What is up with Corvette Clubs ?

[GarryL]

I can't believe it, I am a new Corvette owner and I e-mailed three local Corvette clubs here in Oregon asking for advice on places to take my new to me C5 for service. You would think that they would want to help a new Corvette guy out, but no, not one reply out of three clubs in the area that I e-mailed from their web sites. Is this typical of Corvette clubs ? Do I need to pay my dues for them to accept me ? I also own a 1969 Chevelle SS and the crowd and clubs in the Chevelle world are wonderful and helpful. Don't get me wrong, I love my C5, but I am really surprised that the local clubs seem to not want to bother helping / advising this newby. What the heck am I missing ?

Sincerely, Garry

 

[Rain]

Garry it could be a number of things.

The webmaster listed on the site may no longer check mail at those addresses.
The club may not be active any longer.
They might be a club that is stuck up and only will talk to you after you join or show up at a cruise in....

heck, I don't know.
Keep trying them. I've never run into that when contacting a club out of the blue - They are always friendly and full of info.
Good luck
Rain

 

[vee93]

I can't believe it, I am a new Corvette owner and I e-mailed three local Corvette clubs here in Oregon asking for advice on places to take my new to me C5 for service. You would think that they would want to help a new Corvette guy out, but no, not one reply out of three clubs in the area that I e-mailed from their web sites. Is this typical of Corvette clubs ? Do I need to pay my dues for them to accept me ? I also own a 1969 Chevelle SS and the crowd and clubs in the Chevelle world are wonderful and helpful. Don't get me wrong, I love my C5, but I am really surprised that the local clubs seem to not want to bother helping / advising this newby. What the heck am I missing ?

Sincerely, Garry

Yeah Garry, could be what Rain said. Sorry to hear about that. And if the reason is Rain's #3 suggestion, do you really wanna be apart of that kinda group of folks? Ya know..., you could just start another club. But keep checking the CAC. I'm sure there are other CAC Vetters from around your neck of the woods. Try posting your question in the other forums. Somebody will answer you. Good luck.

 

[jrose7004]

Maybe they just don't check their e-mail very offen.

 

[o2bnkc]

Kinda' reminds me of that old saying, "I wouldn't want to be in a club that would have someone like me".

 

[Mike Mercury]

Garry it could be a number of things.

(1)The webmaster listed on the site may no longer check mail at those addresses.
(2)The club may not be active any longer.
(3)They might be a club that is stuck up and only will talk to you after you join or show up at a cruise in....

I vote for #3.

The internet has become the best Corvette club one could ever want.

 

[BigMike5]

Vette care

There is a guy over on the Edmunds car site Corvette Board named Starrow68 and he is out your way. I would go over there and ask him if you don't get any response from others you have emailed. He knows his stuff and is a race buff too.

 

[Evolution1980]

I can't believe it, I am a new Corvette owner and I e-mailed three local Corvette clubs here in Oregon asking for advice on places to take my new to me C5 for service. ...

Along with what everyone else said, the CAC is probably your best source of info. Ask your question here, get the answer, and then look around for a shop. You'll already know your question and the answer, so it'll be harder for a shop or stealership to pull a fast one on you.

I'd suggest just going to some local car shows, not necessarily vette-specific. Hang out, find other GM or preferably vette owners and just go up and ask 'em. Word of mouth is typically the best form of advertising.

Welcome
to
the
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[vett boy]

Garry ,I think the above posts are correct. Good guy's drive white. ---Steve

 

[schmaltzr]

Gary, I know our corvette club web master isn't looking at emails on a regular basis. You have to make sure you click the "contact us" button so that it is routed to mail boxes that are sure to be watched.

As for me, I go to one of the dealerships that sponsors the club. Any dealer can take advantage of you, but not if they want to loose business to over 175 corvette owners. We generally have over 300 members in our club by the years end and it drops to 220 or so at the beginning of the year when it's dues time. I always buy the mechanics manual that is used by the dealership for all my cars. Before I take it into the dealership for repair, I do a little research about what is involved in diagnosing the repair so I can look intelligent to the repair rep. The more savvy you look the less likely they will also mess with you. My worst experiences with car dealerships was definitely Toyota. What a bunch of incompetent crooks. But that's a whole other story.

Good luck and I'm glad you joined the CAC - Ron

 

[awalla]

I spoke with our club's webmaster recently... he gets so much spam in our club account that he wants to transfer the membership email list and the club email address to someone else in the club. It is a time consuming process when the ISP doesn't have a good spam filter. If you have the time, try checking out one of their meetings. I found that to be the best way to get info before I joined the club. Typically those at the meeting are very willing to lend a hand or give you an idea of their personal experience. Don't get discouraged!

 

[Nevets2004]

I spoke with our club's webmaster recently... he gets so much spam in our club account that he wants to transfer the membership email list and the club email address to someone else in the club. It is a time consuming process when the ISP doesn't have a good spam filter. If you have the time, try checking out one of their meetings. I found that to be the best way to get info before I joined the club. Typically those at the meeting are very willing to lend a hand or give you an idea of their personal experience. Don't get discouraged!

I had a similar experience with the club's webmaster being overwhelmed. Rememeber some of these sites are'nt professionally. I also found a small club (about 6 members) that checks their mail about every month.

Hang in there but in the interim CAC members will be glad to answer your questions and I've never had to wait long

 

[Hotwing]

I've owned 4 Corvettes and have never joined a Corvette "Club", and don't intend to. I bought my Vettes to be different from the rest, why join a stuck up club with more of lifes rules and regulations from peolple with the same kind of cars......With the Internet, thats as close as I want to get to a "Club"

 

[c5corvtman]

I attempted to go and see what two car clubs were about here in the Houston area.....went to one of their meetings respectively. Was not well welcome, only one or two greeted me. So, I starte my own.

 

[kiwi vet]

Corvette Club Members need to remember their start

Hey All

I identify with some of the comments that some have been made,and have has similar issues with Corvette Clubs in New Zealand.

I am generally not one to be shy! (some of you.... just may have guessed!), that said I was extremely frustrated at the first local club meetings I attended following the purchase of my L81 "RAC3R", there is only one club in my neck of the woods, the next ones 7 hours drive, so you gotta make it work - right?.

However if you are passionate about Vette's, keep at it.
True enthusiasm is a hard thing for anyone to ignore for long. Even those die-hard grumpy old buggers we all know.

Example; My first meeting with "the Club" There were a bunch of people (about 30) who obviously all knew each other really well, who chatted before the meeting, held the meeting, then coffee and nibbles after. During that period (over 2 hours) not one introduced themselves, or even aknowledged a newbie. Eventually I began a conversation with another guy who looked a little arkward, only to find it was his first meeting and no one had talked to him either - well except me!.

Finally I got up and walked up to one of the groups and introduced myself and the other newbie tagging along behind me.

The first question was what type of Corvette I drove, fair enough start I suppose. When I replied with the type, year and some of the small mods already done, the apparent leader of this group stuck his nose in the air and said he was studing to be an NCRS judge and that modified vettes were just an abomination! - Well excuse me! but rather than throw abuse back - I just quietly left him to his reality.

After a few more memorable meetings like this, the same topic was thrown in my lap again by my now good friend (?), the grey haired self proclaimed expert in all things Corvette.

However this time I replied that he must have been horrified at that "Duntov" fellow then, as he was always tinkering & cutting up & modifying Corvettes, even brand new ones!. He must be the equivilent of the NCRS Anti-christ!!
To that the rest of the group burst into laughter, and they told the "Richard Cranium" to pull his head in and consequently, things are now really quite good.

Sorry, didnt mean to write a novel, however I needed to get accross the point, that we all, as enthusiasts need to remember to openly involve new people and owners to the clubs to keep things progressive and the club fresh. It really is the best thing for - EVERYONE!!!

Otherwise we could all just play Bingo! it would definately be cheaper!

Just my $0.02 worth.
Grant

PS: By the way, I found out after this event that the "Expert" didnt event own a Corvette, obviously just enjoyed picking everyone elses Vette apart through green tinted glasses - tee hee.

 

[Scott Winebarger]

Description

Saint Louis C3 Sharks

To promote the awareness and passion of the Corvette C3 Shark and to
preserve its Muscle Car mystique.

* No Dues
* No Elected Officers (Volunteers Welcome)
* No By Laws
* No Sponsors


Ours is a non-structured but functional social club whose sole purpose is to
share technical information and to establish social connections with C3
Shark owners.

The Way It Should Be ! This is just a good group of guys that love their cars , many are also members of other clubs too.

 

[powderski13]

Check out Modern Classics Auto in Lake Oswego http://mcgeesauto.com/ Steve does great work

 

[2X4's 60]

I vote for #3.

The internet has become the best Corvette club one could ever want.

The vast majority of clubs fall into catagory #3. I've had Corvettes for over 35 years and never had the urge to join any club because of the way their members act towards non-members.

 

[Lucy64]

I found the same with the Corvette clubs. They had a little click that a newby couldn't just walk into and join. Also, all they wanted to do was race and autocross and most were not interested in cruising and showing. I also found that they were totally into the newer, totally stock cars and my 64 is far from stock. I know that there are other Corvette clubs that may be better but I joined the Custom Cruisers of Northern Virginia instead. I really felt welcome from the start and we have all kinds of pre-73 cars, just not Vettes. I have enjoyed the Cruisers so much that I was just re-elected as President for my second term.

 

[vette-dude]

What is up with Corvette Clubs ?

Except for the CAC they all suck!! and are full of stuck up, obnoxious, people that need to get a life!! I find this to be the case in most automobile clubs. They all start out with great intentions and expectations until the cliches form and politics gets involved. Then they just become another bunch of "let's pay somone to fix up the old car while we go to the bar and get drunk and try and impress each other" type people. Just the way it is from my prospective.

Randy