National Kit Car Show 2024 - will the Stratos Enthusiasts Club be there?

Just wondering who's going before deciding whether to make the trip.

Hawk Cars will be there with the red Stradale on the stand, my car will be staying away this year but come and say hi if you're popping over. The show needs supporting or we'll lose it forever!

June 1st and June 2nd Malvern
https://nationalkitcarshow.co.uk/

I am booked for Skipton show 2nd June - but family issues may prevent me going to that.

I’ll aim to pop across in my white LB one on Sunday.

There won't be any club presence at the show, unfortunately - of late, we've not had a good enough turn-out to make it worth it. When this was at Stoneleigh we held our AGM there, and hired a marquee for the occasion. We'd have several cars there both days, but the last one we had was 2 years ago and we had about 20 people there on the first day and none at all on the second. With the marquee costing over ?700, we decided that didn't represent good value for the members, so last year we held the AGM at the motor museum at Gaydon. Still didn't have that many members come along - think it was under 30, from memory - but it was indoors, the room was free and the catering was good too, and that's why we'll be going back in September!

So, sorry there'll be no official club thingy at the show, but if peeps aren't interested in going then the committee aren't interested in spending a wodge of club money for no return. Not to mention the effort put in by the committee!

Mr. Postroom, great that you're going along, but as a "free user" it's a bit cheeky of you to expect a club you don't contribute toward to provide you with weekend entertainment....sorry if that sounds a tad caustic, but you've caught me on a bad day. Tell you what though, join up and pay yer subs, and see about organising a club stand at the next gig for us. Deal?

- Chairman Norm

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Mr. Postroom, great that you're going along, but as a "free user" it's a bit cheeky of you to expect a club you don't contribute toward to provide you with weekend entertainment....sorry if that sounds a tad caustic, but you've caught me on a bad day. Tell you what though, join up and pay yer subs, and see about organising a club stand at the next gig for us. Deal?

- Chairman Norm

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If you clearly realise that what you are posting is caustic best just don't post it. Provides no encouragement for me to re-join - in fact quite the opposite.

Nope, sorry, what you need to realise is that this club - including this forum - costs money, which is provided by paying members. It's administered by a committee who provide their time and effort for free, and we're not reimbursed for any outlay any of us make. While we're welcoming to all Stratos fans, if you're gonna hang around for years and use the club's resources at no cost to you, maybe you can have a think about how you're benefitting from others' largesse. If you're offended by me pointing that out to you, and it puts you off rejoining, then you're acting more than somewhat "entitled" and, let's face it, you were never gonna rejoin really, were you?

Which tells me I have made the right choice.

Well actually, you've only made half a choice - you've decided not to contribute to the club, but you're still here using it, so you must think there's some sort of benefit to you. Now come on, instead of getting all offended and posting meaningless statements, do the right thing, pay your subs and become a full member.

Anybody else reading this - it's not just me who feels this way. I've been asked quite a few times over the last few years about people getting the benefits of the club, without putting anything in. It may be time to investigate putting some sort of time limit on how long you can be a "free user"....

Would love to make it to the show but my back end is in bits... (free one for you there Norm!) Will try & get to the AGM in Sept, this forum is outstanding value to say the least, much as I love being a member of the LMC, it won't help you build a Stratos like this place, Thanks Peeps!:)

Hi
Do we have a club parking and display area at the show.
Ian

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Originally Posted by Iowstratos

Hi
Do we have a club parking and display area at the show.
Ian

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No club stand Ian.

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Originally Posted by Normb666

There won't be any club presence at the show,

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I'm planning to be there Sunday assuming it stays relatively dry

Dave

At the kit car show today, Ian Gear (Alitalia) will be there tomorrow as well. Pride of place, parked by the main entrance !!! First day out this year for my car, and first drive of it for me since the trauma. Chatted briefly with Gerry and Guy M.

Horseing around with Grandchildren tomorrow.

Robin.

Well done chaps, good to see you went along and showed all the others what a proper car looks like! :)

Tim, thanks for the thumbs-up and compliments - I appreciate it. Not sure I can be any help with your back end though. I can't say I've paid it any attention when we've chanced to meet, but doubtless there are others far more qualified than me who are fully knowledgeable of back end "ins and outs" who'd be only too happy to assist. Er, as it were :) :)

Special call out to Robin (Longtimefan) - well done on getting out in the car after your trials and tribulations! Will you be taking the car to the Yorks run in a fortnight? Although that seems like a major stretch at this stage. Anyway, be good to see You and 'Er no matter what you're driving.

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Originally Posted by Longtimefan

Horseing around with Grandchildren tomorrow. Robin.

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Don't wear them out!

'Like the Safari spare on the top of Ian's car.
'Tyre looks a bit green?

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Well actually, you've only made half a choice - you've decided not to contribute to the club, but you're still here using it, so you must think there's some sort of benefit to you. Now come on, instead of getting all offended and posting meaningless statements, do the right thing, pay your subs and become a full member.

Anybody else reading this - it's not just me who feels this way. I've been asked quite a few times over the last few years about people getting the benefits of the club, without putting anything in. It may be time to investigate putting some sort of time limit on how long you can be a "free user"....

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So far off the mark - Offended, nope. If the belief is that my visiting and posting on this board provides no benefit - delete me - makes no odds. Why would I wish to join a club where the chairman deliberately sets out to offend and then continues to do so? Uh?

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Originally Posted by Darkspeed

So far off the mark - Offended, nope. If the belief is that my visiting and posting on this board provides no benefit - delete me - makes no odds. Why would I wish to join a club where the chairman deliberately sets out to offend and then continues to do so? Uh?

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Can we stop this please, it is a bit Trump/Biden.
I do agree with Norm though about membership helping pay for the Forum site etc

You're right, Steve, it all gets a bit boring. But I'll be having words next time we meet about comparing me to Trump or Biden.... ;)

Sadly though, my role as Chairman is to manage the club, and the main part of that is keeping it going. It's quite a specialised subject and so we don't have many members, meaning we don't have a ginormous amount of money to throw around. We hope that people who come and join up as free users will find us helpful, friendly and fun, and so progress to being full members by paying yearly subscriptions, which help us to keep the place going, etc, etc.
Now actually, I don't mind having free users who only pop up now and then, because they might have something to say/offer that could be helpful to others. But now and then it doesn't hurt to chivvy those users along to maybe do the decent thing after using the facilities for years, and take out a subscription to help the club they've had enjoyment(??) from. Seems reasonable to me, yeah?
What does get my goat is one of those free users popping up and telling me to button it, when all he had to do was have the grace to blush slightly in embarrassment and keep quiet. But no, he chose to castigate me and even admit he's made a deliberate decision not to be a full member, and will continue to use the site for nowt. I've tried to be reasonable but it doesn't seem to have made any difference....
I'll try one more time to be nice. Mr Darkspeed, you don't seem to particularly like being here, but you still hang around - so please do the decent thing and either join or delete yourself. I'd not be asking you if you'd not stuck your head above the parapet and started sniping.
Oh, and by the way, make your mind up - you say you're not offended, but then say I keep offending you. As you so eloquently put it, "Uh??"

For what it’s worth, which is less than nothing, I’m with Norm on this.

I know folk are a bit more fragile than they used to be these days but if you can be offended or ill
at ease by being asked to financially contribute to something you are making use of which requires financial contributions to exist then you are going to spend a lot of your life in a state of perpetual discomfort.

All IMHO. Other opinions are available.

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Originally Posted by Normb666

You're right, Steve, it all gets a bit boring. But I'll be having words next time we meet about comparing me to Trump or Biden.... ;)

Sadly though, my role as Chairman is to manage the club, and the main part of that is keeping it going. It's quite a specialised subject and so we don't have many members, meaning we don't have a ginormous amount of money to throw around. We hope that people who come and join up as free users will find us helpful, friendly and fun, and so progress to being full members by paying yearly subscriptions, which help us to keep the place going, etc, etc.
Now actually, I don't mind having free users who only pop up now and then, because they might have something to say/offer that could be helpful to others. But now and then it doesn't hurt to chivvy those users along to maybe do the decent thing after using the facilities for years, and take out a subscription to help the club they've had enjoyment(??) from. Seems reasonable to me, yeah?
What does get my goat is one of those free users popping up and telling me to button it, when all he had to do was have the grace to blush slightly in embarrassment and keep quiet. But no, he chose to castigate me and even admit he's made a deliberate decision not to be a full member, and will continue to use the site for nowt. I've tried to be reasonable but it doesn't seem to have made any difference....
I'll try one more time to be nice. Mr Darkspeed, you don't seem to particularly like being here, but you still hang around - so please do the decent thing and either join or delete yourself. I'd not be asking you if you'd not stuck your head above the parapet and started sniping.
Oh, and by the way, make your mind up - you say you're not offended, but then say I keep offending you. As you so eloquently put it, "Uh??"

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:confused: Quite an inventive and expansive interpretation of my posts - Thanks for being so nice friendly and fun.

Inventive and expansive? Erm, no, it's simply a logical response to what you've said here and if you're confused as to why, as indicated by the use of your emoticon, there's not much more I can do to make it any clearer.... although keep reading, and you just might understand.
The facts are that you've said you're happy to use a service that's provided and paid for by others, without paying subs and joining the club, and furthermore, you've no intention of doing so. Although you've effectively rubbed all the members' noses in the doo-doo, and given us the finger, let's see if you can reflect on your stance and do the right thing and join the club....although I suspect you won't, not least because I think you'd see that as some sort of climb-down. Ball's in your court now - it's up to you.

THREAD RE-OPENED.

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Mr. Postroom, great that you're going along, but as a "free user" it's a bit cheeky of you to expect a club you don't contribute toward to provide you with weekend entertainment....sorry if that sounds a tad caustic, but you've caught me on a bad day. Tell you what though, join up and pay yer subs, and see about organising a club stand at the next gig for us. Deal?

- Chairman Norm

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Hello Chairman Norm, I wasn’t aware that I had given a cheeky expectation of free entertainment, rather, just wondering whether the club would be in attendance so I could press the flesh to see if I should rejoin. That said, I did meet a couple of delightful chaps in the free-entry car park who were anything but caustic. ;-)

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Originally Posted by renmure

For what it?s worth, which is less than nothing, I?m with Norm on this.

I know folk are a bit more fragile than they used to be these days but if you can be offended or ill
at ease by being asked to financially contribute to something you are making use of which requires financial contributions to exist then you are going to spend a lot of your life in a state of perpetual discomfort.

All IMHO. Other opinions are available.

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Hmm, I don’t recall ever being asked to contribute financially en-route to this forum. If the configuration allows “free” members to browse content and drop the odd post, then I don’t see what all the fuss is about. If, on the other hand, the club votes to charge for this sort of thing, then make that clear and configure the forum accordingly.

Oh, BTW, what are the fee levels?

https://www.stratosec.com/Forum/show...-Join-the-Club

A coup,le of pictures from the Sunday

Attachment 22843Attachment 22844

Hi, Peter (Postroom). As I said in a previous post, I've no prob with people who pop by now and then, and make the odd posts, not paying. So you're alright there, but as I've also said, the club costs money to run, so if you'd like to avail yourself of our efforts other than occasional forum use, it'd be cool if you joined up and helped out. Mr. Darkspeed decided to take a pop at me for saying this, and then compounded that by declaring he had no intention of joining. Anyway, we'll see what he does, but I'm not holding my breath....

As Steve (Hollytree) said, there's a link at the top of each page that says "Join" so click on that to have a look. Cost is ?26-summat per year. We can't force peeps to join but we're very small - I think about 120 members worldwide - so we're keen that people do join if they're getting some sort of benefit from us. And believe it or not, we really are very matey. Sarcasm and general belittlement are an extra cost ;)

Actually I've just looked at the bottom of the "Forum" home page and although it says there are 1435 members, only 103 are active, i.e. paid-up.....

I have always felt the subscription fee in general is the best way of protecting any clubs interests.
And have always liked the level of conduct here compared to other free forums.
Your outlook is always different when it's free compared to when you have "skin in the game".

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Hi, Peter (Postroom). As I said in a previous post, I've no prob with people who pop by now and then, and make the odd posts, not paying. So you're alright there, but as I've also said, the club costs money to run, so if you'd like to avail yourself of our efforts other than occasional forum use, it'd be cool if you joined up and helped out. Mr. Darkspeed decided to take a pop at me for saying this, and then compounded that by declaring he had no intention of joining. Anyway, we'll see what he does, but I'm not holding my breath....

As Steve (Hollytree) said, there's a link at the top of each page that says "Join" so click on that to have a look. Cost is ?26-summat per year. We can't force peeps to join but we're very small - I think about 120 members worldwide - so we're keen that people do join if they're getting some sort of benefit from us. And believe it or not, we really are very matey. Sarcasm and general belittlement are an extra cost ;)

Actually I've just looked at the bottom of the "Forum" home page and although it says there are 1435 members, only 103 are active, i.e. paid-up.....

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Nope, another loose interpretation of fact, some furious backpedalling, aaaaaaaaand nope active does not mean paid up.

But you are correct in the fact that paid members are a small minority of the registered users on this board. It's also easy to see that the most active part of this board is the free access area. The members accessed area see's very few posts.

What improves membership is actually being a friendly accessible club that provides good value for money. Not telling people what you are "not doing" for your paying membership, just because people actually use a free access to ask what a club is doing on a particular day. But please go for it - dive in and change the settings to deny all access apart from SEC member - embrace your conviction that Free Users are unnecessary freeloaders.

And no, I will not be paying to join even if you are brave or stupid enough to make it members only - its just not particularly good value for money - may have been during another age under different management - but not now.

Who's car is this, and who made the stickers?

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Originally Posted by Darkspeed

Nope, another loose interpretation of fact, some furious backpedalling, aaaaaaaaand nope active does not mean paid up.

But you are correct in the fact that paid members are a small minority of the registered users on this board. It's also easy to see that the most active part of this board is the free access area. The members accessed area see's very few posts.

What improves membership is actually being a friendly accessible club that provides good value for money. Not telling people what you are "not doing" for your paying membership, just because people actually use a free access to ask what a club is doing on a particular day. But please go for it - dive in and change the settings to deny all access apart from SEC member - embrace your conviction that Free Users are unnecessary freeloaders.

And no, I will not be paying to join even if you are brave or stupid enough to make it members only - its just not particularly good value for money - may have been during another age under different management - but not now.

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I am a subs paying member and really dont want to read this unedifying stuff. I can see that you don't like the forum, so can I ask you to please leave it at that .
Thanks
Steve

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Originally Posted by hollytree

I am a subs paying member and really dont want to read this unedifying stuff. I can see that you don't like the forum, so can I ask you to please leave it at that .
Thanks
Steve

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I had no wish to continue with it either - but if someone makes a personal reference I will defend myself.


And you also appear to have the same affliction of attributing words or seeing things that do not exist - Please do not if you do not want a reply - practice what you preach and leave it at that.

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Originally Posted by Darkspeed

I had no wish to continue with it either - but if someone makes a personal reference I will defend myself.


And you also appear to have the same affliction of attributing words or seeing things that do not exist - Please do not if you do not want a reply - practice what you preach and leave it at that.

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Signing off from this thread. Goodbye

Jeez. Have you been on a different forum somewhere or something? You tell others not to attribute things that you haven't said (even though you have), and then proceed to do that very thing! Nobody has said anything about making the forum "members only". I've said twice that I don't mind free users, but it'd be good if they contributed if they start using the facilities so we can keep the club going. Is ?26 a year too much compared to the cost of running a Stratos, then? And where, pray tell, do you see us being anything other than friendly and welcoming?
Still, if you insist on twisting everything I say to bolster your argument, fine, but you're not making yourself look good. I don't see anyone posting anything supporting your views....

Here's an idea, though. If you think this club's so rubbish compared to what it was, reflect on the fact that the demographic of those who own, or aspire to own, a Stratos is totally different to what it was in the "Good Old Days". Then, it was impecunious enthusiasts who were up for a challenge and would give anything a go, including nailing their own car together from old oily bits, and loved actually getting together with others of a like outlook. Now, it's people with much more money, who're older, and don't necessarily want to come out and play - and the cars are also much more expensive. You might dislike that, but it's the way things are. Therefore, if you want this to be a "better" club, make some suggestions, and even better, volunteer to organise a club event of some sort. Complaining from your armchair that we're crap while being unwilling to support the club in even the slightest of ways is, frankly, reprehensible.

So, gonna get off your backside and do something worthwhile for the Stratos community rather than gripe and feel insulted??

By the way - because the "free access" area gets more use than the "paid for" section isn't because all the "freeloaders" are making whoopee on here compared to the members....it's because the "members" areas contain topics relating to building or running the cars. Which most people aren't doing.

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Originally Posted by ProtoTipo

Who's car is this, and who made the stickers?

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It's Pauls car (Postroom), it was delivered as a turnkey car by LB around August last year including the livery.not sure who provided the stickers.

BR

Dave

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Jeez. Have you been on a different forum somewhere or something? You tell others not to attribute things that you haven't said (even though you have), and then proceed to do that very thing! Nobody has said anything about making the forum "members only". I've said twice that I don't mind free users, but it'd be good if they contributed if they start using the facilities so we can keep the club going. Is ?26 a year too much compared to the cost of running a Stratos, then? And where, pray tell, do you see us being anything other than friendly and welcoming?
Still, if you insist on twisting everything I say to bolster your argument, fine, but you're not making yourself look good. I don't see anyone posting anything supporting your views....

Here's an idea, though. If you think this club's so rubbish compared to what it was, reflect on the fact that the demographic of those who own, or aspire to own, a Stratos is totally different to what it was in the "Good Old Days". Then, it was impecunious enthusiasts who were up for a challenge and would give anything a go, including nailing their own car together from old oily bits, and loved actually getting together with others of a like outlook. Now, it's people with much more money, who're older, and don't necessarily want to come out and play - and the cars are also much more expensive. You might dislike that, but it's the way things are. Therefore, if you want this to be a "better" club, make some suggestions, and even better, volunteer to organise a club event of some sort. Complaining from your armchair that we're crap while being unwilling to support the club in even the slightest of ways is, frankly, reprehensible.

So, gonna get off your backside and do something worthwhile for the Stratos community rather than gripe and feel insulted??

By the way - because the "free access" area gets more use than the "paid for" section isn't because all the "freeloaders" are making whoopee on here compared to the members....it's because the "members" areas contain topics relating to building or running the cars. Which most people aren't doing.

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What an utterly pointless and ill informed diatribe - All the best.

Confused now. At post 4 Mr Post room says he's popping over to the show in his White LB.
Does he have 2? Or did he forget he has Alitalia livery?

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Originally Posted by john

Confused now. At post 4 Mr Post room says he's popping over to the show in his White LB.
Does he have 2? Or did he forget he has Alitalia livery?

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Yep I was looking out for a white one, I guess technically it is white with some green and red stripes:)

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Originally Posted by STR_Strat

It's Pauls car (Postroom), it was delivered as a turnkey car by LB around August last year including the livery.not sure who provided the stickers.

BR

Dave

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The stripes are painted on while LB added a small number of decals; at least I think that?s what Lydia called them.