How do you start a car club?

[FirebirdGirl]

I hear alot about car clubs but what is involved in them? Do they have sponsers? Is that how these car shows start?

[NikkiCiv]

It Depends on how into it you are, like i was in a car club and it was just a bunch of friends with hooked up cars and we'd all meet up, go to the track together, go do a lil street racing, enter car shows together, it was more of just like, bonding sort of but some car clubs have sponsors, just ask your local tuner shops about it.

[mx_3_18s]

It really depends on what you are looking to get out of the club. If you just want to start a club to put stickers on your car, then anyone could be in the club that you wanted to have a sticker. If you are looking to obtain some sponsors, look professional, and make a name for the club/team, Make a list of things each car needs to have done as a minimum. Don't have more than one type of each car in the club to avoid competing against each other at shows. Age may be another thing to look into, like a minimum age to be in. Friends are good to have in the club but remember that the rules will have to apply to all members which doesn't always go over well. Most of all, there needs to be someone in charge, someone who will have overall say in what goes on within the club.
These are just some things that I've noticed keep a club/team together and help make a name. Hope it helps.


-Kevin

[FFCCPresident]

Firebirdgirl, it depends on what type of club you want to have. I started our club in 1999, we've been going strong for just about 5 years now. We are one of the most active clubs in the Northeast. If you want to have events, you need sponsorship to pay for trophies, advertising, etc. It's also always good to get the word about your club out there so that businesses can offer you group discounts. Running a car club is a lot of work trust me, it requires a lot of dedication! It is worth it. We've had some amazing times and have done some great things. We always give back to the community, too. We try to come up with new and unique ideas (that sometimes get "borrowed") for events and things to do. Start woth a good group of people, and take it from there. Check out our site for more information about us, and how we did it, on our About the FFCC page. Good luck!

[zackiedawg]

Firebird Girl,

I started a club about 2 years ago for the same reason as you...I heard about them and thought it would be a great idea down here in Florida where there weren't any traditional car clubs established like in California and up north.

My way of starting was to visit the enthusiast websites for my brand of car...there were three or four large message board sites for VW that I found. I posted a few inquiries for anyone in South Florida to meet up for a small GTG (Get Together). At first, it started very small...in fact, there were only three VWs including myself who decided to meet. We picked a nice location on the beach, had lunch, took a short cruise, and took pictures of our cars together. When we posted our pictures back on the enthusiast message boards, we had more people interested and they wanted to know when our next gathering was going to be. So I started holding monthly GTGs which brought in 17 cars for the 2nd time, then 34, then 48, and on.

At first we kept it free, no prizes, no judges, no food - just friends getting together to chat and enjoy a nice day. Once we got up over 30 cars, I moved it up a level, where we all volunteered to bring some food and drinks, and we held the events at parks where we could get grills and tables for a picnic...played some frisbee, etc. When we moved up to 75 cars, the next level was in order...we were running out of food, and had quite a large crowd of people together. So I approached a local tuner, and asked him if he wanted to attend...at first, no cost...if he sold some engine chips and did some work, he'd chip in for the food and drinks. It worked, and once word got out about a tuner on site, we stood to grow faster still. Once we topped 100 cars, we knew we had to move up another level.

The final stage of building the event was to first reduce it to a semi annual or annual event. We prepared sponsorship packets to send out to all of the tuner and parts shops we knew of, even in other states, passed out flyers all over town on the windshields of other VWs, and posted many listings on the message boards. Our idea was to keep the shows free to attend, and have the sponsors pick up as much of the staging costs, food costs, and more. We also started asking for raffle gifts to give away from other sponsors. As word of mouth grew, and sponsors started making business on site, the crowds really started to grow...topping 200 cars at our 10th event.

I held our 11th event this March 15, 2003...we had 27 sponsors, 8 on-site vendors, tech alleys, food and drinks, event tents set up, port-o-lets delivered, hired police, dealership support, and brought in people from 4 states! We had over 320 cars in attendance and more than 500 people!

It is true, it takes alot of work to stage such an event. But the way to do it is to start cheap and humble, slowly grow your support, and introduce new levels for each event. Move up slowly into charging for food to reimburse costs, selling t-shirts of your event, getting sponsors to cover the large costs, renting pavilions and park space, and setting up event tents, stages, and autocross sites. If you do it this way, it really isn't very hard.

I am not sure where in Florida you are, but if you are in the South Florida area, there are so many beautiful places to host your Club/Show, and alot of people drive your model of car that are all probably waiting for someone to come along and start the ball rolling. I recommend you do it! It is pleasing and rewarding, alot of fun, and you find a bunch of new friends and great contacts (I got great deals on a new car, parts, and wheels from people who sponsor my event!!).

Good luck. Feel free to ask me if you have any particular questions. Feel free to check out my site for the event for backround and info, as well as pictures:

www.sflgtg.com