A US Club?

[Al N.]

There is an opportunity for us to establish a "US" chapter of the

 

motherland's Lotus 7 Club.

 

 

 

Does anyone have thoughts on this? Should there be 3 US Chapters? (East,

 

Central, West)?

 

 

 

Does anyone feel like being the main rep? (Note, this person should

 

probably be a Lotus or Cat 7 owner...based on club relationships with

 

factory). Please chime in or write ot me off board: al@mintadv.com

[spindr]

Al,

 

 

 

Do you know how many members of the the L7 Club of GB are

 

located in the US?

 

 

 

I'm a member and know that somewhere I have see that

 

number. I suspect that the membership secy might also be able

 

to give you a break down of US members by state. This might

 

give you some idea on the number of chapters make sense.

 

The location of Caterham dealers is probably a factor in club

 

member distribution.

 

 

 

Jeremy

[Al N.]

I'll make inquries. Thanks for the interest.

[slngsht]

however you decide to proceed, count on my support. I don't have a Caterham, so I'll stay out of the lead...

 

 

 

This forum can be reconfigured to accomodate things if necessary.

[xflow7]

Personally, I think this would be a very good idea for 3 reasons:

 

1) In my experience some specialty car insurance companies and state DMV's like to see formal club membership as a sort of a "check" on the validity of a person's claim that their car is special and deserving of being treated as a collector or specialty vehicle.  I think having a recognized US or NA club that a new owner could join and point to might ease the registration and insurance procedures depending on where they live.

 

2) Having a formal(-ish) club might open up additional opportunities for group discounts and such and ease organization of group trackdays, tours, etc (although it appears the reception of the 7-7-7 gathering has been very good even without a formal club affiliation).  Anyhow, I believe these sort of benefits would entice more people on this side of the pond to join the Lotus 7 Club who can't quite justify paying full membership only for Low Flying and BC access.

 

3) Currently there are several good US Seven-related web sites and forums, not to mention the e-mail list, but as a new owner, or one not previously engaged with the online community it can be difficult to become aware of all of them.  Now, I wouldn't necessarily advocate that they all be merged and lose their identity or anything like that, but I think having some kind of a central "official" US club site and forum (either stand-alone, or as part of the mothership) would help to further build on the  community of Seven owners over here.  Individual local sites could be accessed from the US chapter site for region-specific stuff, but the central site would provide a ready, "one-stop-shopping" resource for current, new and prospective owners.  It would be a logical place for US-specific Seven-ing FAQ's and such.

 

All just MHO of course.

 

Dave

[Al N.]

Dave-

 

 

 

I'm with you on all fronts. I just got my car last summer, and I especially

 

agree with the "one-stop-shopping" thing.

 

 

 

-Al

[slngsht]

 

3) Currently there are several good US Seven-related web sites and forums, not to mention the e-mail list, but as a new owner, or one not previously engaged with the online community it can be difficult to become aware of all of them.  Now, I wouldn't necessarily advocate that they all be merged and lose their identity or anything like that, but I think having some kind of a central "official" US club site and forum (either stand-alone, or as part of the mothership) would help to further build on the  community of Seven owners over here.  Individual local sites could be accessed from the US chapter site for region-specific stuff, but the central site would provide a ready, "one-stop-shopping" resource for current, new and prospective owners.  It would be a logical place for US-specific Seven-ing FAQ's and such.

 

 

 

All just MHO of course.

 

 

 

Dave

 

 

 

Dave, one thing I'm starting on this site is a links page. Alot of sites have links pages, and I hope to be able to capture as much as possible (I started a thread here: >http://www.usa7s.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=153&PN=1. The link page will be pretty comprehensive. It will be categorized through a treeview (similar to windows explorer), with categories for enthusiast sites, forums and mailing lists, parts suppliers, how-to sites, manufacturers, etc...

 

 

 

I just started development on that last night - totally independent of this discussion.

[JohnCh]

I would love to see a US Se7ens club, but I would prefer to see one that openly embraces all cars of the genre.  Kind of like this site or the se7ens list http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley2.gif   If this US club was associated with L7GB, then I don't see that happening.  As Al alluded to in his initial post, there are political issues at play in such a scenario.

In the UK where there are relatively large numbers of Caterhams, Westfields, Tigers, Dax, and others, it makes sense for each make to have its own club.  Here in the States, however, the numbers are small enough that I think we could benefit by all working together -- Caterhams, Westfields, Birkins, Stalkers, WCM Ultralites, Locosts, etc.   I have a dream...http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/smiley2.gif

-John

[Al N.]

John, welcome to the forum. I assume you are one of the folks who

 

showed us "how the West was driven"! (I love the PNW, and wish it were

 

closer so I could sport around with you all next year...please show the

 

UKers Crescent Lake in Olympic, and the road to ShiShi or Hurricane

 

Ridge.)

 

 

 

Believe it or not, I think the UK core folks are open to us Yanks doing

 

what works for us diversity-wise and NOT being overly exclusive (perhaps

 

we'll draw the line at Fisher Furies or Ginettas, lovely as those rides might

 

be).

 

 

 

As shown by the 7-7-7 event, I am very in favor of all of us LSiSers

 

working together to spread the gospel of "add lightness".

 

 

 

Since you're on the left coast, what are your thoughts on the necessity for

 

more than one USA chapter? Perhaps we start with just one and add as

 

needed?

 

 

 

 

[snettleship]

Any chance you can have a Lotus Seven USA club that has two "classes" of Sevens?  The Lotus/Caterham "bloodline" class and to quote a recent book on the topic the Seven "Independants"?

Scott

[slngsht]

Scott, not a bad idea (just speaking for myself here). I'm all for preserving the original Seven bloodline.

 

 

 

I'm not sure how that would work in practice though. I can definitely see the "bloodline" being applied if/when the club gets seriously involved in car shows.

 

 

 

The club can also make an effort to deliniate Lotus/Caterham and the "independents" when it comes to historical things (I'm not sure what they would be - since I'm personally not big into history)

 

 

 

But for any other type of event, how do you see it? It'd be silly to have a cruise and say only Lotus / Caterham can show up. The thing I enjoyed most about our skyline outing was getting together with the other loose nuts behind the wheel.

 

 

 

Please don't take anything I've said here as something we would definitely do or not do. We're pretty early into this thing, and there is alot to consider.

 

 

 

I just joined up on the UK Lotus list to have a look-see.

 

 

 

As far as this site is concerned, Club or not, I'll do what I can to keep it from getting involved in class warfare, so I'll do whatever it takes to promote the preservation of the original in a way that doesn't have a negative impact on the "community" feeling of the site.

 

 

 

I appreciate your input.

 

 

 

Thanks

[JohnCh]

Yep, I was on USA 2005 and am joining up for most of PNW 2007 as well. Should be a lot of fun, but sadly I think UK involvement will be zero. Those folks had so many problems getting their cars back home that I don't think any will want to go through that process again in the near future.  I would love to join you folks for the 7-7-7 event, but that is a bit too far away for me.

It's good to hear that the L7GB leadership is open to us doing things our way. However, I'm curious what benefit we get by associating with them, rather than start something on our own? Low Flying is nice, but it isn't that relevant to non-Caterham owning folks on this side of the pond. Ditto for the events, discounts, track days, etc. Are they creating a separate American Forum in BlatChat similar to what the Atom Club has done? What about fees? Are they the same as in the UK? If so, does that mean we get all the benefits mentioned above?

I would love to drive interest in se7ens here in the US, and think a club is a great way to do it, but I would prefer to do something that is truly agnostic rather than piggyback on the club of any one marque. I think there are enough of us in this country who are passionate about se7ens that we could start a grassroots club which would help pull all of us closer together.

-John

[slngsht]

John, Fees and benefits, as they would relate to the UK club, are one of the topics Al and I are discussing.

[snettleship]

I was think the "bloodline" idea is what can be good for a car show and also can provide a direct affiliation from a Seven USA club to any other Lotus related type of club (e.g. Lotus NA, GB Lotus 7 Club...).

From a membership and activities level I view the "independants" as being equals and being there to show how the world has taken the original Lotus Seven through the last 50 years and beyond.

Just thinking out loud.

Scott

 

 

 

[JohnCh]

Boy, I have a feeling I am going to step into the crossfire with this post, and I hope it doesn't come across harshly, but…

I'm not a fan of the Bloodline concept. To me a Lotus 7 is a Lotus, and a Caterham is a Caterham. Yes, the latter company purchased the rights to continue production and until recently the same company produced the chassis, but to me that doesn't make it a Lotus 7. Birkin has the rights to reproduce the S3 in South Africa, so shouldn't they get the same treatment? Also what do you do with the CSR? The chassis is made by Caged, not Arch. The suspension was designed by Multimatic, not Lotus, and the performance and price target are leagues away from Chapman's original concept. To me Caterham has it's own heritage created over the last 30 years and to tout the tie-in to Lotus just diminishes those accomplishments.

I personally believe we should view all of the cars as Se7ens. Tiny, doorless vehicles inspired by the Lotus 7. Why stratify them?

As for access to Lotus clubs, I guess it will vary by region, but the Lotus club in the Seattle area actually approached me to join.  Most of the Lotus Club regions are so small they are always looking to affiliate themselves with others.

-John (awaiting the barrage)

[Al N.]

Here's a thought for everyone to chew on:

 

 

 

"The United Sevens of America"

 

 

 

Whether or not your car was breathed on by Colin Chapman or not, we all

 

have gravitated toward a formula...the "four-wheeled motorbike" concept.

 

Cars which live up to the "add lightness" way of motoring.

 

 

 

It's interesting to see that Lotus Ltd. has 3 show classes for A) Original

 

Lotus Sevens, B) Caterham 7s, and C) Replicas (since Tony M. won first in

 

this category, I'm assuming they put Birkins in this bucket).

 

 

 

For our 7-7-7 event, I doubt we'll have classes....although I've been

 

thinking that we should have 2 car show votes per attendee: Best of breed

 

(meaning what you own) as well as (best of other)....this way those Stalker

 

guys can't get together and stack the deck - JUST KIDDING!

 

 

 

(As I count it, the 7-7-7 group so far is 50% Lotus/Cat and 50%

 

independents)

[slngsht]

I think the extent of the whole Lotus vs. XYZ has to be limited to car shows only - even then, only if we collectively agree it's needed (so far we have some for and against).

 

 

 

The few of you who know me, know that I'm totally not into doing car shows. I just want to meet and chat with the rest of you, go for some fun drives, work on the cars, and learn.

 

 

 

So, I'll be a fly on the wall on the discussion regarding car show classes, and take it all in.

[slngsht]

Alright, I know I said I'll be a fly on the wall here, but let me float one more thought...

 

 

 

How about car shows be run by local clubs (as they are today), and only supported by the national club - in terms of marketing, or whatever support can be extended (newsletter? promotional material? etc...).

 

 

 

For each show, the participants follow whatever rules the local club has traditionally set forth.

 

 

 

K... back to being a fly.

[mr2dux]

Hi all

I'm with John C. on this one, I think we should invite all comers.  Certainly a group and forum of this nature is about cars, but mostly its about the community of people who are nuts enough and passionate enough to drive 'em.  I think it is this community that is the essence of this sort of club, and anything that falls within the seven'esque sort of profile should qualify. 

Hmmm, maybe an improbability factor should be used to screen out cars that are just too common, so we could include any car that falls at least 2.736 standard deviations from the mean......

FWIW

Mark/ Dayton, OH

[xflow7]

Admin Edit: Moved part about the links page to: >http://www.usa7s.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=153&PN=1

 

 

 

 

 

As for the other issue on the table, count me among those in favor of keeping the club inclusive.  For me personally, as a Caterham owner, there is maybe a benefit to being formally affiliated with L7CGB for access to Blatchat and the resources of an additional established base of owners for Caterham-specific issues.  Having said that I do view the attitudes of some members over there towards other similar vehicles with some distaste and am completely in favor of making it a standing principle of a US club (be it affiliated or not with L7CGB) that it would not be brand specific from a membership or event participation perspective.I very much like Al's concept of the LSIS (or whoever coined that) for the purposes of establishing the boundaries of the club.  Sure, there may come a point in time when additional clarification is needed to determine what is an LSIS and what isn't, but it seems to me that at the moment that it is fairly clear.  It's sort of in that category of "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it" and I've a feeling that most of us, shown a bunch of pictures of little sportscars, would point to the same ones as LSIS's.Logistically, I think there is an argument for some division by marque for Tech Forums (at least once participation really picks up), although with the number of different types of LSIS it becomes difficult to not end up with some silly number of categories.  But maybe something like:Birkin TechCaterham TechLocost TechUltralite TechWestfield Tech(don't be offended if I forgot your LSIS)Powertrain Tech (given that many of us, irrespective of chassis, are running the same lumps, gearboxes, and maybe diffs).I will also stay out of the show discussion as that's not really my thing.Daveslngsht38933.8230787037