Re: Club's

[Andrew Mace <amace@domain.elided>]

On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, Glenn Merrell wrote:

> Hello All,
>     Since Ian has so graciously opened Pandora's Box, I'll jump in with
> my 2 pennies worth.
> 
> I think the idea of one club is great...but, no one club can cater to
> the needs of any one member or group of members, hence many clubs in the
> same car interest but different social interests.  I think this is just
> human nature, sort of like democracy, socialism, monarchy's, etc..  As
> to the one club idea, I think that VTR has done the best job so far, a
> main Triumph organization (spawned from an original Triumph Sports
> Owners Association) with many chapters around the continent.  This gives
> a central focus to the club activities, a national convention with
> regional conventions....

Glenn, thanks for the kind words about VTR. As both a charter member and
current President, I appreciate what VTR has tried to do over the years --
no mean feat, considering the sheer geography of North America and the
fact that we encompass every model of Triumph (and Standard, on occasion)
built from 1923-1984.

I would like to correct one point you made, however. VTR did not evolve
from a TSOA group. The Vintage Triumph Register was formed in 1974,
originally to provide support for models of Triumph 10 years old and
older. At that time, of course, Triumphs were still being produced and
sold, and the United States arm of the Triumph Sports Owners Association
was still going strong. It's primary focus was the current models, hence
VTR's formation for the older cars.

In 1981, upon the end of importation of Triumphs into the United States,
arrangements were made between VTR and Jaguar-Rover-Triumph to merge the
U.S. branch of TSOA into VTR. If you're interested, take a look at
<http://www.vtr.org/tsoa/newsletters/tsoa8110.html>. This shows a copy of
the last U.S. issue of TSOA's "Triumph Newsletter" announcing the merger.

That said, I would like to echo Glenn's comment: "I think the idea of one
club is great...but, no one club can cater to the needs of any one member
or group of members, hence many clubs in the same car interest but
different social interests." Most of us in VTR do NOT view groups such as
TRA, 6PACK and the TR8 Club as 'competition'; indeed many of our members
are also members of one or more of those groups and/or one or more of the
UK-based clubs such as SOC, TSSC, TR Register, Pre-1940 Owner's Club, etc.

I suspect none of us likes to see the bickering and spite amongst groups
all with the same overall purpose (that being the preservation and
enjoyment of the Triumph [insert favorite model or models here]). 
Personally I greatly prefer the cooperation I've witnessed among the clubs
over the years. And it is that cooperation that seems to prevail long
after any bickering ends. 

--Andy

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and                *
*   10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register                  *
* amace@domain.elided                     *
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