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John Reid
United Kingdom
705 Posts |
 Posted - 03/05/2012 : 20:13:51
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I'm with you Andrew - MG Silverstone has lost the plot, certainly for this old Triple-M member, and as I'm lost for words I agree we might as well leave the stage.
Like Fred, I think the Club should be more up front with the costs involved. A flying display doesn't come cheap either. It would interesting to find out how the Silverstone weekend shows in the accounts. Why, as Peter G confirms, is the Club so secretative? I still think we should keep asking 
John R |
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Cathelijne
Netherlands
744 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 21:48:05
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I think it would be brilliant if the Club were to come up with a questionnaire, hand it out at Silverstone and see what the general opinion is. I'm sure we could help them with coming up with the right questions ...
In the meantime I think we shouldn't forget that the MGCC is a CAR club, not per se an OLD CAR club. The club was formed when 'our' cars were new and I have no doubt there've always been people not happy with the Club embracing T-types when they were newly produced, MGAs when their time came, let alone Metros and other 80s 'things'. If the club had not embraced these new cars when they came out, there would now not be a club. I'm afraid reality is that within that club 'we' are a very small group and we have to face the fact that the larger amount of the membership drives MGFs and other 'modern' stuff. Who knows, maybe one day even the MGB will be outnumbered by this Chinese thing that keeps popping up in Safety Fast! ... Despite all this, I am sure the Club is happy to cater for us, provided they KNOW what it is we want!
Anyway, we can all moan, and I fully agree with all that's been said so far on the ridiculous fun fair, the paddock arrangements, the track, the prices, etc. etc., but there is indeed a younger generation out there involved with Triple-M cars (who are as appalled by Glow in the Dark MGFs and ZRs and the like as you old folks are, by the way!!!) and I'm sure I do not speak for just myself if I say that we would like to see some sort of annual MGCC racing event continue. And if you all stop attending, there won't be. So, please do come, race if you can, and let's put what we think to the Club!
Cheers,
Cat
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kimber
United Kingdom
1529 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 21:48:32
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In all the years I attended as a spectator, the MGCC Triple M race gave me the greatest thrill of the day. Year on year for decades I came to be entertained and inspired by those guys and I vowed to one day join them. When I finally got out there after 12 years building a car (I hadn't the funds to do it any quicker) it was every bit as good as it looked from the outside looking in. Since then, I have watched that wonderful scene slowly disappear and with all due respect to todays participants, it just ain't the same.
The way I have always seen it is that Triple M cars racing are about as close to the very essence of MG racing as you will ever get. Some of those cars are absolute MG royalty and in my view should be treated that way by the club which was founded by Triple M owners in the 30s.
Of course Triple M cars should have their own race at a concessionary rate, maybe even free. It doesn't matter if it doesn't 'wipe it's face' commercially. After all, if the club are willing to allocate a few thousands (presumably?) to the clearly talented Mr Swift and his troupe of gyrating vehicles, far better to spend a similar amount on subsidisng some real MGs racing which would provide a far more appropriate spectacle.
I believe we've lost the plot or at least an important part of it. |
Edited by - kimber on 03/05/2012 22:01:09 |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2012 : 22:38:42
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Hear hear, Kimber.
My sentiments exactly.
These cars should have "grandfathers rights" on an annual MG Club event that STARTED with them.
They were the bloodline every MG came from.
They were racing successes, and made the world wake up to the marque.
Why a club (any club) has to milk owners who keep these cars vital and active, and racing...
The club was a by product of these cars.
They were then and are now Competition cars.
Whether screwing their tyres off on some windswept track or being bounced up a hill.
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kimber
United Kingdom
1529 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 06:43:37
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quote:
Originally posted by spitfire
Hear hear, Kimber.
My sentiments exactly.
These cars should have "grandfathers rights" on an annual MG Club event that STARTED with them.
They were the bloodline every MG came from.
They were racing successes, and made the world wake up to the marque.
Why a club (any club) has to milk owners who keep these cars vital and active, and racing...
The club was a by product of these cars.
They were then and are now Competition cars.
Whether screwing their tyres off on some windswept track or being bounced up a hill.
Spitfire, congratulations, that is your best posting yet and I agree with every word of it. I really think you should consider changing your sign-in to Mk II Spitfire 
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Edited by - kimber on 04/05/2012 06:49:11 |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 09:18:02
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It's just a case of different perspectives,. Not necessarily a different school of thought.
Faiths take many different routes!
I have bought a J2, with all the issues of a 79 year old car. I went to try out one of the new Morgan three wheelers. An old MG adversary?!
I didn't warm to it because health and safety issues mean it is far from a clone of the original.
The engine on a chassis, and as little else you can put on it, is that essence of man and machine. You only have to look at those old Brooklands posters to see the goggled pilot of a car at full tilt and it says it ALL.
There IS some difficulty conveying the elbow to elbow petrol sucking stink of a pair of full blown MMMs skittering into a racing line.. when the track is some distance off and for the most part not visible. I took the children to the VSCC meet the other week. My six year old boy KNOWS most of the VSCC cars racing from You Tube. He can't stop talking about them. My daughter took her ipad to film the racing. It was so limited what we could involve ourselves with, that I suggested looking round the paddock to they could get their "fix" proper.
They couldn't (H&S) stand by the pit lane as they weren't 16. We live at a time where you can see practically anything (!) you want via the internet. Reality is a lot of waiting around, waiting for the rain to start or stop.
The Millie Miglia K3 successes, the Magic Midgets right through to Mr Plato...
All started with the MMM being trotted out of the stable.
This Register, as Cat states, is part of the bigger picture.
Perhaps the Victor Meldrew analogy is a bit of a sharper observation than we first took hold of.. Perhaps there is a voice, maybe a quiet one or behind closed doors, that laments the proposterous nature of those at the reins? That keeps alive a steam age microcosm that moves around the country, with it's canvas rolls of tools. No crew buses and 17 tonne HGV workshops cruise controlling the sponsor plastered pack from track to track.
It would be nice if these cars were dovetailed into being always part of this event.
If an annual event could feature a trial with stream section, something of a gymkana for the MMM, I think it would delight many spectators.
To set something apart in a sea of influences, competing for your attention, you need to draw on it's USP. Unique Selling Point.
The MMM cars are trialled in a way (not just raced) that is novel and surprisingly bold, for cars of their age.
In ths wind tunnel designed. Plastic, crumple zoned, worldwide production of automobiles.. the MMM car, with it's balanced Art Deco styling stands proud.
You couldn't produce a car of such sweet, stark simplicity. It would contravene too many health safety, and comfort issues.
Old, through default, is becoming the new, new.
The cutting edge, that nowadays would be stillborn on a draughtsmans computer screen.
Too unsafe.
But born they were.
Part of a maverick venture that boomed through the depression...
When MG had set it's sights on what it wanted to be.
There will always be a new generation that will fall in love with the MMM car.
Personally, I wouldn't dismiss their unique resonance with the public.
People look.
See those letters, M G chiselled into an octagon
- then are drawn to enquire...
All I ever hear, driving the J2, is groups of children and students shouting, "love your car!"
They strike a chord, with those raised on cars with less and less character.
(Young women call it cute and a babe magnet.!)
These cars reflect a world that many thought was "dead."
I'd like it to be very much ALIVE.
Maybe
MG LIVE! |
Edited by - spitfire on 06/05/2012 18:10:47 |
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JMH
United Kingdom
913 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 12:51:45
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"If an annual event could feature a trial with stream section, something of a gymkana for the MMM, I think it would delight many spectators"
Spitfire, you have just described the Kimber Classic Trial weekend which took place a fortnight ago for this year. It is organised by the MGCC SW Centre & open to all. Always popular with MMMs you get everything from 1880s up to BGTs & Trials Specials. Photos of this years event have been uploaded by Dick in the events section & a fictitious (perhaps) write-up is on this forum. Whilst MMM COTY points are only available to cars with an MMM engine (rule from the 60s to discourage the proliferation of F**ds), any MG can get a class award.
JH |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2012 : 14:25:09
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Dear JH,
I know! I've seen the pictures and it looks great. An excellent write up that captures the spirit and muckiness of it all. I've been to Landrover trials for years and find it great fun to see these cars being powered through the *****!
I won't be going to the MG Live event, out of the country. So this is my last post on the subject.
Have a great time!
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Edited by - spitfire on 04/05/2012 22:20:49 |
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Mike Allison
United Kingdom
196 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2012 : 09:55:49
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Hi Chaps,
Silverstone has been the major, indeed showcase, event for the MGCC since the mid-1950's, and I have been to all but one since 1956... the one when I was in Ulster for their Jamboree, caused by Bernie changing his mind at the eleventh hour.
For me it is a Must Go event, symbolised by our own magic initials! I will be there, for both days, Sunday on the Register Stand if they want me there, but surely it is WE who are losing the plot?
If we dont like something in the Club, the mechanism exists for change. Our committee must by now have picked up a general discontent, and this must be tabled as a formal motion at the next Council Meeting, when it can probably be debated by the whole Club.
Nothing can be changed for 2012, as everything is now set and ready to go. So what about it Mr Chairman? Think carefully, and get a good motion based on getting the Club to remember that we are a membership Club: spectators shouldn't matter unless they are MG enthusiasts, and the sideshows are a boring distraction from the Main Event, which to my mind can be the best MUSEUM for the MG Marque. We want to see the cars doing their thing, not standing idly by while aeroplanes cavort in the skys above, and other side shows distract spectators.
I attend air shows, railway displays, musical concerts and many other things, None of these provide am outlet for my MG interest. But MG Silverstone should be the centre of my motoring interest.
From an Old Fogey,
Mike |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2012 : 17:58:40
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...Old Fogey
and creator of seminal books on MG. |
Edited by - spitfire on 06/05/2012 17:59:51 |
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sven
Sweden
436 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2012 : 20:27:28
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I think Mike A has nailed the question quite well. 8 pages is more interest than any other topic (I think) so the MMM comittee needs to do some serious thinking and put some well founded proposals to the main club.
Sven Sweden
Not a racer but a MG car club memeder since 1966 or so |
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Ypsilon
United Kingdom
2 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2012 : 09:22:56
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I have read through this thread with interest and must say that I admire the optimism of the suggestion that a well founded proposal will be discussed by all at a future Council Meeting. Voting at Council Meetings is subject to each Centre/Register/Branch (CRB) having one vote. The total number of CRBs is approximately 34. (11 Centres, 14 Registers and 9 Branches) The Triple M Register as a Register has one vote representing all Triple M members;- equally the Vintage Register has one vote for their 38 members, the South-East Centre also has one vote representing their 1,740 members and the Abingdon Works and Midland Centres both with approximately 1,300 members also get one vote each. However, the 9 Branches, representing the racing community, with no more than 300 members in total, have 9 votes, representing more than 25% of those available.
What are the odds on getting anything changed?
Good Luck!
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creamcracker
United Kingdom
125 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2012 : 07:57:52
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| What an interesting 8 pages of discussion, with some very heart-felt observations. I am sure that many of the comments echo those of other grass-roots members who tend to say nothing, but eventually "vote with their feet" and leave the club. The old adage of- 'if you do nothing, nothing happens', is perhaps embodied in the previous post by 'ipsilon', but also his/her comments make it clear that if change is required, there must be a concerted effort to effect change. It is supposed to be a Members club for Members, so the Members should not allow those at the 'top' to run things for their own kudos. Is it YOUR club or THEIR club? So who will take up the challenge? |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3683 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2012 : 08:15:44
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Welcome to the Forum, Keith and I hope you find it useful. Do you have a Triple-M car?
MG Live! was one of a number of topics discussed in depth at the Triple-M Register committee meeting two days ago. The various views aired on this Forum were considered and you can be assured that we will be ventilating them at an appropriately high level within the 'Main Club'.
As others have pointed out, the Register has but one vote at meetings of the Club's governing Council (next meeting in November), but there are of course many other means whereby issues can be raised and we will be doing so once we have seen how the new 2-day format has actually worked for the 2012 event.
Could I suggest that we park the subject there for the present?
Now, in the meantime, who would like to respond to the question which which this thread started:
Just out of interest, if you're planning to attend MG Live! 2012, could you perhaps indicate whether:
1. Will you be there for both days?
2. Taking part in any of the races?
3. Taking part in the California Cup?
4. Camping?
5. Attending the Saturday evening dinner?
Thanks
Dick Morbey
Register Chairman |
Edited by - DickMorbey on 15/05/2012 08:19:40 |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 15/05/2012 : 10:24:53
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No,no,no,no,no. Might get there for Sunday with other MGs.
Keith, Seeing as I was driving round your neck of the woods in the J2 Sunday, I'd be intrigued what MGs you have? I'm a "grass roots" member of the MMM Register...(Although I helped start another large MG Club) I wanted to send you a private e mail but find no contact details. Or cars?
Are you driving one of your MGs to MG Live? |
Edited by - spitfire on 15/05/2012 10:46:52 |
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