29-10-2018, 06:28 PM
I am 54 and my Ruby was my 40th birthday present to myself and I used to regularly attend monthly meetings at the local centre, but it direction was not really focused on the cars, more on lunches and other food related events. I probably go once a year when there is a pre-meeting road run organised and it is nice to drive in convoy through country lanes that I would not ordinarily travel on. However, at meetings, attendees are distinctly of the older set, so much so, the monthly gatherings seemed akin to visiting an old people's home, a distinct lack of members below retirement age, but interestingly, a large proportion of older women, it almost felt that at any moment, the knitting would be brought out and there would be a clack of needles! A lot of discussion on health related issues and what pills are being taken, very little car-related. Perhaps I am being over-sensitive as I am getting older...
The current set-up would definitely put off younger members, it puts me off and I would be regarded by a young person as one of the older members, so there is a lack of appeal.
The club magazine, which is published monthly, is full of the same stories of meetings based around food and eating "naughties", very little focus on the cars themselves. I have read other regional club magazines occasionally and other club websites and the focus is much more on the cars and technical information.
I also belong to the Swallow Register (not a club), the demographic is similar with a top heavy with older age range, but there is an annual Swallow gathering over a weekend and the cars (and driving them) is very much the focus, the quarterly newsletter is also packed with interesting articles (plus my own submissions...) and is much more vibrant. The downside for the Register is that there are only very few cars that survive and the cost of these are out of reach for youngsters, I suspect that the rarity of the cars that many more will end up in Jaguar collections, never to be really used again, which is a shame. Nevertheless, there is much more focus on the cars and the sharing of knowledge.
So, what would I like to see from an Austin Club?
Well, the array of regional clubs does seem to be a duplication of effort, the number of different websites, magazines, etc., ok, we have the umbrella organisation, but it would make sense for club resources to be combined, primarily to provide the best technical resource and sharing of new ideas and developments. More of the club's content on-line and a monthly magazine has perhaps had its day, printed copies are expensive to produce and distribute, the frequency could be reduced, but with more accessible and regularly updated articles (to reflect advances in technology), as some older content is no longer, or less relevant, such as headlights, charging, looking at The Prewar 7 Club's published technical digest, so much has changed in the past 20 years.
I would like to see more effort in getting owners out in their cars, using them so that they are seen by the public - if young people see the cars on the road it might spark an interest - I have been using my Ruby over the past few months moreorless as a daily driver and have clocked up over 1,000 miles in that time, people are starting to see the car out & about locally and it does attract a lot of attention.
Organised road runs, such as a JOGLE, local treasure hunts, etc., may help get reluctant drivers out and about on the roads and raise the profile of the cars.
I would also like to see workshop events, this could be difficult as it requires a venue with decent workshop facilities, and various activities could be undertaken to help the less knowledgeable tackle new tasks for the first time, hone skills or just apply a different approach, hands-on would encourage newbie owners and hopefully, younger people to get involved.
More young people with fresh ideas, such as a younger members group, to help attract youngsters and make it vibrant and relevant.
There are going to be a lot of cars available as the older generation give up driving and custodianship needs to be passed to a younger generation and it has been discussed on the classic car press a scheme for handing cars over on a loan basis for a fixed term to young people and clubs should actively seek at balancing the unused stock of cars held by inactive older people with younger people as a way of attracting more interest.
We all need to use out cars as much as we can while we still are allowed to and hopefully, our enjoyment will continue...
The current set-up would definitely put off younger members, it puts me off and I would be regarded by a young person as one of the older members, so there is a lack of appeal.
The club magazine, which is published monthly, is full of the same stories of meetings based around food and eating "naughties", very little focus on the cars themselves. I have read other regional club magazines occasionally and other club websites and the focus is much more on the cars and technical information.
I also belong to the Swallow Register (not a club), the demographic is similar with a top heavy with older age range, but there is an annual Swallow gathering over a weekend and the cars (and driving them) is very much the focus, the quarterly newsletter is also packed with interesting articles (plus my own submissions...) and is much more vibrant. The downside for the Register is that there are only very few cars that survive and the cost of these are out of reach for youngsters, I suspect that the rarity of the cars that many more will end up in Jaguar collections, never to be really used again, which is a shame. Nevertheless, there is much more focus on the cars and the sharing of knowledge.
So, what would I like to see from an Austin Club?
Well, the array of regional clubs does seem to be a duplication of effort, the number of different websites, magazines, etc., ok, we have the umbrella organisation, but it would make sense for club resources to be combined, primarily to provide the best technical resource and sharing of new ideas and developments. More of the club's content on-line and a monthly magazine has perhaps had its day, printed copies are expensive to produce and distribute, the frequency could be reduced, but with more accessible and regularly updated articles (to reflect advances in technology), as some older content is no longer, or less relevant, such as headlights, charging, looking at The Prewar 7 Club's published technical digest, so much has changed in the past 20 years.
I would like to see more effort in getting owners out in their cars, using them so that they are seen by the public - if young people see the cars on the road it might spark an interest - I have been using my Ruby over the past few months moreorless as a daily driver and have clocked up over 1,000 miles in that time, people are starting to see the car out & about locally and it does attract a lot of attention.
Organised road runs, such as a JOGLE, local treasure hunts, etc., may help get reluctant drivers out and about on the roads and raise the profile of the cars.
I would also like to see workshop events, this could be difficult as it requires a venue with decent workshop facilities, and various activities could be undertaken to help the less knowledgeable tackle new tasks for the first time, hone skills or just apply a different approach, hands-on would encourage newbie owners and hopefully, younger people to get involved.
More young people with fresh ideas, such as a younger members group, to help attract youngsters and make it vibrant and relevant.
There are going to be a lot of cars available as the older generation give up driving and custodianship needs to be passed to a younger generation and it has been discussed on the classic car press a scheme for handing cars over on a loan basis for a fixed term to young people and clubs should actively seek at balancing the unused stock of cars held by inactive older people with younger people as a way of attracting more interest.
We all need to use out cars as much as we can while we still are allowed to and hopefully, our enjoyment will continue...