Lotus 7 Club - is it worth it?

[Toaster]

Clubs, Politics, Values, Beliefs its the cause of much misery there is never one truth but many if only we could accommodate everyones views it would be a much better world.

We all love our sevens, the Lotus 7 Club isn't all bad in the same way that it isn't all good neither is piston heads

Embrace the differences and I am not going to say you have to get on with everyone but we all have different opinions and gravitate to those who have similar ones.

So to answer the question of the thread.....yes it is and no it isn't worth being a member of the club. I have been a member then not a member and currently a member I am sure I will dip in and out of membership depending on how I feel at renewal time

I can recall XXXX annoyed me on occasions in the past on a Le-Mans trip but id still have a beer with him and no doubt I have annoyed him in the past but what the heck we all love the same thing we don't have to agree.

Edited by Toaster on Wednesday 3rd December 18:32

[IBDAET]

coppice said:

Err ..you don't belong to the Club , but you do seem to spend an unhealthy amount of time obsessing about what you think is wrong with it it which really can't be very good for your blood pressure. Thought of getting a hobby to get you out a bit more?

I was a member of the Club for over 20 years.
I made lots of useful tech posts
I raised over £40k for Leukemia Research.
I took over 1000 members cars to Le Mans on trip to Le Mans an organised exclusively for the club over 11 years, only to see it ruined and its assets trashed when passed over to the club in 2006.

Apparently they don't want to retain members like that anymore.



What have you done to make the club so great Coppice?

[nigelpugh7]

IBDAET said:

I was a member of the Club for over 20 years.
I made lots of useful tech posts
I raised over £40k for Leukemia Research.
I took over 1000 members cars to Le Mans on trip to Le Mans an organised exclusively for the club over 11 years, only to see it ruined and its assets trashed when passed over to the club in 2006.

Apparently they don't want to retain members like that anymore.



What have you done to make the club so great Coppice?

I would have to. Say that I totsly agree with Arnie on all the above points,,as most of them relate to my relationship with the club too.

In the course of building and owning 5 of my own caterhams, I have helped many members both directly and indirectly in the lotus 7 club.

However some of the long standing member seem to love to hate me, for no other reason than the fact that I have owned two R500 duratecs personally, or that I have an opinion and individual viewpoint that is different to their own, and as I result I have been castigated as a member.

I remain a member, mostly because I am happy to help people who have seen my posts re builds, and choose to contact me directly for questions on how I can help them.

The truly sad thing is that the club and those individuals in particular, have alienated so many members that over 60 members have contacted me directly either via email or phone, and hence outside of the club, for my advice and guidance on matter referring to builds, buying an maintaining a wide variety of 7s.

This is doubly tragic for the club, as this means that the information is not shared with the wider community, by making posts on the club website,,but the people who contact me do not wish to share their experiences with the club on a public forum, for all the reasons we have highlighted.

Hence the reason I no longer post very often on the old or new club site.

Yet despite this several members, who do not know me, have never met and don't really have any knowledge of me apart from their bigoted views on the club site,,still continue to post negative comments about me, without any recent posts from me directly, a certain individual with initials that are roughly V and J seems determined to make derogatory posts,,without any facts or personal knowledge of me personally.

This is what is most annoying about the club, and a few old existing disillusioned members.

Despite all this the club has value and hence the reason I remain a member.

Of course oif those individuals mentioned,,just went away, I suspect the club would double its membership very quickly as it would attract a new member ship of fresh new owners who just want to enjoy the ownership experience.

[coppice]

IBDAET said:

I was a member of the Club for over 20 years.
I made lots of useful tech posts
I raised over £40k for Leukemia Research.
I took over 1000 members cars to Le Mans on trip to Le Mans an organised exclusively for the club over 11 years, only to see it ruined and its assets trashed when passed over to the club in 2006.

Apparently they don't want to retain members like that anymore.



What have you done to make the club so great Coppice?

Not being quite so keen as you seem to be on starring in my own soap opera I would leave others to judge what contribution I have made to the Club. But that isn't the issue - you don't belong to it anymore but apparently you cannot stop obsessing about it . Try moving on - I am sure you will feel so much happier and less embittered; you might even stop sniping at individual members.

Edited by coppice on Thursday 4th December 07:49

Edited by coppice on Friday 5th December 09:57

[anonymous-user]

coppice said:

you {INBDAET} don't belong to it anymore but apparently you cannot stop obsessing about it . Try moving on - I am sure you will feel so much happier and less embittered

Epic. So only club members are allowed to hold and express an opinion of the Club?
Great marketing strategy. Appease those who already buy-in, and everyone else can sod off.

May be a smarter move might be to ask a) why don't people join and perhaps more importantly, b) if they do join what then makes them leave?
Saying "Well it's only Arnie so who gives a fk anyway?" is a bit Victorian isn't it?

[coppice]

I don't really see why I should respond to comments in answer to points I haven't actually made. But it does seem to me that the constant sniping in this thread by a few former members about some club members, the ESV, the MT, the content and format of the magazine, the website and Christ knows what else just gives a very misleading and unfair impression of a Club I have hugely enjoyed being a member of for many years. Obviously some feel they must grind their axe about something or somebody but the vast majority of members I have met have been decent and enthusiastic people with a shared passion for a stupid sports car. If some don't want to belong to the Club then they can always find another one which meets their exacting standards...

[Toaster]

IBDAET said:

I was a member of the Club for over 20 years.
I made lots of useful tech posts
I raised over £40k for Leukemia Research.
I took over 1000 members cars to Le Mans on trip to Le Mans an organised exclusively for the club over 11 years, only to see it ruined and its assets trashed when passed over to the club in 2006.

Apparently they don't want to retain members like that anymore.

What have you done to make the club so great Coppice?

Arnie, with respect many of us are long term members, we all make contributions and have contribute to Nuke the Leuk

You did not take me to Le-mans I and everyone else made our own way (you were not driving a coach) and I think it would be fair to say that whilst you may be a key organiser from what I saw you had a lot of help from others and it was the others that made the trips work it wasn't single handed (just trying to get perspective I am not criticising )

[anonymous-user]

coppice said:

the constant sniping in this thread by a few former members..... just gives a very misleading and unfair impression of a Club I have hugely enjoyed being a member of for many years

Misleading and unfair in your eyes, that is.
The fact that individuals feel strongly enough to grind an axe or whatever you want to call it isn't unfair or misleading, it's simply a reflection of how pissed off those people are with the club, and you cannot dictate what people think or feel.
Obviously "the Club" doesn't want to be represented in such a way, but you can't simply say "It's Arnie, and everyone knows he's just bitter. If enough of us say that often enough everyone will believe us and not him".

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 4th December 20:56

[Helluvaname]

Crossflow Kid said:

coppice said:

the constant sniping in this thread by a few former members..... just gives a very misleading and unfair impression of a Club I have hugely enjoyed being a member of for many years

Misleading and unfair in your eyes, that is.
The fact that individuals feel strongly enough to grind an axe or whatever you want to call it isn't unfair or misleading, it's simply a reflection of how pissed off __those people__ are with the club, and you cannot dictate what people think or feel.

Quite right, and the fact that a hand-full of ex-members on here keep going on and on about how bad they think the club is, vs around 2500 Club members who are presumably content with it (as they are still members), puts it into perspective

[anonymous-user]

Maybe they're just unaware of some of the issues raised, but since those issues always get buried "because it's bloody Arnie again" it's very difficult to say, isn't it?

[Helluvaname]

Or maybe the "issues" aren't issues to the vast majority of members?
If they were, then maybe they'd all be repeatedly raising them on here.

[BertBert]

I think I belonged to a different L7Club. I never really got all this stuff about the bad people sniping at me. I can understand if Arnie is pissed off with what happened with the LeMans trip enterprise he built up. But that to me is a thing, it happened but it doesn't define the club of today.

Good people seem to turn into bad people on forums. That's just what happens even with mild-mannered people let alone the loud ones with abrasive views (mentioning no names).

I'm not a member because I'm not active in the Caterham world. When I get another I probably will be again.

Hey ho.
Bert

[coppice]

Crossflow Kid said:

Obviously "the Club" doesn't want to be represented in such a way, but you can't simply say "It's Arnie, and everyone knows he's just bitter. If enough of us say that often enough everyone will believe us and not him".

Edited by Crossflow Kid on Thursday 4th December 20:56

I not only "can't simply say that" I didn't say it at all...Anyway, enough already ; I sense an impasse.

[thequietone]

This thread does nothing other than confirm to my why I don't get involved with 'The Club'.

Imagine being a new, prospective owner coming on to one of (if not THE) biggest forums to seek advice and encouragement to be faced with 14 pages of arguing.

After enjoying owning and/or driving pretty much every CATERHAM 7 (never owned a Lotus 7 and neither have the vast majority or the Lotus 7 Club members) there has ever been, attended 100's of track days and toured through most of the UK and Europe I think I'll stick to going it alone, albeit with a few good mates in tow.

7's, beers, petrol, 7's, trackdays, beers, banter, beers and 7's = yes please!

Elitism, egos, power struggles, 7's, egos, bullying and 'The Club' = no thanks.

Is the Lotus 7 Club worth it? Not for me, no.

[thequietone]

boy said:

Personally I'm not a member, having been a member of owners clubs in the past I've decided that if I want to stand in a field with a load of beared people I'll take my dogs not my cat.

[IBDAET]

Toaster, One day you will understand the effort made.

Nigel, Bob and Graham, thanks for your support.

[nigelpugh7]

IBDAET said:

Toaster, One day you will understand the effort made.

Nigel, Bob and Graham, thanks for your support.

No probs, I think the amazing thing about the points that we have both made is that a lot of people feel that we have an axe to grind, and that all our statements are based on bitter vitriol.

The saddest thing about it that could not be further from reality, hence why we get so frustrated by the small minority who choose to make stupid and insensitive comments, about individuals who they don't know, have not met, and know nothing about our contributions to help the club.

Still despite those sad lost and disillusioned individuals , I personally remain a member and do what I can to help local club members, despite not being an AR any longer, and still response to weekly emails from club members who contact me directly via email or phone.

So my advice to anyone thinking about joining the club, either as a new owner, prospective owner , or just interested, then Join any way,,you might just find someone like me, who is a member and is happy to help, whatever the question!

[anonymous-user]

coppice said:

Crossflow Kid said:

Obviously "the Club" doesn't want to be represented in such a way, but you can't simply say "It's Arnie, and everyone knows he's just bitter. If enough of us say that often enough everyone will believe us and not him".

I not only "can't simply say that" I didn't say it at all...Anyway, enough already ; I sense an impasse.

Stop being a silly tit by assuming everything refers directly to you personally.
I meant "you" in the commonly recognised generic third person plural form. "You" as in You, Me and Everyone.
I was also speculating and preempting, so although though "you" may not have said it in the past nor posted it here, I mentioned it as the sort of thing that typically might get said.
Is that clear enough or d'you want a diagram?

[K800 RUM]

Blimey this thread thread goes on & on & on.....

Can we move on please....

[Smollet]

K800 RUM said:

Blimey this thread thread goes on & on & on.....

It's like the Archers