As a dyed-in-the-wool, life long MG fan and Old Fart in training, I'd like
to offer some observations on this thread...
I've belonged to several MG clubs over the years, the first was a small
group started by a couple guys who ran a specialist shop. The club started
off with a core group of real enthusiasts, there were fun rallys at least
once a month except when the snow flew. The average age was probably about
25 or so, not an OF in sight. We were almost exclusively B owners, there
were a few midgets and there may have been an A or two. The T series and
pre war owners had there own group and the two seldom crossed paths. My new
wife and I belonged to that group for two or three years and enjoyed it. In
the beginning. As the group dynamics changed so did the club. B's were
current then and every once in a while the owner of a brand new B would join
up. The posing and anti-Triumph sentiment were rampant in this group. You
were either with us or against us. In what I can only guess was a sublimated
inferiority complex, members of this group looked down THEIR noses at the T
owners; "Frigging snob old farts!" Eventually the club became far more
focused on the social aspect than the cars. Rallys and slalom events
disappeared and were replaced by dances and house parties. When, finally,
the club decided it was more important to participate in a softball
tournament than an LBC event my wife and I bowed out. Not long after the
club died a slow, lingering death.
The next group was a completely different experience. It's a still vibrant
club, associated with the parent club and the NAMGBA. Members ages run from
late teens and up. The cars run the full spectrum of MG-dom, slalom events
are a thriving part of the scene. There are garage queens and beaters, full
race cars and daily drivers, T's, A's, B's, C's and Midgets. This is a true
enthusiasts group with VERY competent tech sessions, some exceptional guest
speakers at meetings, an active liason with other clubs in the area and a
season of highly competitive Time/Distance rallys and one annual concours.
This group was not exactly what we'd been looking for either. While new
members are made welcome the active core of the group is somewhat cliqueish,
add in the fact that the MG club is joined at the hip to the Jaguar club and
we just didn't feel quite at home. There was a lot of marque snobism
between the two groups and I got tired of feeling I had to justity owning a
TC rather than an XJ6. We bowed out again.
Our current group is what I've been looking for all along. It's limited to
Pre`56 cars but that's not what appeals to me (several members have A's, B's
or both). What my wife and I like is it's a touring club. We gather a bunch
of T series cars together and take off for parts unknown. Some drives last
hours, some a weekend and at GoF time, a week. All events end in some kind
of gastronomic extravaganza, a picnic in a park surrounded by our cars, a
pub patio lunch, or a sea side feast of fish and chips. This group is
exclusively OF's. Not by design but, I suspect, because not many young
people who can afford a T want one. When we joined up we were the youngest
members but were welcomed warmly and included in all aspects of the club.
There's the odd curmudgeon in the group but for the most part anyone who
walks up to one of our cars and asks a question will be invited to sit down
and have his/her ear bent. I've seen a member offer to put some strangers
kids in his beautiful TF so dad can take some pictures. ( No ice pick in
evidence though...)
What's all this rambling trying to say? I submit that there are as many
kinds of clubs as there are people. To many on this list I'm an OF (40), in
my chosen club I'm a youngster. At LBC events over the years I've seen
every type of behaviour described on this list. From kow-towing to open
antagonism, from warm welcome to inexcusable rudeness. No group, no age, no
marque has the corner on any trait. Find a group that meets your needs. If
you can't find it, start it. Come to think of it, when I get the GT back on
the road I may just do that. Anyone in the Lower Mainland with a post `56
MG want to go for a drive?
Cheers,
___ \______ Ross MacPherson
/ __ \ __ / /------|) Surrey, BC CANADA
/ (___)---------/ (___)
1947 MG-TC 3528 1966 MGB-GT
|