Monstro

[Jeff Turbo]

Current monstro arrived this morning.
Very good

[maestro dave]

Got mine today , can`t wait to read it .

[Ed]

Very good indeed. Particularly loving the article about the modern stereos. That Clarian FZ102E would really go well in my Countryman.

[Russ]

Excellent work, thanks Simon for all the excellent issues you have done.
It's a real shame it going to once a year, hardly worth the membership fee.
To be honest I'm not sure I'll be renewing my membership this year, I visit one show a year and now get a yearly magazine, this forum now is very lightly used so although I'm still a big enthusiast I can't really see what the club does anymore.
What happened to sorting the spares out and making them available? I know it's not an easy job , but there is no point pushing for publicity at loads of shows if £18 buys you one magazine with no other obvious benefits

[Guest]

Excellent work, thanks Simon for all the excellent issues you have done.
It's a real shame it going to once a year, hardly worth the membership fee.
To be honest I'm not sure I'll be renewing my membership this year, I visit one show a year and now get a yearly magazine, this forum now is very lightly used so although I'm still a big enthusiast I can't really see what the club does anymore.
What happened to sorting the spares out and making them available? I know it's not an easy job , but there is no point pushing for publicity at loads of shows if £18 buys you one magazine with no other obvious benefits

I didn't renew my membership for precisely the same reasons. Shame.

[BIGDAVE]

re monstro

thank you I received my excellent copy of monstro today.
I like the full colour pictures.
but its sad there will only be the one issue this year
and every year after that.
it was also sad the spares the club held have now been sold off.
I wonder what the club will be doing to get parts that are no longer available
in the future

[Yorks-MGZS180]

A view from the rank and file

This is a difficult one for smaller clubs like this one.

My local car club moved way from printing and posting a newsletter because of the cost of ink cartridges and postage.

We now receive a monthly newsletter by e-mail (still some members ask for a printed copy but thankfully only a few)

I tried to persuade them to use a forum (like this one) but some of the committee were against it, and so the club has a Facebook page instead.
Our website is just an advert for the club, giving some updates on forthcoming events the club is hosting or is involved with.
I don't use Facebook (and from what I hear of it) have no intention of starting. I get my contact with other members through our monthly meetings (easy when you're a local club)

Our club is geographically dispersed and our interest - the Maestro and Montego - are a tiny fraction of the 'classic' car market. Apart from the couple of larger events the club attends/organises each year, we don't necessarily see each other in the real world. Other clubs (with larger memberships) can sustain regional groups who do their own thing on a more regular basis throughout the year.

We obviously have an enthusiasm for the cars, but without this club, life would be very much more difficult for we enthusiasts, and many more Maestros and Montegos would have gone to the great scrapyard in the sky.

Comments from previous posters suggest a frustration with recent developments and the way the club seems to have gone. What are we paying our subscription for? I think it's mainly for the contact with each other - a mutually supportive and interested network of owners and enthusiasts. I (and my Maestro) have certainly benefitted from the support - parts, advice and help, of other members and my car would not be where it is now (essentially finished) without this club and its members.

Clubs succeed or fail on the basis of the active participation of their members and having enthusiastic and active committees. Having served (briefly) on the committee of my local car club I know how frustrating, political and thankless a task that can be (so I am not criticising our current representatives)

I feel that this club needs to keep the profile of our cars on the radar of the classic vehicle community. I have read in various classic car mags that there is a growing interest in 1980s cars - people like me (in their 40s) are of an age where they think back with fondness to the cars they drove when young, what their parents etc. drove. These 40-somethings may be of age now where they can indulge this nostalgia by buying a 1980s 'classic'. There's no reason why that shouldn't be a Maestro or Montego, but unless we as a club keep plugging away, then more of the cars will disappear.

What it needs is for more of us to be active and supportive of the club (put our money where our mouths are). Are we interested enough to do this?

Just my ten penneth

Andrew

[Yorks-MGZS180]

Local members

As a follow-on from my large post above, it would be interesting to know (though may not be possible due to data protection) who/where there are members within let's say a 50 mile radius of where I live, who have been active in the last 6 months on here. Then we could try to have a few local gatherings once every 3-4 months?

Andrew

[Hobby]

I agree Andrew, and as one who has edited a newsletter in the past I know how much work is involved, I'm afraid it's something I wouldn't do again!

There is a map showing the location of cars somewhere on the forum.

[Sussex Pete]

As a follow-on from my large post above, it would be interesting to know (though may not be possible due to data protection) who/where there are members within let's say a 50 mile radius of where I live, who have been active in the last 6 months on here. Then we could try to have a few local gatherings once every 3-4 months?

Andrew

Thanks Andrew, for your comments above. Rather succinctly put and a recognition of where we are as a club, right now. In response to those who queried why we sold our spares stock, and also why we don't have any regalia emblazoned with the club logo, the answer is simple. Space. To find anyone who has space to spare to store these items, potentially long term, is nigh on impossible. To find a manufacturer who is willing to either store stock on our behalf or make to order, with a quick turnaround, is equally difficult.

That puts the club committee in a very difficult position. We hear the requests to provide spares, get NLA parts - particularly body panels - remanufactured, to have club clothing, but putting it into practice has beaten us so far. Having said that, the committee have started the process of finding what and how we can remanufacture. It will take a while and we will certainly need a willing member to come on board and assist. The same also applies to regalia.

Please be assured that we are trying to make membership of the club worthwhile to everyone. As Andrew has pointed out, we are coming from a poor place, with a very small segment of the classic scene and with a comparatively small membership. In our new chair, Tanya, I think we have someone at the helm with the right amount of enthusiasm and vision to get things happening.

For those who criticise that only having one colour magazine a year, thinks that it is a poor return, please remember that we are moving in to the regular newsletter program to "fill in the blanks". Wherever possible this will be emailed to members - having found the problems with sending out issue 1, this should all be resolved come the next one in the middle of the year. So we are still aiming to keep in regular communication with the members.

Finally, and in part answering Andrews last post, I set up the map of Maestros and Montegos around the World to try and help in finding other members in your locality. Why not use it and make contact with those members and then set something up - even if its only a noggin 'n' natter.

[Russ]

The spares have been SOLD! When did that happen? It may have been last year when I was ill but it still checked here now and again.
So what did selling those finance?
Well it seems to me what was brought up so time ago when it was proposed to limit this forum to members has happened.
The club has become focused on becoming a show club for members who are lucky to live with reasonable driving distance of big shows.
To be perfectly honest I think there are now too few of our cars left to support a club, what is really needed is an Austin rover car club covering all models from 79-05
I have had some good times with this club but as I stated earlier £18 for one magazine!
If I'm missing something please let me know but I can't see any other advantages in being a member.
As regards this forum, it's been said before that there is more chatter on Facebook, but I know I'm not alone in being totally adverse to that particular institution

[E_T_V]

I've seen both sides of this challenge. Whilst I certainly agree the latest monstro is very good (and I know how much hard work goes into them!), I also was a bit mortified to see only one publication a year. However the content of the e-newsletter will really determine whether the change is an acceptable change. E-publications are certainly easier to manage and cost considerably less to produce. This doesn't please everyone but it probably pleases the majority so long as the content quality is good.

[Russ]

Im sorry but I really cant stand reading much on the computer , I refuse to have a kindle or anything like it. I may be old fashioned but so are our cars

[Hobby]

Then download it and print it out!

[Russ]

i havnt got a printer!