Cobra Club and the lotus 7 lookalikes in abundance
won't be going again utter waste of time and money expected to get some parts for the NG what a joke not many traders compared to other years
what's happening to the NG Owners Club
Ed

Hi All,

A very disapointing show this year.....!!!

The weather was fine, no jacket required walking around. A very poor attendance by club members. I understand 5 cars turned up on the Sunday and only one car on the Monday.

I was all geared up to attend in my car but the starter motor has cooked itself ( A significant amount of smoke came out of it when trying to start it on the 1st May) The solenoid also cooked so not having a very good start to the season. Not a starter motor to be found at the show.......

So the number of traders is significantly down and a minimal amount of NG's on the club stand. What is going on?, I can remember back in the late eighties and early nineties it was difficult to get on the NG club stand because of the number of cars there. I tried to get club members to local events last year and found a wall of apathy and some people reluctant to get out and about in their cars. Is it the economic situation really biting or the lack of support from Findhorn in promoting the NG brand or some other reason? There are clubs that seem to be thriving, there were plenty of Cobra's, lotus seven type cars and quite a few 1930's sports cars( similar to NG's) at Stoneleigh but NG were woefully under supported. Why?

An honest open question to ALL NG owners, What can be done to get more NG's out and about attending events? All positive suggestions gratefully received.

I think it's a number of issues.

First, it costs £30 to get in if you are not in a kit car. - if you don't have a running car then the internet will find better parts cheaper than Stoneleigh. ( I say £30 because I go with the gf)

Second, NG Cars has disappeared, I have emailed NG for spare parts and had no response, so I assume it's gone bust again - Nick Green and John Hoyle did a good job of running it, I remember visiting Pastiche back in the day, all these companies seem to develop and promote the cars - I even remember NG's getting on to the front of various kit car mags, but now ?

My suggestion would be to have the NGOC National Rally at Stoneleigh, might that improve attendance at both ? - and would give the NG owners without a running NG some encouragement seeing everybody the finished ones.


Regards,

Malc

Hi Malc,

Thanks for your views.

As you know, Findhorn were dissolved in 2012 according to Companies house. This and the lack of visibility in the press must have had an effect on the perception of the marque. That said, if you have got one why wouldn't you want to attend various car related activities?

I have a list of over a thousand cars and individual pictures of over 360 of them. So there must be plenty of cars out there but why won't people drive them to events...???? I appreciate that people have busy lives these days with demands on time coming from all directions and the economic situation is biting hard but if you have a car why aren't people driving them to events?

The trouble with having the national rally at Stoneleigh is the camping is not great (I have done it) and there isn't any alternative for those that are not campers like the site in Stratford has.

Maybe this thread on the forum will bring forth lots of suggestions on how to encourage people to get in their cars and attend events but I am not holding my breath.....

Hi
I'm quite a new member of only a couple of years standing but I feel the need to say something in the clubs defense. In my experience of clubs both pre war post war kit and activity based the NG club has been the most welcoming and encouraging club I have ever had the pleasure of being a member of. The Stratford event is a credit to the club and the Welsh rally great fun.

Please don't knock what you have - treasure it!

Cheers
Jeremy

Jeremy,

I agree with your comments, as well as my NG I have a 1965 Sprite and a 1985 Rover SD1 Vitesse, I have joined and left both owners clubs, the day I left the MASC (Midget and Sprite Club) was while at a pub meet, we had a member turn up in his MGB instead of a Spridget, then when another member turned up in a Spridget the MGB owner was asked to move his MGB "as it wasn't a Spridget" - this petty minded behaviour sealed my decision to leave, the SD1 owners were even worse they have a massive web forum, the longest and most active thread ? - what type of air freshener !!!


So I am not complaining about the NG OC, but we are discussing how we get more people to Stoneleigh, I suggested moving the NGOC Rally, not because I have issue with the current setup other than I don't camp or caravan, so I won't be camping at Stoneleigh or the rally and simply suggested it because if we combined them then at Stoneleigh we would have one of the largest groups of cars there, if it was as bad this year as last then getting 10 cars their would have made us one of the largest groups after the cobras and sevens.

Malc

Maybe we start a countdown to Stoneleigh thread in February next year ?

Jeremy,

I am in no way criticizing the club. I have attended the national rally for years since my children were very small. The Stratford event is a superb event and I really enjoy the many national rallies that have been held there. There is a lot of behind the scenes organisation that goes into the event to make it run as smoothly as it does for the benefit of the membership.

I have seen the amount of effort that goes into making the national rally such a success and it saddens me that more people don't support it. Again Bob and Manda were always at Stoneleigh flying the flag for the club. When you arrived there you were always welcomed with a hot cuppa which is spot on after a chilly journey as it sometimes could be.

The club is very friendly and inclusive but planned events are not well supported by the membership. Why? There are many cars out there( possibly over 1500) but they are rarely seen at events. There were lots of Cobra's and Lotus 7's of various marques at Stoneleigh this year but only 5 NG's that attended over the whole weekend. Does anyone know why they rarely attend events?

It would be really good to get a record number of cars attending the national rally this year. Has anyone any ideas how to achieve this??