"What's the deal with CAR CLUBS?" [/seinfeld voice]

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

I will never understand the whole car club thing.
I mean, I guess I can see a bunch of guys hanging out, working on their cars, shootin the shit and what not...
But WHY do you have to come up with a ghey name/logo and plaster it on your windshields?
And why do you care what other people/clubs think of you?
Is this like a "strength in numbers" type thing?
Because 20 16-second Hondas are still 20 16-second Hondas, whether youre in a club called "East Side Street Dream Ballerz" or not.

Just seems a little corny/immature to me, which would be fine if it were only H.S. students, but i see grown ass men in these clubs.

In the past 10 years since I've been modding Hondas/Imports, I must have been asked to join at least 8-10 of these clubs and each time I just chuckled and said "no thanks".

Maybe i'm just not looking at it the right way? :angel:

(No offense to our car club members, just want to be enlightened)

[NXK20]

Thanks man, I've been trying to think of a name for a club and East Side Street Dream Ballerz is dope as hell yo. jk!!!

[astig00]

Originally posted by NXK20
Thanks man, I've been trying to think of a name for a club and East Side Street Dream Ballerz is dope as hell yo. jk!!! OH NO!!! Don't let Robert find out!! He might put wires and spinners on his Integra:p

[jaydub]

I've been invited twice to be in some car club in town, and I have no desire to be involved. To me, it's like a gang, because you will encounter rivals and opponents. I'd rather not have to worry about more people being exposed to my car, seeing what I have, and possibly vandalize my car for some other member's idiocy.

[NXK20]

Originally posted by astig00
OH NO!!! Don't let Robert find out!! He might put wires and spinners on his Integra:p


Don't forget the switches and tuck and rolled interior.

[SHAKEnBAKE]

Wow, this is a good point. Few years ago I was in a car club(I was in HS), it's a civic hatchback club(coincidence?), then I gratuated and went to the states. And if I take a look back that whole "gang" thing is kinda ridiculous, but teenagers do stupid things, so it's ok. But if you're over 20(I'm 20) you better grow up.
BTW this forum is actually a club in it's own way.:D

[raiyo]

Originally posted by jaydub
To me, it's like a gang, because you will encounter rivals and opponents. I'd rather not have to worry about more people being exposed to my car, seeing what I have, and possibly vandalize my car for some other member's idiocy.

Toally agree, when people see your team sticker then they'll want to race you. If they got beaten then they'll hate on your car, OUCH!

If the sticker is some kind of store name that friends want to promote then I guess it's fine. But others are still gonna think it is a team sticker.

I use to street race with my del sol, but I've grown up and know my life and others are priceless, why throw that away? I'll just stick to my i-VTEC and maybe ephatch.com stickers. :D

Vroom....vrooom....vroom.........booom! :'(

[Chrisbgft]

I am part of a car club called DeepSpeed in chicago. Its not a gang thing like u guys say. We are a crew, we hang out all the time together and are always together. Alot of clubs are just people who see each other once or twice a month. We are like a family. We have fast cars and cars that are on there way up like my EP. We go to shows and represent our crew in them and people know who we are. Its just fun...thats all it is. There are many other clubs in our area that we are in competition with. Not racing or anything but as a group. We dont let ricers in our crew. We are always atleast 8 cars deep when we go for a cruising night. Sure some may think its stupid to be in a club. To me its a family that is all about the love of cars and anything to do with them.

Check our site..lol DSRCHICAGO.com....

[team ERA 5]

well here in san diego.......i think its the biggest illegal street racing scene....thers a lot of clubs....ther actually called teams over here...obviously im in a team as u can see my screenname...i think ther "street gangs" ther so many racers out here and i think its pretty dope because we all cruise the freeway etc. and we race other teams on the freeway and we try to earn a name for our selfs were pretty low profile rite now as our team but were getting known...hearing people talk bout us is pretty tight...i dont kno just like it.....san diego/la ther are so many racers and teams.....names from team 935 draggers....team blur....team iczer...team ERA<<gotta represent...i think like the whole scence wen we all go to the track and we all line up in the parking lot and just chill....repping our team.....

[hamproof]

Some car clubs are actually pretty useful. People living in the same metro area helping each other out whenever help is needed to be done with the car. Also, not everyone buys expensive specialized tools. This maybe not be quite prevalent on the EP.

Not to mention it is always a good reason to hang out once a month with just the guys (no spouse). Unless you are a woman driver, then you'll get all the attention of the guys ;)

[Will2K2]

Car clubs are not unlike bowling leagues, workplace Softball teams, etc..etc...

Just a bunch of people organizing and getting together cause they like the same thing and want to hang out / learn / teach / share/ with other people that have the same interests.

I started a club in my home town (www.contemporarycustoms.com) about 3 years ago and it spawned Many Many very good friendships. Friendships that likely never would have happened were it not for the car club.

My club has also:

-organized road trips (many people like travelling in a caravan of other cars)

-attended shows together (many people like to travel to shows with other people)

-held weekly meetings just to touch base, see each other, show off new mods, get help with mods

-organized install parties when someone was doing a major mod (or stereo install)

-because we are big enough we can get sponsorship ( VERY cheap prices from local shops) that you wouldn't be able to get if you were only organized as 1 person rather than a group of40 or so all shopping at one place

etc...etc....

They aren't for everyone, but its not up to you to decide whether they are Ghey or not!

Heres some assorted pics from over the years

Car club party / Stag for club member (I'm in the blue and yellow shirt)

http://www.contemporarycustoms.com/images/club_pics/club15.jpg

This was one of our Tuesday night meetings (notice all the cars and all the people just chilling and shootin the shit

http://www.contemporarycustoms.com/images/club_pics/club24.jpg

getting ready for a Sunday cruise (My old EK in this pic)

http://www.contemporarycustoms.com/images/club_pics/club19.jpg

Club helping with an install

http://www.contemporarycustoms.com/images/club_pics/club111.jpg

The end result (95% my work)
http://www.contemporarycustoms.com/images/club_pics/club104.jpg

So you see, lots of people get lots of different things from car clubs including:

-knowledge
-guidance and help with modding
-help with performing mods
-friends
-exposure to places / shows/ shops that they may have never heard of
-comraderie

etc.......

[ssvr6]

I think the same can be had from a message board like this without having a club name and such. While I agree it's good in some cases, it's when you're paying "dues" and getting nothing out of it, that it becomes bad.

I was in a club back when I had my 95 Splash. (Out Of Control Miniz) It was like $20 a month and did nothing for me.

Now, I'm part of this site and quite a few VW ones. There are 5 or 6 enthusiasts (not a club) that organize the South FL VW/Audi GTG. It goes off without a hitch.

So in most cases, I don't think a club is needed, but I understand why people form them.

I personally would rather set up a "Installing springs at my place, bring yourself, pizza and beer supplied." thread here, then joining a club for help. ;)

Steve

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

Will2K2-
looks like a nice thing ya got going there.
now i have nothing at all against something like that.
just a bunch of people getting together to hang out, party, work on cars (get drunk?)...
seems very organized...
i was a part of something similar to that a while ago...
didnt think of it really as a club...
just a bunch of friends...
we didn't have a name for ourselves, and we werent THAT organized...

ps: how much did you have to pay Lucy Lui to come to your party?
:p

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

Originally posted by team ERA 5
well here in san diego.......i think its the biggest illegal street racing scene....thers a lot of clubs....ther actually called teams over here...obviously im in a team as u can see my screenname...i think ther "street gangs" ther so many racers out here and i think its pretty dope because we all cruise the freeway etc. and we race other teams on the freeway and we try to earn a name for our selfs were pretty low profile rite now as our team but were getting known...hearing people talk bout us is pretty tight...i dont kno just like it.....san diego/la ther are so many racers and teams.....names from team 935 draggers....team blur....team iczer...team ERA<<gotta represent...i think like the whole scence wen we all go to the track and we all line up in the parking lot and just chill....repping our team.....

yup...same thing goes on here on the right coast...
a little place called Nanuet (NY) is known for this...
i used to frequent that place a few years ago when i was younger and actually had a fast car...
but after seeing multiple crashes and people dying i gave it up...
i *try* not to street race anymore, but find myself tempted every now and then...
just gotta try to keep it safe...

ps: around here, the *REALLY* fast guys were the ones that showed up alone, with a stock-looking car (ie: 92 civic hatch w/ pee shooter exhaust and stock 13" wheels)<~~saw that exact car take down a low 11 sec Supra TT on the street...

[Tekdemon]

lol yeah the fast guys are always the sleepers...

which is why my car is totally stock in terms of looks! That and that I'm poor. Haha =P

[HondaMan]

Yeah, ephatch.com is like a club in my book. We have meets and talk shop here...among other (mostly) car related things.

Speaking of car clubs my grandpa and I saw 20-30 BMW Z3s at a gas station probably headed to the North GA Mtns. for a ride. It looked real cool...several ugly but fast M-Power Z3's were in the pack. It would be so sweet to get 20 or so EPs together like that...I know some sweet curvey roads in the North GA Mtns. (from Cleveland to Blairsville).

[4n DRMZ]

it's cool to be on a car club/team, but when one member starts getting out of hand or talks a lot of smuck to other teams.....a rivalry begins and things just get out of hand. my homeboys car got keyed just because of the team his representin' so i immediately removed my team sticker to stay low pro.
cops are also keeping tabs to street racer's and the team they're representin'.;)

[raiyo]

Do you really need stickers to tell others you are family/friends? It's all in the heart, doesn't mean you have a sticker on your ride then you're family. The sticker is only a sticker. You can always call each other to come out and help with projects or come out and play. Team stickers doesn't really bother me when seeing it, but it does when others race and get HURTt. It hurts inside of me when I hear other people grind there gear, imagine if they get in an accident. :'( I was in a bowling league a year back, I don't have a sticker on my bowling ball or bag. We just call them to come out and practice then win some cash. At my friend's body shop we got like under 15 people who always chill and play. We don't need stickers on our ride to tell others we are good friend. Again, it's all in the heart.

[autojive]

I'm the member of a club...we call ourselves the SCCA. Anyone heard of us? ;) :D

[silver ep]

The Ohio members(including me:D) on here have formed a club, and I for one am all for the idea. I like the fact that another member can get a modification before me, and then I can see if I like it or not. Also none of the clubsi members around my area would most likely have anything to do with the likes of an EP :rolleyes: . I dont know a hell of a lot about tuning so having guys to shoot the shit with helps me gain knowledge and have fun!

[hamproof]

Originally posted by ADAMnQuickCIVIC

ps: how much did you have to pay Lucy Lui to come to your party?
:p

Adam, you are kidding, right? That's not even close to Lucy. Lucy has very sharp features. The girl/woman in the photo has a broad face.

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

Originally posted by hamproof


Adam, you are kidding, right? That's not even close to Lucy. Lucy has very sharp features. The girl/woman in the photo has a broad face.

ok so she's not a dead ringer...
she's hot, and asian...
enough for me.
:p

[hamproof]

Referring to Adam.

You sure got a thing for Asian girls. Any reason?

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

Originally posted by hamproof
Referring to Adam.

You sure got a thing for Asian girls. Any reason?

The reason = I dunno.
The "actresses" = TERA PATRICK, KOBE TAI, ASIA CARRERA, etc.
:p
http://members.aol.com/infiniteparts77/tera1