Radio Free Registry

[merbesfield]

[quote="bbspdstr" post=8437]Mark wrote:
"The cars and parts have become so expensive that young folks cannot partake.
The current youth has little to no interest in OLD Porsches, especially with the cost and the state of the economy."

This depends on the definition of "young."

'Young' to me is someone with kids younger than mine (42), usually without grandchildren...yet.

I have several younger customers in for full ongoing restos, all about the same age....two with kids, two married but without kids (yet, but planned) and one not yet married.

All have good jobs and are REALLY 'into' their 356s

All bought cheap 356s. One inherited an A Cab (his Dad's), another bought a project A Cab and the others have the more common T-6 B projects, abandoned by DIY enthusiasts, all under $7k in boxes. Another female customer has a C Cab for restoration that's now her heart's delight after taking a ride with me in a really nice similar Cab I restored last before she was born.

They pay as they can and I work as they can afford. They say 'time is on their side.' I encourage them all to do whatever they can for themselves, to be involved


I must say that this is carrying over to the early 900-series crowd as well.

The point is a long-time saying which says..."the (Porsche) 356 is a disease for which there is no cure, only the hope of remission...if eventually needed."

What we need to do is pass this contagion along and find ways to afford to scratch the itch....and maybe be more accepting of "tribute" 356s as placebos.

One would think those who run the Registry and the 'members' who allegedly own it, would think in this direction, embrace and publicly support such ideas.

I am young, 51, have two kids, 8 & 11. In Atlanta I can think of two guys my age, most are older. I am sure there are more, but I don't know them. Anyone "paying" to restore Cabs has to have some money or they are sadly disillusioned. I like working on my own car, but if I were paying for resto there would be no way. Time may be on there sides, but they obviously don't care to actually drive their cars anytime soon Yes Porsches are a sickness, which is why I own four, and yes it definitely caries over to the 900 series crowd. But they too are very expensive. And the 912's are just as expensive, only the starting point is cheaper. The problem with your example is that is a very small sampling of the overall auto/hobby/industry. But what happens when you quit? Are the folks you are doing restos for capable of working on their own car? Do they want to? Do they have the time? I'm not trying to be confrontational, just having conversation.

[merbesfield]

Computers, car help forums and younger guys or girls go hand in hand
and most are free. Its correct, prices for cars and parts are high it makes it difficult for younger people to participate.

When I can look on the registry at any time night or day read all the incoming threads but not make a single typed reply it seems stupid to me. If you need anything to promote these days have a forum, put some banner advertising on it anywhere you like, get some revenue from that. People almost expect to see that.

If you have spare revenue cash left over spend it on some car meet ups over the country. Of course I can't go though!

Wasn't going to write all this, maybe should sit on the sideline and just say nothing

Roy

Roy, thanks for not sitting on the sidelines. I have been saying this since they changed the rules for the forum. Not having a free forum is without a doubt the single most stupid move they have done to date. As soon as I first heard it, I knew they were seriously screwed up and headed down a bad road. I am a member of many forums and I can't think of any I had to pay for. Maybe the Early911S Registry, but if so I would say the same thing to them.

[admin]

I get lots of calls from guys under 40 who want a 356, they normally ask how cheap I can make it. I recently sold a rough B Coupe to a guy in Australia, hit in the front and rusty, but he said he didn't care, he was going to run a Suburu motor and aftermarket disc brakes.
I know lots of young guys who want a 356 and are willing to put in the sweat equity to make it happen. Can they do all the work themselves, probably not, but they can learn, and everyone learned somewhere on some car, unless they spent time in Stuttgart and local clubs and the Registry club are a great resource for getting to others nearby who can help when you get into a jam. A Registry brother re-built the engine on my first 356, a B Coupe when I first joined the club, he refused any payment, we are still friends today.
So yes, there is a new crop of guys who want and will get a 356, it just probably won't be a Speedster, but the Speedster is the 550 of the last generation, related to the 356 you can afford, but oh so far out of reach.

[bbspdstr]

"Time may be on there sides, but they obviously don't care to actually drive their cars anytime soon Yes Porsches are a sickness, which is why I own four,"...

Mark, I used to have as many as 4 356s at a time, now I have trouble owning one and getting it on the road...and time is definitely NOT on my side! (and the shoemaker's children always need shoes)

I used to have new(er) 911s, now I cannot afford one of those either...and I sold my last of 'about' 14 (maybe 15, I forget)Speedsters and netted a Coupe's value after the restoration that was part of the deal for 'market price' of the Speedster at that time, so yes, the increased prices reflect the interest (usually romantic) in the 356s and early 900s, affordable now by a more affluent demographic but balanced by the fact that the value is there if the work is put into it, one way or another.

That is, especially if enthusiasts get going the way I did....I learned to fix my own because I could not afford to pay anyone else! Now, most of the younger people I work with are their own general contractors, not welders and fabricators or serious mechanics. Still, most like the idea of being involved in a restoration as much as the car itself....part of the hobby, eh?

In my formative years with 356s, (pun intended) I made scrap thick steel forms over which to hammer sheet steel floor sections before the first (lame) repros were introduced. Brad Ripley delayed me from contracting with a local stamping house to do floor pans, as "there won't be a big enough market for two vendors" and neglected to tell me he was going to work with Chuck Stoddard....who was funding the prototype (epoxy) dies to 'test the market.'

Where there is a will, there is a way. When I had nada for a racing budget with my Speedster, a wise man told me that you can still have fun racing at the back of the pack.....it just takes the discipline to deny the urge to win in first place and win by having fun with what you can afford.

Now, how can the Registry involve younger people...should things get turned around???

[merbesfield]

Bruce, this hobby does bring out some great folks. My local mechanic, Pat Collins, is just like that. He will always stop whatever he is doing just to answer one of my newbie questions or explain how something works. One of my best friends I met via the Pelican forum and he has put in countless unpaid hours helping me. We work nearly every Tuesday night and have great fun. We keep talking about how it would be great if we had a FUN local Porsche owners group. No PCA is not fun, sorry.

As Adam knows, if it were not for his help, I would not own my 356. It was too nice for him so he pointed me towards it. Still needs lots of TLC but not a basket car by any means. Thanks Adam

[jstenner]

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[admin]

Mark-
Glad I could help you out, and even happier it was a good car. That's what being a Registry brother is all about, helping each other out.

[Bill Sampson]

SJ's suggestions included:

"The Club negotiates agreements with as many currently independent regional 356 clubs as it can interest with the following deal: Become an official chapter of the Registry and the Club will underwrite your expenditures (within some yet-to-be-determined cost framework, probably on a per-capita basis). Local dues will disappear and a Registry Membership will take its place. The Registry will make a contribution to each Chapter (again, per capita)for their own annual event, while Chapters remain free to finance locally any customary special events."

A question that would need to be addressed would be whether regional club members would be required to be Registry members also. That is certainly the practice in some car clubs and in other types of national organizations. Such a requirement would give the Trustees veto power over the regional chapters' acceptance of members. Reasonable minds might well differ on whether that is a good idea.

Let's pose a hypothetical: A member or proposed member of the Registry disagrees with its Trustees and although a staunch supporter of the Registry itself is banned from the Registry by the Trustees. Hypothetically of course. Should that member be prevented from belonging to a regional chapter because of the Trustees' ostracizing of that member? Would the Trustees be entitled to withdraw the contemplated financial support because of their disagreement with the chapters' membership policies?

SJ's ideas do have merit particularly since member money could go to car club events/tours/etc. The concept of Trustees remote to the chapters owning a means of dictating membership/financial control of those chapters is troubling to me. A work-around would be needed depending upon the amount of local control the chapter(s) desired.

[roy mawbey]

How correct you are Bruce about having to work on the car yourself. Mine has never been in a garage for work in the past 44 years. But...thats only because it runs with carbs and distributor. I doubt today the younger guy with little cash can work out the complex fuel injection, ECU's and steering and braking systems now so universal
on cars.

That aspect drives people into going to repair shops where technicians not mechanics as I remember them,delve in with their computer to diagnose every aspect of the car. The software is not as on cheap fault scanners so The young DIY guy is often up the creek without a paddle!

If only they realised how much easier it is to work on an older car perhaps even more would buy one. We now over here, have no road tax to pay on cars before 1973 and now no MOT on any pre 1960 car. ( Not sure I agree on this though.)

Again to spray a car like I have always done, cellulose is available some times for special cases otherwise its very difficult without an oven etc. The leading I did, well I know there alternatives to lead but how do they work?

Oh crikey, gone off subject again its my age or something.

But you get what I mean, our cars are possible for younger people if they realised they can actually work on them, unlike most of the moderns where you need so much equipment.

Roy

[bbspdstr]

"That's what being a Registry brother is all about, helping each other out."

OK, the representative youth movement has spoken....unfortunately confused that it's actually 356ers who have always helped each other out, even before the mid-'50s.... when PCA was formed and 356s were all that Porsche made.

Your Excellence brother, Friar Bruce
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Now, putting aside negativity about diminished involvement due to expense, how/what is the most attractive aspect(s) for a group that would 'support' an enthusiast who has a sports car older than he/she is?

(Please tell me it's not just a slick magazine)......

[admin]

Well Bruce, I can't speak before the Registry, because it was formed the year I was born, so I'll leave that to you.
But in the instance I was talking about it was a Registry Brother I was talking about, one who I think you have butted heads with, Geoff Fleming.

[356JAGER]

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[356JAGER]

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[admin]

But since this whole thread is about "The Registry" and why people should stick with the club and not go away, I thought it was important to talk about my experience with the Registry Brotherhood and how they helped me when I first joined.
Of course, there were people into 356's and helping each other out long before there were clubs, but that's not what the thread is about, it is about the Registry.

[356JAGER]

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