GSCA flame going out?

[Loren At 65GS]

I imagine many of the members here also frequent v8Buick.com and/or may even be GSCA members.

For those who don't , I've posted a link to a thread on v8Buick.

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?291582-GSCA-and-GS-Nationals-coming-to-an-end-!!!

 It would be a great loss to the Buick contingency if the GSCA failed to continue on.

  Loren

[Chris]

I hope someone steps up and takes it over but I also hope that others are there to support that person and they don't carry the weight of the club themselves.  Things could change, like discontinuing the x-tra in paper format and moving to an all digital version which would lower costs.  I think most non-racers would agree that it didn't contain much for them anyhow.  Cut the printing and mailing costs and either offer a lower membership that might attract more members (the mission of any club) or apply the money towards paid assistance.  Most importantly, listen to the members and when they complain about car judging changes (moving the 65's into a majority class) do something about it or prepare to watch membership drop.  Just like the BCA has offered recently, there are a lot of groups like 65gs.com that should be brought aboard and embraced.

Chris

[Dr Frankenbuick]

Maybe the time has come and gone and that is as it should be? I let my GSCA membership drop after 29 years lasy year.  The fact based issues with articles in the forefront of going faster with class have been replaced with retrospectives and colorized issues. I don't want to claim irrelevance by participating as a nostalgia racer in a nostalgia class. I think we have gone as fast as we can and still remain true to Buick.  Moving ahead, what specifically is Buick about a Tomahawk?  The block - no, the crank - no, heads -no, cam - no, intake - no: what then, the gestalt? I might as well stuff a BBC in at half the cost and have a true identity.

Before you call sour grapes, be mindful that there is a TA built 525 sitting unused in a back-halved 67 GS here because it it is more fun to play with my street legal 03 Ford.  The Ford has more power in its original but highly modified drive-train - Sound familiar.  For me, going faster with class meant moving on with a great respect for the past: not trying to revive, relive or bastardize it in any way.       

[elagache]

Dear Dr Frankenbuick and mid-60s Buick fans,

Before you call sour grapes, be mindful that there is a TA built 525 sitting unused in a back-halved 67 GS here because it it is more fun to play with my street legal 03 Ford.  The Ford has more power in its original but highly modified drive-train - Sound familiar.  For me, going faster with class meant moving on with a great respect for the past: not trying to revive, relive or bastardize it in any way.     

It isn't a happy thought, but you make a good point here.  I have just about exhausted myself trying to modernize my 1965 Buick Special wagon and the goal remains illusive.  Our goals are different, but we are both banging against the reality of modern economics.  Mass production means the things we want can be produced for much less than the cost of labor to create a custom car.  Most of us buy our clothes "off the rack" and don't have a second thought.  We truly must have a very special reason to try to hang on to our classics.  I happen to have such a reason, but not that many other guys have such an attachment to their cars.  Painfully, life is very much about compromise and our passions about cars are no different.

Cheers, Edouard

[GreatScat1965]

Maybe we are looing at this backwards. I never tried to modernize my car. Its 50 years old and so an I give or take a few year. You're not making me a heartthrob no matter how much $$ you spend. Anyway, I still roll with drum brakes, stock but modified for drag racing suspension, and a factory AM radio. I can drive it to the local cruise ins at the wing joint, smoke the kids in there Mustangs on the way home and on the weekend toss it on the trailer and (Slicks and Skinnys) and go bracket racing. (even win once in while) I get more WOWs! in the pits running 12.70's with that old Nailhead then my son gets with his 10 SEC street "83 SS Monte front wheels in the air and all.
     Unlike the model T or Model A owners we can use our cars even in dead stock trim and still have lots of fun! Merry/Happy everyone.
 

[elagache]

Dear GreatScat1965, Dr FrankenBuick, and mid-60s Buick fans,

Sorry guys, I'm having a really miserable Christmas this year, so that's what is coming out.

Maybe we are looing at this backwards. I never tried to modernize my car. Its 50 years old and so an I give or take a few year.
. . . .
Unlike the model T or Model A owners we can use our cars even in dead stock trim and still have lots of fun!

Kind of odd that you would claim that Model-T or Model-A owners cannot use their cars as we do.  There is a Model-A club in our area and those cars do get used for routine activities.  I have photographed two of them at the local supermarket where we shop.  Clearly those folks do think their cars can be "fun" as well.

I think the real question isn't the amount of money really but the amount of time and effort required to keep old vehicles like this operating safely and reliably enough so that we can enjoy them.  It is an awful lot of effort for a very limited use.  My motivations in modernizing my wagon was to try to keep using it enough so that I could enjoy as part of my daily life.  I didn't want to become the private owner of museum piece.  This wagon has been a part of my life since I was teenager and I didn't want it to suffer the fate of becoming basically dinosaur bones.

As long the return on our efforts is satisfying enough - we truly win.  However, we truly live in difficult times.  Some of us are finding the burden of a classic vehicle is just too much.  All we can really do is feel sorry about it.

Edouard