Membership fees

[Pete Lewis]

I will ask Tom Hartley where the new look has progressed too   there may be some new clues  soon

dont involve me !!  i left Com due to multinational ideas in a car club , and the lost forum and website was thought to be just a load of wingers and moaners  (thats a quote)  it was Kevin  who tabled a AGM vote to reintroduce a forum ,  odd as the quote for the web site  re build included the forum , some just didnt  want or understand the  value...and since then many changes and move forward plans are begining to work  

Im just an active but out of ' it'  member 

Pete

 

[Guest]

Shaun,

I'm sure if you contacted TSSC HQ and stated you are interested in joining the club, a recent / current copy of The Courier would be despatched for your perusal and assessment.

What does TSSC give me for £44 ??

1- an excellent MONTHLY high quality informative magazine; contributions to which are always interesting and often overlap other models. Area news, sales & wants, event information and other elements that are of benefit to a club member such as Agreed Insurance Valuation (AIV).

2- percentage discount off parts, not just in stock but also ordered. In addition the Club Shop has monthly special offers.

3- my subscription fee supports the club so that it can represent its members when dealing with corporate bodies and officialdom.

4- it helps to support TSSC events which without funding would be impossible to do so; nationally and internationally.

5- as mentioned the AIV is underpinned by TSSC via its Insurance Panel - my £44 annual outlay would be a drop in the ocean compared to AIV pay out and assessed market value.

6- supporting a marque club helps to support the cars along with its members; generically the goal is to keep these classic cars on the road. 

7- the Forum, of which you are a regular visitor, enquirer and provider of information requires funding. I think it is fair to say it is an excellent Forum for many reasons, not just problem solving. I agree the Website could be more user friendly and polished, but I can certainly assure you there is far worse out there - I've certainly viewed many !! 

7- finally, for les than £1 a week that is excellent VFM IMHO.

Long live the club !!

Regards.

Richard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Colin Lindsay]

It's funny but my attitude was always along the lines of: what can I offer to the club and fellow members? Yes I know I paid to join, way back in 1993, and have paid ever since, but it was to obtain help and services for my cars and I always believed that if people were prepared to help me and give assistance and advice, what could I do in return?

The club gave me an International weekend - which back in those pre-internet days was the highlight of the year; monthly meetings with fellow enthusiasts; a magazine full of advice and adverts for suppliers and parts, good Insurance, and a Club shop which in those days sold tools and accessories. I know that these days when everything is available over the Net the scenario has changed, but I still feel there's more to it than just paying my membership and sitting back while everyone else does everything for me. It's a bit of a cliche saying "ask not what your club can do for you - ask what you can do for your club" but there are a great many members working away behind the scenes on runs, events and shows and to me this is priceless, and has benefits which far outweigh the membership fees.

I know we get a lot of people using the forums or getting help or advice who aren't members, and I'd no more refuse to help them than I'd drive on past a broken-down classic at the roadside, but it's always nice when people recognise the hard work, professionalism and comradeship of a good club and finally take the plunge to join - thereby giving something back.

 

[Badwolf]

I was recently quoted £40 per hour by a plumber for his experience and skills (you can see where this is going already). Garages and bodyshops are in the same league if not higher. My membership fees are value for money for this forum alone with the experience and skills that I have mercilessly plundered over the past years. Yes I have whinged, moaned and offered very little in return, but for less than 2 hours of plumbers time, I have obtained the help and guidance to do things myself which I would of had to pay someone to do. I gave also had a laugh, hurled insults and enjoyed the repartee of people who I don't know, but value highly. They may not agree with many of my views, but I would not want to be without them. My subs also support the non-members on this site who are welcomed without prejudice, with open arms in the same way that I am, for help and support. Yes, it may not suit some people, but it sure as hell suits me!!!

[ShaunW]

14 hours ago, Anglefire said:

I’ve just looked at the website on my iPhone and it is reasonably responsive- a lot better than many to be fair 

event information is upto date so not sure where you are coming from there?

but I do agree that the member benefits are not obvious. 

It's responsive but not mobile friendly. It's just the desktop version, not one optimised for mobile so you have to keep zooming in and out 

Area news was the part I though was lacking. It didn't seem like my area (n lincs) had any updates. 

[ShaunW]

Thanks for that write up on the benefits Richard. I'll peruse that later. 

[Anglefire]

1 hour ago, ShaunW said:

It's responsive but not mobile friendly. It's just the desktop version, not one optimised for mobile so you have to keep zooming in and out 

Area news was the part I though was lacking. It didn't seem like my area (n lincs) had any updates. 

To be fair that doesn’t bother me as I rarely look at the website on anything other than my desktop. And if I do my phone is big enough to not have to worry either. Selfish? Yep ?. 

As for area news. Dunno never look at it. 

[Guest]

Shaun, I reckon you would benefit from joining the club. If you can get hold of The Courier, past or present I believe you will enjoy the contents. Not only is it well written but also informative and interesting no matter which particular Triumph model you own.

Regards.

Richard.

[Paul H]

I joined the TSSC to buy a Vitesse - A wanted advert in the Courier worked and within 3 months I had purchased a Mk2 Vitesse saloon  . Having not wielded a spanner in 40 years and having initial works carried out at £60 per hr the forum was a no brainer as all the sympathetic help is there for the asking - The magazine is good though unless I read it within 1 week its forgotten till the next one  . An indexed on line version would be a major improvement . The Club shop is ok and have made many purchases though they have to be planned as the postage rates are not competitive.  The Online shop is outdated, clunky & incomplete though for big purchases sometimes cheaper than the printed copy as there are disparities . The recent monthly offers are a good idea and hopefully bring in more business. The forum is the major reason for me to renew my subs. The fact that the forum posts are not indexed for search by Google is a major drawback for securing new members 

As my car is now roadworthy and is likely to get us there and back looking forward to enjoying the social side of the TSSC 

Thats my pennies worth 

Paul 

[ShaunW]

I think I've been pursued to join but I see it as a way to ensure the back office stuff gets done (ie archives and knowledge base) rather than something I'll directly benefit from. The forum is great but to be honest all specialist forums are free with registration, they're a carrot for full membership. 

We all hate spam mail but a mailshot every couple of months to all those signed up but not members would be acceptable. 

Thanks for not taking my comments as harsh critisism, they were made with the best possible intentions. When the hardcore fans start to decline (a sad reality) then I'm concerned that unless fresh (young) blood can attracted then the future of the club will be uncertain. 

 

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, ShaunW said:

When the hardcore fans start to decline (a sad reality) then I'm concerned that unless fresh (young) blood can attracted then the future of the club will be uncertain. 

Very true Shaun. In fact I know a couple of clubs locally and nationally that have folded because young blood is not forthcoming. Only so much can be done to attract younger enthusiasts and in fact many clubs struggle to get members to fill committee slots; one of my other clubs is going through that at the moment. A handful are happy to assist at events, but not interested being on a committee and that's with a pool of 650 members !!

Regrettably I see the above situation becoming common place amongst classic vehicle clubs with the inevitable end result.

Regards.

Richard.

[Pete Lewis]

the crippler is the insurance  for youngsters  the underwriters dont want   youngsters  and brokers are unable to give realistic quotes.

 this just stops young members getting on the foot of the classic laddder

[Anglefire]

Pete that is the big issue for young people - a main car will be £1k plus and to then have another classic in the same ball park is not going to happen for many. 

[ShaunW]

When I say young.... I'm meaning in their 50s

I think the thing with classics is that the cars which appeal tend to be the ones that were perhaps out of reach when we in our teens/early 20s, or certainly new at that time.

For that reason I can see 30s and 40s cars becoming less popular but the 60s and 70s cars definitely have a good few decades of peak interest left in them. The next generation will probably collect 80s and 90s cars but we then start getting into the era where even a competent amateur mechanic struggles with the maintainace. 

[Anglefire]

Oh that’s me right in that (50’s) age range then ?

I think home mechanics will be good for many years even on new cars of today. I did most of the work on my 2006 Land Rover discovery. 

But what will kill modern cars (post 2000 really when electronics became more integrated - my disco had something like 20ecu’s in it all talking to each other on one of 3 different comms networks) is the electronics. Either just getting old and becoming unreliable or something else going wrong and blowing them up. Or the diagnostic kit becomes unavailable and I don’t mean the kit that can reset a fault but the ones that can reprogram the settings or set the cars Id so they all do work. 

For example I managed to stuff 12v up the wrong connection on the fuse box/ central distribution board on my Land Rover. Had to get it replaced which meant providing the chassis number to land rover so they could program the new one so it would work. Cost me £500.  

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, Anglefire said:

But what will kill modern cars (post 2000 really when electronics became more integrated

It'll be codes, and code resets - nothing will work without it being plugged into the proper computer terminal and with a password that will cost £££££££££££ from the original supplier only; just like computers.

Anyway in the future, it'll be wall to wall MX5s at shows, so as long as we have the codes and parts for those, we'll be alright.

[Clive]

6 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

the crippler is the insurance  for youngsters  the underwriters dont want   youngsters  and brokers are unable to give realistic quotes.

 this just stops young members getting on the foot of the classic laddder

Oddly when we picked up Mollys fiat 500 a couple of weeks ago, the garage had an Elise on the forecourt. She joked maybe she should buy that instead(she would LOVE an Elise) and did an online quote while we were waiting about. Insurance on the fiat is £900. The Elise would have been £1150. Both quotes zero NCD, 3 years driving, 21 year old wimbledon postcode. So sports cars seem not much extra....

Lets be honest, a 21 year old is far more likely to want an MX5/jap hot hatch/Focus RS than a spitfire, and probably cheaper to insure!

 

Colin, have you driven an MX5?? if not you really ought to. They are fantastic to drive, rarely go wrong and great fun to own. It seems a very large number of Triumph owners also own MX5s, a guilty pleasure....

[Colin Lindsay]

15 minutes ago, clive said:

Colin, have you driven an MX5?? if not you really ought to. They are fantastic to drive, rarely go wrong and great fun to own. It seems a very large number of Triumph owners also own MX5s, a guilty pleasure....

Yes I have, but they're not my thing, any more than any Jap modern... and I get fed up with 100000000s of them at Classic Shows, some of them so new they're not even at their first MOT yet. You could argue for the early pop-up ones, but not the rest of the hangers-on who seem to think it's an instant classic with all the perks that entails.

[Dick Twitchen]

14 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

who seem to think it's an instant classic with all the perks that entails

Unfortunately that is fueled by the media, with some of the car magazines who should know better being among the worst.  Add that to the misguided scourge of some parts of social media, where 'opinions' not facts seem to rule the roost. Dick (got that off my chest!)

[dougbgt6]

East Berks beloved ex-leader, Mark, has 3 Triumphs, a Riley Elf, a GTI and an MX5. Despite having 3 different colour wings he loves the MX5. When the time comes he's unsure whether the Gitfire or the MX5 will be the last to go.  When I no longer need the mobile armchair I may get one, although I am scared I'll come to prefer it to the GT6. 

Doug

[dave.vitesse]

The MX5 was designed by a UK team. They looked at the MGB, Midget, Lotus Elan and Spitfire. Some say it's an Elan without the problems. So its Retro, a modern car looking back, that is only to some degree. Is it a Classic, I own one and don't consider it as a classic. But to me it's a good modern sports car with a traditional feel to it.

The Herald based cars were old (Classic maybe in their own time) when they were produced in the late 1950's/1960's/1970's. Who would design build a car on a separate chassis in the late 1950's. It's 1930's technology, to me that is a very positive thing and one of the attraction. Also that's what sold them back in the 1960's. Lots of people like me bought them then. It's not a starter Classic (based on price only), it is the definitive classic. 

Some people will tell you the Herald has a dangerous rear suspension and TR7 was the worst car very made. Very few of these people have ever owned or lived with either of these models. Before buying an MX5 consider the TR7, as I rate the TR7 against the MX5.

The motoring press rave over the MX5 and the MGB. Both good cars, but there are other equally as good. e.g. Sunbeam Alpine. Triumph's TR4 to TR7, Spifire.

That's my rant over.

Dave

    

[Anglefire]

 

1 minute ago, dave.vitesse said:

Who would design build a car on a separate chassis in the late 1950's.

Well, Land Rover for one - right up to 2004 when the Discovery 3 came out (The D4 was just a refresh) 

The later Land Rovers and Range Rovers are chassis less - and whilst that is good for the environment, not so good for towing and off road.....

But for normal road cars, I have to agree

[dave.vitesse]

Back then the Land Rover never came into the equation that is as far as the car owners/buyers was concerned. Farmers and, the UK and overseas government  bought most of the Land Rovers. That was Rover's target area. There has always been a few enthusiast many of which in recent years are also into Triumphs.

Dave 

[Colin Lindsay]

You DO realise, guys, that it's all tongue-in-cheek and I don't really have anything against them, but I do worry that they put people off 'our' cars simply because they ARE more reliable, comfortable and economic, and so some day no-one will want Triumphs as they're too uncomfortable, uneconomic and parts are unobtainable, all the suppliers having gone solely to MX5 spares...

Here's a photo I took at a local Classic show in April to illustrate... there are seventeen at least in this one shot. How many can you spot that aren't even ten years old yet?

 

[NonMember]

The amazing thing about that photo is that somebody seems to believe a Rover 214 is a classic...