craig

The responses in this thread itself prove that you cannot keep everyone happy. If we vote on the "what did you do" thread and it comes out at 52% for 48% against, we will offend or upset half of the voters regardless of which decision is made. Do we close it anyway, regardless that 52% voted to keep, just because the voices of the 48% are more frequent posters or more regular members? The forum (all forums) are on a downward decline, purely because of Facebook and the like. Always on, always available, easy to use, can access multiple interests at once, FREE. FREE, apart from the really annoying adverts that everyone complains about but just puts up with. People put up with it, because its free. Multiple interests are covered as a snapshot, without having to go to dedicated web sites, but easy to go into a group, and back out of at will. No forums can compete with that type of random access interest model. What makes this a club and not just a website? - The members. - Helping each other, meeting up socially, arranging meets, giving advice, offering parts. - Members make the community. Yes all of this is also done on Facebook. Clubs exist on Facebook, or are they just groups of people using a common website? It's about attitude, intent, commitment. But human nature means that the majority of people will ALWAYS take the path of least resistance, or the lazy path, which is now Facebook. The modern attention span is so short, it has to be constantly piqued by something new, something random, flitting from place to place. It might seem like a clique in here sometimes, but that's just because it's always the same people that post regularly. Those same people that want to keep the club active, want to keep being part of a community, want to keep the forum as the resource that it is. This applies to posting regularly, attending meets, organising meets. Some people keep on making the effort, keep on trying to make it work. Are they just flogging a dead horse? Why bother? Because some of us like this old school approach to a community. The problem is, Facebook has an ever growing fan base, as long as people are being born and integrated into the digital age from the moment they can use a touchscreen, and will cater for every interest. We have an ever decreasing fanbase, which is a very focussed interest, which can only really start from age 16 or 17, and only for as long as the cars are still available to buy for a realistic price. For pricing, we could change, and open up to an ad service as a side bar or in between thread posts like some other forums. Maybe that's what we should do? We could vote on it, but again, regardless of the outcome, some members will be happy, some sad, some ambivalent. Traders will never be interested in a forum that has a dozen regular posting members. Yet we have 100's of members that visit. The NEC voting thread, and others, often show lots of names coming out of the woodwork to vote, or view the post, but still not post. There are even members that re-subscribe for multiple years and never post. The information resource must be useful to them, and keeping it online and available is useful for them. Some have been here through the good times, bad times, and back to the (hopefully) good times of committee changes, moderation team changes, big personality members, polarised views, etc. I thank them for that, as there are far more of them than posting member renewals, and they are unsung heroes in my opinion. There is no single right answer to how we keep the forum alive. We can keep changing things, knee jerk or considered, to changing trends. We can keep adding or removing privileges, permissions, value, etc But from our experiences so far, there is no step change reaction to anything we do. It can only be kept alive by people WANTING to keep it alive and using it.

best wishes

Good to see you had everything planned and in hand. My dad has lived abroad in Spain and France for about 30 years, 15 in each, and i know he will have had everything sorted, as you also do, however he still has concerns about how this is panning out and the problems with bureaucracy.

i can see from other pics, it doesn't look like you have a pit in the garage, so this picture just looks so weird to me :lol: nice to have some help though, and it's looking good :thumbup1: [ATTACH=CONFIG]118503[/ATTACH]

oh come on Nick, we've all been with you this far :biggrin: having a coming home party for it? it's like one of those "leaves as a boy, comes home a man" type stories

la Vendée, Pays-de-la-Loire previously needed mayor's permission just to move his shed :lol:

Upheaval may have been the wrong word. Dealing with the French authorities always seems to be a painful process, and this is no different. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190910/will-the-new-online-system-for-french-residency-solve-the-postcode-lottery No different i suppose to the similar system we are operating here for foreign nationals to register to stay, which by all accounts is just as bad.

Have you got any thoughts or plans about staying where you are if we do leave Jeff? My Dad lives in France, and at 72, is not really the type of upheaval he was expecting this time of life.

£47k... erm no thanks, that is extremely optimistic. would not be my choice of car with that budget available

no, just an up to date vaccinations card counter signed by all 8 great grand parents should cover you :biggrin: the whole situation has certainly clarified what the government really think of the people they represent

crikey

i just looked at the current cost of obtaining a good condition similar spec and age car to mine direct from import, then added a little extra to cover the extras that are installed. but mine has not had anything like the amount of work and parts added as some others. list all of the extra parts or work performed that add value (not servicing costs etc, but rust treatments etc) and add those type of values to the car as well. i am sure if you over value it, they will respond back and tell you, or just charge more for the agreed valuation? in my case, the valuations have just been accepted as submitted, but mine isnt a show quality car

only premium membership allows upload of pictures. with standard membership you will need to link to pics that are hosted elsewhere. same with selling.

they are radio manufacturer dependent Mike, as i had to find different ones last time i swapped radio around.

was just looking at that paint the wear on your garage floor Lee, i remember when you put up the pics of that after the coats you put on it. seen a lot of engine hoist, trolley jacks, your back trolley wheels etc.

thats a really nice job there, looking fantastic

drove it to a show and browsed round the modern sports and older classics :)

any late comers give me a call and i will meet at the gate with a stand pass, assuming they let can let you on late. 07885 852047

tescos now

you could nearly use that as a garage door :lol:

1. Craig 2. Bedzee 3. Kgonzokia 4. Bayliner 5. Nikk 6. GSC (TBC) 7. Leonnie&Ryan AE86 (Craig) 8. Dan AE86 (Craig)

show is tomorrow. any late entries want to join us for the day?

i always thought they were 60 litre tanks. have done 330 a couple of times now, thats about the distance to my brother inlaws at Glasgow, but never checked the fill up

What time would you get there Gary? They sometimes allow late entries, as long as they have someone available to clear the way and walk you through to the stand.

will definitely be looking to do another similar event next year Nick, as mentioned above, just need to look into the logistics, especially for the NC500. could do with some hints and tips from another club that have done similar, as i think it will be the overnight stays that will be the problem to sort out. Normandy beaches and/or memorials would be another memorable trip