Chevrolet owners club??

[76 Caddy]

I'm thinking about joining one of the clubs for Chevrolets since I now have 2(3 if I include the '99 Silverado).  Any recommendations on which one to join?  I've googled them and not sure which would be the best one, one for just Impalas or one for cars and trucks.

 

Thanks

 

Tim

[rocketraider]

National Impala Association is a good one as is the VCCA.

 

I'd join the one that has a chapter, or even a less formal group, close by. 

 

Check with john348 and Steve Pollard. They seem to be very in tune to the Chevrolet club world.

[76 Caddy]

25 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

National Impala Association is a good one as is the VCCA.

 

I'd join the one that has a chapter, or even a less formal group, close by. 

 

Check with john348 and Steve Pollard. They seem to be very in tune to the Chevrolet club world.

Thanks

 

Tim

[Dave39MD]

The VCCA forum shows an upstate South Carolina region and a Charlotte region. The forum just migrated to a new program/format so many are re learning the system. I think you will be able to search the contact info for the regions here https://vcca.org/community/. Click on rosters on the tool bar.

 

If that doesn't work send me a message and I can get you the info.

 

Dave

Edited April 24 by Dave39MD (see edit history)

[John348]

The Vintage Chevrolet Club of America is a TRUE CLUB, like the AACA, it is not for profit has been around since 1961. The only people who get paid by the VCCA are outside vendors who work under the direction of the Board of Directors who are elected by the Members for limited terms, all of which volunteer their time only to be reimbursed for their expenses.   The VCCA has regions all over the country and the world for that matter. Keep in mind other organizations, or associations are businesses, that make profits off of their members, the word club was never used in their name. If that does bother you fine. I believe Steve is the NIA and he can give you a better opinion on this then I can. I was a member on and off of the NIA for close to 35 years, and the publications became sporadic, and I started to find that the content was more geared around use their paid advertiser's product which I do understand. The ownership would change and so would the content that was printed. There was only one event a year and that was in South Dakota, every year, and It did not suit my needs. That is just my opinion.

The VCCA also has a vast network of Technical Advisor's, free use of the AACA library, as well as offer an online membership for the magazine at a lesser cost membership. I have been a member of the VCCA for over 45 years, serve as T.A, even served on the Board on off for over 18 years and did a stint as VP. I am not going to tell you it's perfect, but it what you put into it you will get out of it. It is worth a try.

https://vcca.org/    

 

Good luck on your decision, you will know what right for you. Most importantly you join the AACA, that's the main highway that brings all of us together!

Edited April 25 by John348 (see edit history)

[STEVE POLLARD]

3 hours ago, John348 said:

I believe Steve is the NIA and he can give you a better opinion on this then I can.

Everything that John has mention is spot on....when I joined the NIA, we would get the club publication monthly ( when Dennis was the owner ) once it changed hands, as John stated, the contents changed as well and it became a quarterly publication. The VCCA and AACA are my main sites to go to !  I see that your located in South Carolina, try to attend the Hershey Show later this year, you will be amazed !! Great membership here !

 

Steve

[Skylark4367]

There's a non-geographic region in the AACA dedicated to 1949 and later Chevrolets, the Space Age Chevrolet region.  There's no cost to join.  I'm the former president of the region and the current newsletter editor.  We publish a quarterly, electronic newsletter dedicated to the history of 1949 and later Chevrolets.  Please send a PM if you're interested in joining.  The only requirement for joining the region is an active AACA membership.

 

You can see past newsletters at spaceage.aaca.com

Edited April 26 by Skylark4367 (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

On 4/25/2024 at 6:56 AM, John348 said:

The Vintage Chevrolet Club of America is a TRUE CLUB, like the AACA, it is not for profit has been around since 1961. The only people who get paid by the VCCA are outside vendors who work under the direction of the Board of Directors who are elected by the Members for limited terms, all of which volunteer their time only to be reimbursed for their expenses.   The VCCA has regions all over the country and the world for that matter. Keep in mind other organizations, or associations are businesses, that make profits off of their members, the word club was never used in their name. If that does bother you fine. I believe Steve is the NIA and he can give you a better opinion on this then I can. I was a member on and off of the NIA for close to 35 years, and the publications became sporadic, and I started to find that the content was more geared around use their paid advertiser's product which I do understand. The ownership would change and so would the content that was printed. There was only one event a year and that was in South Dakota, every year, and It did not suit my needs. That is just my opinion.

The VCCA also has a vast network of Technical Advisor's, free use of the AACA library, as well as offer an online membership for the magazine at a lesser cost membership. I have been a member of the VCCA for over 45 years, serve as T.A, even served on the Board on off for over 18 years and did a stint as VP. I am not going to tell you it's perfect, but it what you put into it you will get out of it. It is worth a try.

https://vcca.org/    

 

Good luck on your decision, you will know what right for you. Most importantly you join the AACA, that's the main highway that brings all of us together!

John, you wrote something in 2014 here at AACA with the title of Crisis in the Vintage Chevrolet Club. I'll post it and can you please tell us what has happened since then. Thank you.

 

  

Posted October 1, 2014

Hello Friends,

As part of a coalition of past President's and Vice President's of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America (VCCA) I was asked to present some sad news for those who might not have heard. What we feel is a Crisis in the VCCA. After over a half century of operating under the mission of "restoration and preservation" a majority of the present Board of Directors of the club have decided to abandon the very same mission they took an oath to the membership to uphold. I would also like to ad many of these Board Members have been in the club for only a few years.

We were the only Chevrolet Club was created for stock cars, and it has held reasonably close to that for more than half a century. Eight Board Members decided that the club now needs to recognize modified cars and change the identity of the club to suit their personal wants and needs, while failing to recognize that the existing 8,000 members joined for the originality aspect of the hobby. There are many Chevrolet clubs out there, some are even businesses that "pretend" to be a club. Some only cater to certain models, but they all cater to both modified and stock cars, we were unique we recognized all years and models of Chevrolet vehicles that were stock.

Sure some modified cars have always shown up at our events. This has been true from the very beginning. They are normally "in the background" in some fashion -either as Display Only, or in the parking lot, or sometimes on the judging field where the judging process itself will exclude them with its results (as it was designed to do). It's not about "hating" modified cars, nor certainly not the owners of them - it is simply that modified cars are not what brings us together, really no different then AACA.

We want to preserve history, or a reasonably close resemblance to history. What was it like to drive a car with skinny, bias ply tires, with mechanical brakes, sitting on itchy mohair, and 40 HP? You can't find out in a resto-mod with a chrome V8 and A/C. The VCCA has been the ONLY CLUB that is a home for the preservers of the historical Chevrolet. As has been said, there are hundreds of alternatives for the owners of "personalized" cars to find fellowship. But again, the VCCA is the ONLY place for those of us who love the correctly restored or preserved vehicle.

Why would we throw away that unique identity? as I have heard from several other members: "I have a hot rod at home. I didn't join the VCCA for my hot rod - I joined for my correct, original car."

After seeing the Hemming's headline a week or two ago "VCCA Welcomes Modified Chevrolets..." Myself and the other retired Executive Board Members were contacted by many members voicing their concerns, after contacting each other we decided to ban together and organize this fight for the restoration for the preservation of the VCCA. We have to push back, try to fight this opening of Pandora's Box. (I know, it's been slightly open for decades, but this is really taking off the lid).

We're not trying to be negative towards folks with modified cars. We have a driver participation class for the somewhat modified vehicles, and almost anything can go on a VCCA Tour. But please, not on the cover of the G&D our monthly magazine. We are simply trying to draw a line, protect the integrity of the G&D, and establish once and for all that the VCCA is a club that is primarily about stick, original vehicles. Like it has always been.

Our coalition has spanned twenty seven years of management of the club, and has a very good working knowledge of the by-laws. There is a provision that allows the membership to challenge and overturn an action by the Board, that is through a petition. Our first big push was to get the Petition sent out to all the VCCA Regions, This has been done, and now we have to make sure this gets in the hands of the members who are not in regions. If you are in the VCCA and like things the way they were then please click on the link below and that will take you to the VCCA Forum where you can find the petition. If you are not in the VCCA and know someone who is please let them know.We already have a couple hundred signatures before we truly even launched the effort, but we need many hundreds more to make this a reality. Hope to get a few hundred at Hershey, too. Many of our members will have the Petition at their spaces At this time space RNI 82-86 more location to come

http://vcca.org/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/318838/Petition_to_remove_Modified's#Post318838

Thanks for your support -

John Mahoney

Past National Vice President

Vintage Chevrolet Club of America

[Mark Gregush]

VCCA also has a Facebook page run by that club;  https://www.facebook.com/groups/50230437832/

[John348]

You brought up a perfect example of why a club has advantages over the businesses that mask as clubs. The Board of Directors had a different vision for the club to address some what they felt could be future membership issues. The membership spoke up and some compromises were made and the club moved on. The club is what is, and that episode was 10 years ago, and not much ever became of that movement. There are some members with modified cars and there always were for that matter, not many, but the world moves on. There are no official judged classes. Like I mentioned in my post the other day the VCCA is not perfect, but at least it is an organization that when the members are not pleased with a decision they can voice their opinion, that can't be done in the business type "clubs"