I'm cc'ing this to the Hillman list, as I feel it's an important issue. I
wholeheartedly agree, and, of course, it's just my opinion!
Look what has been achieved by the MG Owner's Club in the UK. They have a
massive spare parts program, even including special runs of MGB bodyshells
from the British Motor Heritage Trust. There isn't a part of an MGB you
can't buy as either new or a reproduction, it seems.
By comparison, as noted in Practical Classics magazine, the Ford clubs in
the UK remain splintered, and refuse to co-operate. Because of that lack of
direction, the parts availability has suffered. They just don't have the
strength of numbers to go out and get items remanufactured.
Rootes specialists like Sunbeam Specialties and Classic Sunbeam, and the
many others in the UK, have done wonders with the items they've brought
back from unavailability. But how long can they continue to do so without a
strong base to work from? An all-encompassing club, ideally associated with
at least the Assoc. of Rootes Car Clubs in England, would give these
specialists some extra leverage when dealing with their vendors.
These cars are getting older by the day, and the more I work with new cars,
and read new car trade publications, the more I realize ...... I WANT TO
DRIVE MY ROOTES CARS FOREVER!!! And the only way that can happen (within
economic reason!) for ALL of us is by strength of numbers. We all need to
work together for the common good.
Getting off the soapbox, sorry to prattle on so!
Jon Arzt
Omaha, NE USA
"Rootes Group Refuge"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan Eyerman" <jan.eyerman@usa.net>
To: "Sunbeam" <alpines@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2001 6:11 PM
Subject: Another Sunbeam Club
> In my humble opinion (and I stress that this is an opinion), we really
don't
> need another Sunbeam Club. I would have been much happier to see a
"Rootes
> Owners Group" or something like that. I then would have suggested
> incorporating "The Brotherhood of the Three Spires" into it along with the
> "North American Singer Owners Club". Then eventually absorbing the
"Rapier
> Registry" and then the bigger Sunbeam Tiger/Alpine clubs. I believe that
a
> club needs "critical mass", a large enough size to have many local shows
that
> are big even if only 10% of the membership turns out! These large meets
then
> turn out even more people to the next meet and the whole thing grows on
> itself.
>
> We are simply splintering ourselves to death.
>
> My 2 cents!
>
> Jan Eyerman
> Editor, "Melodies"
> Brotherhood of the Three Spires
> (free one year's membership to anyone who can figure out the name!)
>
> ____________________________________________________________________
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