Are you looking for a great progressive car club to enjoy your hobby along with other car people?
This sounds like an easy task with all the cars and clubs around your local area, wrong!
You have seen the cute names and often times the "officers" of the club are older people who have lost most of the "new car smell" of the hobby.
Life was different when you started the club in 1975 and not only the cars moved into the future, but the way we communicate has changed by leaps and bounds.
Lets call it AAAB and quickly touch on the club, yes I WAS a member.
The President has been in office since 1959 I believe, 50+ years(?) which is a little hard to believe.
During my time in the club I tried to engage them in other events and each suggestion was met with whining and negativity.
It has become more of a seniors social club where many meet ups do not include the cars!
The president owns 2 old buildings full of cars in no way restored gems and I recently asked if I could come by and do a blog feature on the club, President and the collection and was given a NO I don't need that. As a past member and local car guy the denial was shocking, but true to form for the President's narrow thinking. He would proudly declare "I don't go on the internet, no email, no cell phone". I just checked and there is actually a website now, but it is only embedded in Hemmings, Maybe they just made one up. I am going to try and email them and see if it gets a response?
Guess what, no response at all!
With all the years of real world car experience a long standing president is a valuable asset, but if any forward thinking or change is going to be fought tooth and nail then he needs to step aside because once the older club members pass on the club will probably die off. Not only my experiences I have heard time and time again where club officers do not want change or entertain any new ideas so members just fade away!
1965, huh?
The Long Island Street Rod Association is another club that although not as stale as the Brooklyn Antique Automotive Association is also in a time warp stall.
I never heard of the club and only recently does it pop up on any car show events website.
How did I hear about the club?
A friend buys a 1969 Nova recently and a show plaque is on the dash from 1986 and I just assumed it was an extinct club!
I find a website that was created in 2008 and when you click on contact there is no email address, but a hotline phone number which I called when their major fall show was possibly rescheduled because of rain and the phone just rang.
You can join if you have any car 1972 and older, NYS says an antique car is 25 years and older which would put that at about a 1990 and older car, I know we don't realize sometimes that 1990 cars are now old and sparse!
I spent hours trying to find out if the show had been postponed and finally realized the rain was just too steady to have the show.
More than 24 hours after the show would have taken place the website calendar was updated and read Suffolk County Community College Eastern Campus which is in Riverhead for the rain date.
The show was in Brentwood, the Western Campus!
The zip code said Selden which is another Campus and when you clicked on the map it went no place!
At one point the announcer at the show made it very clear this was the WESTERN CAMPUS and I can only assume somebody had driven to Riverhead for the show and was a little angry?
Does it make sense to tell people where the show is when you are already there?
Does it make sense to tell people where the show is when you are already there?
I was going to say there were some great cars here, but then I saw this Crosley!
All criticisms aside yes there were some very nice cars here!
There is a car coral and odd stuff like this HEMI powered 41 Chrysler project usually show up
There is a swap meet and yes that is a real dog! And no he was not for sale!
Nice 39 Plymouth I must say- LOL!
A guy says hey I have not seen a TVR in a long time
He still has not because it is a Griffith once the car got the engine upgrade so it was a trick question.
Click this link for a little history
Oddly the show said in some places gates open 6am and some said 7am - although I arrived 8am you can see how the low early AM sun made it hard to take photos
I mentioned the early start because by 10 AM cars had already started to leave!
Was it the rescheduled rain date, the fact that there were several other car shows the same day or could it be that just sitting around in a field starts to get a little boring 4 hours later?
Marty Himes Long Island racing legend was here and promoting the museum
Unusual 39 Hudson!
NO COMMENT
Maybe he is related to the late George Barris?
Love that paint checker board effect on the hood sides, but did someone steal the running boards?
Sorry I would have had to wait until 3pm to get a better shot when the sun moved around, but the car would have been long gone anyway!
Jeep FC150- remember the Forward Control blog?
Nice MOPAR powered 34 Plymouth
This oddly turned into a theme and the next show is the Classic Car Club of America CCCA
Hey I know this car as featured in a blog when bought
Never assume because, well you know!
Nice Mercury lead sled huh?
NOPE
This custom started as a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer? No signage and the owner popped back, jumped in and left!
Nosed. Decked, Channeled, Chopped, Shaken, but not stirred!
This great custom was just one of many cars here at the Classic Car Club of America fall meet and honestly not seen at the common run of the mill Long Island shows!
Odd, but different kind of reminds me of a few famous cars!
Need a convertible, I guess just cut the roof off?
The true classics just do not come out for the regular shows do they?
Every Packard is a work of art!
A Chrysler powered oddity
A beautiful Cadillac
I just love stock cars like this unmolested 318 70 Challenger
Could it be 3 Triumph TR-3's?
Try and find another stock survivor 70 Mustang
It is a Marquette, an early GM spinoff born from Buick
Nailhead V6
My friend Ray Guarino happened to be just around the corner doing the Motormouth radio show so we coaxed him to stop by, we actually called into the show live- just by luck he had his 1965 Pontiac GTO with him! Wingman Joe D braved the wind for a few minutes!!
http://www.motormouthradio.com/
Ray bought the car in 1975 for $75!
This has been long love affair as the car is nearing it's paint and final touches!
There is a link on the website
http://www.motormouthradio.com/RaysPage.htm
http://www.restore-an-old-car.com/1965-gto-project.html
Ray bought the car in 1975 for $75!
This has been long love affair as the car is nearing it's paint and final touches!
There is a link on the website
http://www.motormouthradio.com/RaysPage.htm
http://www.restore-an-old-car.com/1965-gto-project.html
If you have gone this far and still READING it is time to sum it all up and explain!
The Antique Automobile Association of Brooklyn is pretty much a lost cause because it seems it never will expand or move into the future- wake up the future is here now!
Frozen in Time?
The Long Island Street Rod Association is club with some great cars and members, but they need to be a little more broad minded and get some young blood to be more progressive about promoting the shows and attract new members. The news page is over a year old no webmaster or email contact kind of leaves a thud! The last newsletter online is Oct. 2013, but I just found an email address and phone number to advertise in the journal/newsletter! If you take time to look at major shows around the country you can see a marked difference in some cars sitting in a grass field and organized venues!
It is hard for me to be too critical as I do not know TOO much about the club structure, but was involved in a conversion with a club member and the theme was rather narrow minded.
I know street fair type shows can have challenges, but create greater flow of people because there are other thing to do besides walk in a field.
I am trying to encourage clubs to think outside the box- yes an extreme example is the Goodguys events, but these started small also!
The Classic Car Club America is a great organization, a national organization.
The show last weekend was an event of the local region Long Island Sound Region CCCA.
On the national site there is contact information for the LI region, but no website link and more important no listing of that upcoming event on the national nor regional web page.
The regional Long Island web page is listed 2008-2016 at the bottom and this is the current events listing as of 10/24/2016
The last time anything was updated was 2012, over 4 years ago!
Meeting
|
Tuesday
7/10/2012 |
8:00pm
| |
Meeting
|
Tuesday
8/07/2012 |
8:00pm
| |
Meeting
|
Tuesday
9/11/2012 |
8:00pm
| |
Meeting
|
Tuesday
10/09/2012 |
8:00pm
|
The show was actually small, but one of the nicest I have been to locally, the cars were top notch and the people and setting was very nice!
It was at the Cradle of Aviation museum which gives the visitors a chance to enjoy something besides the cars!
I am hoping some ideas and improvements could be made by taking some advice?
It was almost a stroke of luck finding the CCCA show by many, I have to contribute the older more seasoned members lack of effort and command of new communication methods.
To finish this blog off I must repeat if you want the club to survive and grow the current "officers" need to think differently and maybe move some new blood into key roles.
The Long Island Street Rod show can be so much more, The Long Island Sound Region of CCCA should be flourishing and that recent show should have filled the parking lot much more, but the Antique Automobile Association of Brooklyn may not have a chance to improve until the President stops making all the decisions!
Now so no one says put your money where your mouth is!
Although the National site and regional site has no listing I have listed the above show for the LISR of the CCCA because I enjoyed the show last week.
Careful LISRA is not the LISR read carefully!
I was told this show had a low turnout last year, no doubt!
I am linking 2 very comprehensive websites that do an excellent job of listing car shows for us locally just below!
Hats off to both these sites for keeping us informed now take a lead here and use some resources to spread the word of your clubs upcoming events so the club can grow and survive!
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