> I had intended to join the VCC but, after speaking to a few ex-members,
> decided not to bother. I have my own reasons for this but I also wasn't
too
> impressed by the idea that VCC marque enthusiasts are only supposed to
pass
> on information to VCC members
Bruce... I joined the VCC less than a year ago. I can sympathise with your feelings. It's doubtless a valuable and well-established organisation with a wealth of knowledge among its members. And it publishes a rather nice professional magazine too.
Having said that, it strikes me as being very "clubby" and I sure wouldn't dare be bold or brazen enough to contribute what little I know to it. Then again, the journal seems to delight, as is the habit of so many specialised publications and groups, in the arcane and obscure. I am a philistine who'd rather read a nice glossy feature on Hercules Kestrels or Raleigh Dawns than on some obscure frame builder in Fancy-Lugwork-Under-Sutton-Banbury nr. Wooton or the history of cycle lamp wicks. It's all delightfully quirky and English, and Alec Guiness could have played a VCC member quite well.
Most the "marque" specialists demand, for good reason, self-addressed stamped envelopes for queries. Fine. But not user-friendly to those of us who don't reside in Britain. And VCC members must be unique in the tiny fraction of whom seem to have access to the internet or e-mail. I guess if you collect 1913 Sunbeams the worldwide web seems rather a rude imposition. Perhaps it is.
The nicest feature of the VCC alas is one in which I cannot participate: the club rides. It must be a wonderful thing to see 20-40 Clubmans, Gold Vases, Jaguars and RRAs gliding some leafy lane. And a pub lunch discussing cycle lamp wicks...
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA