CCCA introduction

[Guest]

I attended the Saturday show during the Detroit Annual Meeting (great showing of cars, by the way). I was there because of personal interest, as well as to take photos for coverage in Cars & Parts magazine (of which I have been recently promoted as editor).

I don't know if it was against the rules or not, but I brought a non-member friend from Dayton, Ohio, and let him walk around loose with his two sons (I always say it's a lot easier to get forgivness than permission). Although he is roughly 40 years old, he has an interest in prewar automobiles. His personal collector car is a 1938 Buick Special that he has been restoring by himself over the last 10 years. At the annual meeting, he displayed an ear-to-ear smile from the moment we walked into the Novi Expo center.

When I was through taking photographs, I found him talking with a CCCA member (I don't know who it was, but I think he was from Florence, Kentucky). I don't know how the conversation began, but this individual spent a lot of time with my friend talking about Classic Cars. I want to thank him for being cordial to someone he didn't know, taking the time to explain what a Classic Car is.

The first step in gaining new members is to bring them to a show. The second step is to make them feel welcome. This incident was in complete contrast to what I witnessed at last year's CCCA Museum show, when a young new member with a LOT of fresh excitment was treated VERY POORLY. I was ashamed to be a member of this club. I have heard horror stories from the early days of this club, but never would have dreamed that such antics were still being played out. I'll continue to work on my friend into becoming a new member, if our club continues to work on being cordial, as "Mr. Florence, Kentucky" was during the annual meeting.

Sincerely,

West Peterson

Dayton, Ohio

[Guest Chuck Conrad]

Like every organization, 99.9% of all CCCA members are really great people. Unfortunately, that other 0.1% can drive you nuts.

I'm glad your friend met one of the 99.9% group. Please encourage him to join. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I hope all CCCA Regions will go out of their way to invite other hobbyists to their events. Looking within the hobby is the best place to find new members. It's that simple.

[bob horgan]

Hi West,

Congratulations on being promoted to editor of a fine publication. My name is Bob Horgan and live in West Michigan. I was looking forward to attending the Michigan Region show but a prostrate cancer thing changed my plans.

I'm the guy who furnishes Shawn with a car portraits to post on the club's home page. Check out my car art site at rollinghistory.com also favoriteride.com

I'm looking forward to this summer and shooting cars at shows around the Great Lakes area. I need a guy like you in the publishing business who can provide me with a press pass this summer. So I can shoot cars a day or two before the general public gets in. Your a car shooter, you know what I'm talking about.

Please contact me is your interested in helping a fellow car-shooter.

bhorgan@opma.com

Thanks,

Bob Horgan ? Grand Rapids, MI

I

[Guest]

It is against our policy to obtain press passes for individuals who are not working on a story for us. Sorry.

West Peterson

Editor

Cars & Parts

wpeterson@carsandparts.com

[poci1957]

Hello West, it is good to see you on the forum. I am a loyal C&P reader for many years and it is always great. I am glad you feature such variety and especially that you still focus heavy on classic and prewar cars. What do other readers think of spreading out event coverage over 3 or 4 issues? I am not sure about that practice. Anyway, keep Ford Country and prewar stuff coming, and best wishes with the magazine. Sincerely, Todd Crews, POCI 1957 Tech Advisor, McPherson College Graduate, member AACA and SAH.

[Guest]

For those who have not seen Cars & Parts magazine for about a year, I have eliminated the multi-part show coverage. Very few of our stories are continued since I became editor. Our History series, of course, and "how to" articles are still continued. But I guarantee that you will see no more 17-part Route 66 stories. I have received many compliments on the amount of prewar, especially Classic cars that we have been running over the past several months. Thank you all.

West Peterson