Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms MSSC, 100days at (nearly) the top. What has improved

In Ireland we PaddyMogs have an "Un-Centre" i.e. we have no official centre but one bloke has everyone's e-mail address and if someone wants something to happen we send an e-mail to this bloke and he circulates it - who turns up, turns up. Thus no committee, no officers,no hassle!!

It works well!

As others have said car clubs can be quite cliquey to new comers as I have found with both a Morgan Centre and my local Porsche club. Perhaps it is something to do with age and how long you have belonged. I have been a member and Area Rep of the Land Rover Series One Club since it started in 1979 so was in at the start. Trying to break into an old existing group especially if you are not one to push yourself forward can be difficult. I wont renew my membership to the Porsche club as I was virtually ignored on the one time I turned up. The Morgan Centre I felt was similar and difficult to become accepted by folks who had been "together" for probably decades and liked their lunches but little in the way of what I would call interesting car stuff.

I'm giving MSCC another year to see if things change, maybe it is starting as there was an actual technical article (apart from DW's) in the last but one issue.

There was recently a meeting of the new Morgan Classic Register which I assume will get some page space in the Miscellany and if that's the case I will stay a member just for that.

Lets be honest nothing has really changed and in fairness to Peter there's no way it's going too.
What MSCC have is an apathetic membership that are quite happy to sit and watch the few who run the club help it make as much money out of it's members as possible.
Why do they need such a huge cash reserve?
When asked it's in case an event goes wrong, surely the club has adequate insurance!
I actually do enjoy the centre meetings, maybe we are just lucky but have a good cross section of members with diverse interests and it gets me to the Pub without agro at least once a month.
RANT OVER!!
Worthers +8 & 1934 F2

The cash needs to be 30 to 40% of anual turnover to safely cover the uninsured excess risk on a number of events each year, without risking the survival of the club.

Why? We are involved in motorsport where "if sh*t really happens" the liability can be very large, running into millions. Yes there is insurance but the policy excesses reflect the potential risk. A bridge club it is not!!

We also used to underwrite the travel club, we continue to underwrite the MOG annual event and other MSCC events, including some of the motrsports activities.

Consider what would happen if we had a MOG event booked, planned and so on and an outbrake of foot and mouth or a major terrorist incident resulted, at very short notice, in the venue being "off limits" and travel restricted in the area, as has happened in the past with foot and mouth. We would have to cancel could lose perhaps £50K on the event and hotel cancellations.

Again, consider what would happen if, at a sporting event, a major accident resulted in the death of spectators. Again these days the "compensation culture" means everyone would be after as much as they can get. Insurance foots the bill, but there is a big excess to pay.

Both are highly improbable, but two such bad events in one year could see 50% of the reserve gone. Without the reserve the club would go.

We are working on managing the risk, by outsourcing activities, which means the reserve might be brought down in the future. But at the moment the National Committee considers it to be "prudent" to maintain it.

I just spent a fascinating 10 minutes reading this thread. When I bought my first Mog, which was only 4 years ago I was introduced to MSCC by the dealer (who also said they are a bit of a strange lot)....I duly read my first edition of Miscellany and was at best underwhelmed. It was another two years before I became a member. It's safe to say I still am unsure and hesitated quite a while this year before renewing. To me my Morgan is my passion, something I cherish but something that excites me, I want to drive it when I can and just sit in it when I can't. I love to clean it and although I have limited 'tinkering' skills I still enjoy doing the regular checks to keep it well. I probably drive it too much for ideal residual value and too fast (sometimes) but I love the contact with the road and yes I love some of the danger (maybe just perceived) versus my TT which is also an exciting drive but in a very different more cossetted sort of way. In the Morgan you smell the road, feel the tyres, take the bumps and listen to that wonderful noise. So to me it's exciting, maybe not as exciting as a Caterham at full pelt but it certainly get's the blood pumping - so why when I meet with like minded(?) Morgan owners would I want to sit in a dreary pub on a Thursday afternoon (when I am at work anyway)having a 'noggin'. If I have some time free on a Thursday afternoon or early evening I'd rather be driving the thing....(or sitting in it if it's pi**ing down). For me a car club and I have never been a member of any before, should be for driving or sharing driving experiences or obtaining information, just like an extension of TM and not an excuse for a pot of tea and some scampi and chips. However, I do respect that a great deal of MSCC members like it just the way it is and that is their right but personally I'd like it a little more Top Gear and a lost less reverse gear.

And so say all of us. I think you have hit the nail fair and squarely on the head.

The "National Top Gear Centre".

Wonder if the Hamster would join us, he understands Morgans.

When I first joined MSCC June last year I paid £5 to join NorceMog (my local centre) but also sent an email to FellMog asking if I can join up with them occasionally as my parents live in the Lakes and often go up that way

It just so happened that FellMog were organising a run last Summer on a Sunday that I could attend and thoroughly enjoyed a spirited run in two convoys of 5 Morgans around some beautiful countryside

I loved it and when we stopped for lunch and took over a super pub in the middle of nowhere, I also really enjoyed the happy throng and realised that although most were a bit older then me, it was a group that was very much into the driving, Morgans and car talk and everything else and importantly very friendly and full of fun

I've met up with FellMog for two drives since and both times it has been excellent

Because of the distance, I haven't been to a Noggin ( why aren't they called Moggins?) only the rides out

So belonging to a centre doesn't mean going to all the social events and certainly doesn't preclude meeting up with other groups or individual morgan owners or TM members

We can do anything and everything but my MSCC membership cost is well worth having, just for the cost of the Magazine (won't attempt to spell it )but also having the opportunity to drive out and meet fellow Morgan owners

Clubs exist to foster a feeling of belonging & shared experiences, whatever club they may be. You only get out what you put in so if it's not to your particular taste, maybe it's time to volunteer to do something you like & maybe get people to come along with you..?

Evolution not revolution, that sort of thing maybe.

Mrs St Eve and me, too. And the rest is well said, Dave.

Spot on – and I do miss the Caterham from time-to-time!

Sorry to say I can't agree with that. Miscellany drops on the mat and my heart sinks at the thought of another dose of remorseless repetition - photographs of precision parking (when I participated I was dying to park nose-in and at an angle, but never brave enough); happy snaps; and clichéd reports of the last lunch outing or dinner & dance.

All of which is why I told Gill Bevan last week that I was withdrawing from the MSCC. And lest it is thought otherwise, during my membership period I have participated, assisted and organised - but much better to get out on our own and just DRIVE!

My feeling is that it's suprising any morgan owners want to be in a club at all . The Morgan is an individualistic car and the owners used to be rather individualistic too. I think, as the cars became more expensive and IBM et al paid off more and more people to get them to go away, ownership profiles changed towards people with lots of time and money to spare. So at meetings the chaps who had worked out a new way to clean the carbs using teaspoonfuls of water etc. became a minority and drifted away. I remained a member until this year but had ceased to be a good club member a few years ago for the same" lunch club, let's put our morgans in a container and ship them to South Africa and have a month's holiday" reasons. My finances are not in that league but the majority of the people at our local meetings were in this bracket. The above is NOT a criticism of the newer breed of owners, each to their own, but I think that's why there are so many disenfranchised club members. I decided that it was me that had got out of step with the club membership cohort, rather than the other way round; that I had become a poor member as I wasn't positive enough, that things change and I should move over. Like ageing really!
But of course, I love the cars and use mine everyday so to be able to access this forum is perfect for me. I can focus on the parts that interest me and don't get stuck for two hours with someone's holiday reminiscences. I wish ALL Morgan owners the best but a club situation isn't for me. This forum is so freeing, a loose affiliation, ready to help at a moment's notice, it's a great place to belong without being owned.
I hope my wording doesn't offend anyone but there it is.
Nick