Thinking creating a NW Club for FR-S/BRZ owners
 

We were discussing about MAYBE creating a club over on the Portland Metro area (PDX, Vancouver, Beaverton, etc.) for the lovely FR-S/BRZ owner can meet and share thoughts.... Beers always welcome. Why don't we come up some ideas for it.


Doesn't had to be formal/informal at all time. Feel free to gave some input. Any thoughts are useful.

Well I was thinking more and more about car club names for PDX area club if one was to be made.
Here are few suggestions:

Stump gear (not very original but cool never or less)
Cascadia 86'ers

Ok I ran out of ideas but if the idea of making an informal or formal car club is entertaining for the Pdx metro area incluiding Vancouver, WA then reply with some more name suggestions and I can tinker around with some photoshop to come up with some logo designs. :happy0180:

I didn't get the kicker part? Lol

It was just...ignore that.:party0030:

86 names

86 reasons

86 " some catchy phrase that is relevant to car or area or club or topic"

Devine Dragon 9000

Just for laughs :coolpics:

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/...6/over9000.jpg

as big and interesting as some car clubs are, i really wouldn't consider joining one. it would really depend on what the club does. i don't mind hanging out and having a beer and fixing up our cars, but a club is a different level of commitment.

clubs need rules, maybe even bylaws. then you need fees or fundraising to fund club functions, because well.. if you're a club, you gotta make things legit all the time. and when you're a club, you're represented by all the members, so if someone is out there making a bad example of your club, well there goes the reputation.

i don't know, just my two cents. i think we're perfectly fine throwing together our makeshift meets and random hangouts. don't think we need a club or logo or 'name' to feel entitled to be 86 enthusiasts.

As long the club members don't become team innovations. Terrible group of car enthusiasts.

I found this article on a forum search for how to start up a car club. It seems like a lot of work but in long run, it has many perks such as group buy discounts and sponsorships. I too can't see myself in a huge club that travels nationally on shows or competes on national race level. I'm also just looking at a less formal club for group hangouts. Nothing grand stature. However if we keep it simple, it will be cool to be a little organize to promote local events and also get local shops involved to get group/club discounts for members. What I mean by simple is : no drama. If someone couldn't make a meeting because something came up, then no one should jump down their throats. We all have lives and families and commitments so we will have to be flexible. We can also plan road trips like what Darren is doing for the coast trip or depending on cost , we can all chip in 20 bucks (if there are lot of people) and rent out a track for a day. Just ideas.... Ok well that's my few cents. I have no experience in running a car club but I will help out as much as possible. :burnrubber:




http://www.automotiveforums.com/t425...car_club_.html

Firebird Girl,

I started a club about 2 years ago for the same reason as you...I heard about them and thought it would be a great idea down here in Florida where there weren't any traditional car clubs established like in California and up north.

My way of starting was to visit the enthusiast websites for my brand of car...there were three or four large message board sites for VW that I found. I posted a few inquiries for anyone in South Florida to meet up for a small GTG (Get Together). At first, it started very small...in fact, there were only three VWs including myself who decided to meet. We picked a nice location on the beach, had lunch, took a short cruise, and took pictures of our cars together. When we posted our pictures back on the enthusiast message boards, we had more people interested and they wanted to know when our next gathering was going to be. So I started holding monthly GTGs which brought in 17 cars for the 2nd time, then 34, then 48, and on.

At first we kept it free, no prizes, no judges, no food - just friends getting together to chat and enjoy a nice day. Once we got up over 30 cars, I moved it up a level, where we all volunteered to bring some food and drinks, and we held the events at parks where we could get grills and tables for a picnic...played some frisbee, etc. When we moved up to 75 cars, the next level was in order...we were running out of food, and had quite a large crowd of people together. So I approached a local tuner, and asked him if he wanted to attend...at first, no cost...if he sold some engine chips and did some work, he'd chip in for the food and drinks. It worked, and once word got out about a tuner on site, we stood to grow faster still. Once we topped 100 cars, we knew we had to move up another level.

The final stage of building the event was to first reduce it to a semi annual or annual event. We prepared sponsorship packets to send out to all of the tuner and parts shops we knew of, even in other states, passed out flyers all over town on the windshields of other VWs, and posted many listings on the message boards. Our idea was to keep the shows free to attend, and have the sponsors pick up as much of the staging costs, food costs, and more. We also started asking for raffle gifts to give away from other sponsors. As word of mouth grew, and sponsors started making business on site, the crowds really started to grow...topping 200 cars at our 10th event.

I held our 11th event this March 15, 2003...we had 27 sponsors, 8 on-site vendors, tech alleys, food and drinks, event tents set up, port-o-lets delivered, hired police, dealership support, and brought in people from 4 states! We had over 320 cars in attendance and more than 500 people!

It is true, it takes alot of work to stage such an event. But the way to do it is to start cheap and humble, slowly grow your support, and introduce new levels for each event. Move up slowly into charging for food to reimburse costs, selling t-shirts of your event, getting sponsors to cover the large costs, renting pavilions and park space, and setting up event tents, stages, and autocross sites. If you do it this way, it really isn't very hard.

I am not sure where in Florida you are, but if you are in the South Florida area, there are so many beautiful places to host your Club/Show, and alot of people drive your model of car that are all probably waiting for someone to come along and start the ball rolling. I recommend you do it! It is pleasing and rewarding, alot of fun, and you find a bunch of new friends and great contacts (I got great deals on a new car, parts, and wheels from people who sponsor my event!!).

Good luck. Feel free to ask me if you have any particular questions. Feel free to check out my site for the event for backround and info, as well as pictures:

503RuffRyders, WestCoastRollerz Inc., FiveOThreeDubz

I like FiveOThree minus dubz ;)

How about a combo of 503 + 86 some how to give the car and area code tribute?

Or

589

Or

503 eighty six

Or

503 eight six

??????? :0

Eight6Mafia

86scratchPicklez