could not look after it or store it, He like most younger people (apart from T**ser) have to work long hours to pay large morgages (120,000+) they have kids etc , like we all did, but the wages are not keeping pace, so the amout of disposeable incoming is dropping not climbing.

Unless you are a banker or an MP, I know my son would have a Z4 or the like but that will have to wait untill the morgage is smaller if that is ever possible!

sorry about the spelling, spell checker in the shower

[MandM]

Well, I'm only 41 so some life left yet!

Jason

Well i am 54 and have just 6, but i am not counting, also i'am not monking either, or combing over, so must be of good Essex stock

[staginhiding]

This is my point exactly.Yes our kids have to work longer hours(maybe) and yes the cost of living is off the scale now.
But the interest is not there nor do i think it will come..
I hope iI am wrong but I can see many years of hard work being sold off when I'm pushing up the Daisy's ..

In fact I'm trying really hard to get all the projects finished as my wife who also has no real interest would probably let the parts that are off the car go for scrap..

Sam

[milothedog]

This is my point exactly.Yes our kids have to work longer hours(maybe) and yes the cost of living is off the scale now.
But the interest is not there nor do i think it will come..
I hope iI am wrong but I can see many years of hard work being sold off when I'm pushing up the Daisy's ..

In fact I'm trying really hard to get all the projects finished as my wife who also has no real interest would probably let the parts that are off the car go for scrap..

Sam

Hi Sam,

Are things that different now! when I bought my house the interest rate was 16%. and we struggled, I took on a second job to make ends meet and provide a few extras. I do firmly believe if you want something you can find a way to achieve it.

There is a different culture now and some (not all) think they are owed something even though they have not contributed. I have first hand experience of this from my work days when I was responsible for interviewing and employing young people.

You have hit the nail on the head with the interest bit, there just not interested in our old bangers when they can have a blinged up euro box which are throw away when they go wrong.

Only my opinions


Ian

[staginhiding]

Agreed Ian
We all talk about how hard we used to work,and the kids have it tough.
But they don't..in fact my student daughter seems to dine out far more than I ever did when I was working in my youth,and even now..and I'm still working..

I like you used to have my regular job and any other time I was working on other peoples cars to earn the extra to run mine..

We live in a throw away world now.
I can remember not that many years ago actually repairing our washing machine several times,in the end it died.
I said to my wife this time if I even just say "I am going to have a quick look",don't let me..just get another..

Very sad really,so ours kids that have been brought up with this culture actually cannot be blamed for not having the interest..

Sam

[Motorsport Micky]

This thread mirrors thoughts expanded on the TR Register forums. The smart money is on the fact that today's youngsters with money tend to regard Subarus, Corsa's and the other cheaper disposable cars as their "to be aspired to" dreams of automotive history.

Some of this is down to what is prevalent on the streets, if they saw numbers of our classics of whatever marque as they once were seen it would expand their views. Like great art, it can only be appreciated when seen (preferably in the flesh at first hand).
This mirrors what we once thought ourselves and our ideas of some of the "older" cars that were the choice of the generations before, ie Lea Francis, Humber Hawk/Super Snipe and any number of others that didn't "tick" our particular
box. The likes and dislikes of the younger generation are just that...generational.
If we were investors we would now be paying a hedge fund to develop future potential demand curves extrapolated against
existing stock of cars and projected maximum return parameters. The graph would be broad and the curve would show a rapidly approaching cliff edge flashing red where expected return upon investment is likely to nose dive off a cliff.

But that's not what I have a Stag or a TR for, it's about the fun mending them and driving them, and in between the good feelings you get speaking and exchanging ideas with like minded individuals.

As regards the future of car clubs specific to marque, again there is a problem with critical mass. All the clubs need a specific number of members to participate in events and provide an income stream to allow events and continued funds to invest in their chosen activities. Increasingly clubs who are forward looking should be identifying symbiotic relationships (clubs with similar outlooks/cars/members outlooks etc) that they will in future need to develop and to join with in a celebration of their joint Marques and protection of their capabilities. Difficult to do but essential for future success in a changing world.
The joint National meetings between the TR Register and Stag Owners Club is an example of how clubs can jointly enjoy events ( both membership groups seemed to enjoy the diversion the others offered !) and may point to a direction that needs to be followed in future. Combine or die...

Micky

[MandM]

Hi Sam,

Are things that different now! when I bought my house the interest rate was 16%. and we struggled, I took on a second job to make ends meet and provide a few extras. I do firmly believe if you want something you can find a way to achieve it.

There is a different culture now and some (not all) think they are owed something even though they have not contributed. I have first hand experience of this from my work days when I was responsible for interviewing and employing young people.

You have hit the nail on the head with the interest bit, there just not interested in our old bangers when they can have a blinged up euro box which are throw away when they go wrong.

Only my opinions


Ian

Hi Ian nice to hear from you, I agree with some of the above , i to bought my first house at the age of 31 and the interest rate was 15.4%, and worked 12hrs shifts 7 days a week, but we all got wage rises that meant the % of the wages that went to paying the morgage reduced, but now you get a 2% pay rise if your lucky and the inflation rate is 3.3%, so something has to go, you are never going to buy and pay for a house like that even if you have 3or4 jobs.

Houses are just to expensive, our parents had the best of all the pensions, endowments, and negative equity was not in the dictionary . Redundancy was better as well now, i think it's £370 per year up to 20yrs, or may a 1.5x£370 if over 40 ish, not a great deal for me.

Classic cars are an older persons hobby, mostly after the kids have left.

Just hope we can show our cars and bring new members to the fold

[staginhiding]

I think what I'm saying is,when I joined the club at the start in the late 70's we were of the main 20-30 year olds.
There were some older members and we all had a great time.
The first 3 European meets that I went on were fantastic fun..

But I think we are getting older with our cars,not a huge number of younger members to pass the baton on to.

I think in time club numbers will start to decline and I agree with Micky that joining with other clubs might be a plan for the future..

[Andrew S]

I dont have a problem in my are with under 50's and familys taking part in events. My son cant wait to drive a Stag so there is hope for new blood. Wouldnt it be great to have a day when under 25's could have the opportunity to drive a Stag on say a runway somewhere to get it running in their blood as a lot members who buy always say something on the lines of always wanting one or can remember being taken out in one. As they say first impressions stay with you.

[milothedog]

Another thing Sam, is not everybody likes the same things.

What I'm getting at is club membership for me (although I didn't realize until I bought my car and joined) is all about the social scene as well as the car. A lot of the time the car seems secondary although it was the car that instigated it in the first place.

Some like car shows, run's out and other events, Some don't. Some go to N&N's some don't. Some own cars, join the club and then hardly every go to anything or interact with other members.

How do you start to solve that

Ian


Great thread BTW Sam, makes a change from "should a Header tank from a "WW2 Tank be bolted as high as possible and should it have 4 or 7 hose connections"