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Originally Posted by the mole  Dear Harit, Scooby and Gogi...The Mahatma once said " Be the change you want to see in the world ETC ETC" |
The Mahatma said many things, be careful when you quote. He He.
You have cited the Fiat club as an example, and any other club. But there is a huge difference. The FCCCI does not collect any money. there is no corpus. I attended one meet and was amazed at the dedication to Fiat cars. After the small drive which we had when I attended, we all went to a restaurant, drank, ate and shared the bill. So easy, no membership fees, and we enjoyed ourselves. Surely you remember that.
I have/had no issues with the Merc club as such, only I felt that they were a bit stuckup (not at all forthcomming) and that was my issue at that time. Me having a Merc contacted them and then felt that joining them would not be of much use.
As Merc owners we manage to get our cars running, we manage to source parts even for Vintages (pre 1940). But in a way clubs also need us to have good cars for their events. Myself and many others do not require to be pampered at all, recently HVOCT Thane asked for a car for Mood Indigo. I have never met them, they phoned and I sent a car, unfortunately I could not be there. I feel that a club should be proactive. Both club and owners should be comfortable and enjoy the association.
If a car owner tries to throw his weight around just let him be. Anyone unreasonable can exclude himself automatically. There are car owners who insist on getting prizes, royal treatment etc, but those one can ignore.
The officials of any club can be a bit hoity toity (spelling?) and so can some car owners and no club can boast of being totally free of persons acting high-handed, elitist, exclusivist. We do have to find a balance and the focus should remain on the cars and not the people. But you have to interact with the club officials.
About being a millionaire and club fees, well to each his own view. Even a millionaire has money budgeted for a purpose, only he may have more money for a particular purpose than others. So if I have a budget for my hobby, I may prefer to buy some parts for future use and not use the money towards membership fees. In my college days my friend once told me, when his mom gave him money to buy underwear, that he went and spent it in chor bazar on parts. This he really said, what he did is not important and please no comments on this. But it clearly states the situation when money is limited, and it always is even if you are a millionaire.
I will try to PM you to enter my car, and looking forward to some fun. Who knows after the event I may join up. By the way, my 114 coupe lies very often at the venue with the canteen guy.
One suggestion though. If possible please try to get a participation certificate issued to participating cars.
Please take in right spirit, there is no malice towards anyone. By starting this post you have shown us that something is changing! Keep it up