Most liked posts in thread: Is it time for a National MINI Club??

Local chapter here is glad to have me. I do more events with them than the local MINI club hell, the local MINI club can't put together one drive a year.

Nobody at BMWCCA has a problem with the MINI, it's a national club with national events, DE's, club drives, club socal events, national doscounts and a pretty good monthly mag. The guy that writes the MINI articles every month is a member here.

I just don't see any point in trying to reinvent the wheel.

 

"but BMWCCA is NOT a national Mini Club"

Sorry to disagree but it is. The state I'm in my car is registered as a BMW not a MINI.

 

OK, OK, you may have me on a technicality! :lol:

My point is more that BMWCCA is a BMW Club where Minis are allowed ("tolerated" in some cases, "welcomed" in others), but it is not a Mini club. It doesn't have Mini-only events, and doesn't have the owner's community that Mini generally enjoys (yes, that's a generality).

BMWCCA is great for what it is. It's also restrictive, big brother-ish, and limits the flexibility, finances, and creativity of the local chapters. As such, though, there are the benefits of a larger Club: track time and instructors, wheel-to-wheel racing (most local Clubs can't afford the type of insurance to do that), a mag, national recognition, etc. etc.

It's all good, but I stand by what I said. It's a BMW Club. The argument that Minis are BMW's is a separate discussion with a bunch of arms and legs, and there are a number of threads and posts on That Other Forum to attest to that.

 

Generally MINI owners and BMW owners are somewhat different people. I've always found that a lot of BMW owners seem to look down on my car but the people that are most understanding of the whole idea of a MINI are the water cooled VW people. Since MINIs are few and far between here in southern IL (and weren't so common in Augusta, GA either) I wound up befriending the local VW and Audi enthusiasts more than anything.

I don't really care that BMWCCA isn't giving all that much space to us, they've got 50+years of BMWs backing them and the MINI is just a very different car. I wouldn't mind MINI USA offering some of the BMWCCA perks like Nate mentioned through its owners lounge (I haven't been there since '06 though) it could satisfy the national benefits we like, while still retaining the local independence as well.

Great point and I strongly agree. Whether it's a club, forum, group, whatever, it's made up of the people and the people define what it is and what it does. A national club would only be a name if the people that make it up don't do anything differently under that name. We could just as easily declare a National MINI Club and state that all the local clubs that currently exist are branches of it and nobody would be the wiser. If the people then used this National club to communicate and make better plans then it's a great thing, if all they do is add bureaucracy and collect revenue then it's not going to be a positive entity.

 

You've probably already noticed, but I see in his Publisher's Column in the Jun-Jul issue of MC2 he's openly advocating for this. In fact, it leaves the impression that they're close to having a non-profit formed to support its establishment.

Of course, as has been stated, the devil is in the details. It will have to be managed more efficiently and predictably than the periodical has been of late for the idea to catch on and be successful, IMHO.

 

I sent an email to Barry about the National Mini club and he said he would keep me in his list of interested people. I got the impression that he is not as close to starting a national club as his article implied. I am currently involved with an informal local club that communicates/plans through email. A national MINI club might be a way to help similar informal clubs become more formal clubs with more events and larger participation.

 

just my two cents, don't need it. Isn't this site already providing 95% of the above mention needs anyway? Sure, having some group discounts or group insurance for Autocrossing would be nice. But a actually National Club sounds like another word for government beaurocracy. Isn't that what we were trying to get away from and why Nathan created this site?

 

Does anybody know what the perspective of MINIUSA is? It seems like the BMWCCA is pretty cozy with BMWUSA and vice versa. Would the same relationship exist between a national club and the MINIUSA people? Has there been any indication of a willingness to give those giant discounts like the ones afforded by BMWCCA membership? And is there any sort of high-level MINI club overseas that might have set a precedent? I'm curious.

Also, another point on the BMW/MINI comparison: when I read Roundel, there's always a bunch of people talking about how they've owned multiple BMWs, how they pine for the days of the 2002, and generally how they're drinking the kool aid. I'm 26, and every single 2002 is older than I am. I'm concerned that MINI just hasn't been around long enough to inspire that sort of slavish obsession with a car brand that generates enough enthusiasm to commit the hours and hours of time it would take to run a national club. I mean, sure, I'm pretty crazy about my MINI and I know there's a lot of devotion on this forum and elsewhere, but at this point, do we have the staying power that would encourage the national brand to offer incentives like the BMWCCA discount?

One answer and counterpoint to many of my questions is the wild success of the various local clubs, but I wonder if that's not because the local clubs are just the right size for the MINI following. I think a national club simply wouldn't have the support and the number of people to sustain it... yet. In a few years? Maybe? Are there other national clubs for other brands of similar size, like maybe Miatas or GTIs, that would be better to compare to?

 

I don't think MINI USA is too down for a national level club. They do a few things here and there to facilitate dealers having local events and run the MINI Takes the States every other year but beyond that I just don't think they have the manpower and budget to be doing too much more.

This is true but then we've had Classic Minis in this country since the beginning, before the BMW 2002 was even a sketch on paper, so the history and longevity of ownership can be there, I just don't know that the spirit of the MINI facilitates national organization, kinda like you mentioned in the last paragraph of your post.

 

I am up in the air with this one. First of all I do at least 6 or more National or major events a year. I almost missed the MinisOnTop because I usually don't go to other clubs post. There are good points and some not so good as well. It is definitely worth the thought process!

 

I agree completely with you and Mr Jim. I think that would destroy MOTD as we know and love it. Snooter for president might work though.

Jim

 

3 years later the above post still sums it all up.

A National Mini club is not needed.

 

1+

 

I gave up on MC2 a while back. Glad to hear the wisdom of that decision once again reaffirmed.

As far as the one possible benefit identified in this latest go 'round, I don't think a national club would really be able to help an area where an existing club was getting ready to fold. From what I've seen, the success of the clubs is the people who are on the ground and willing to put in some work to make things happen. If a local club can't muster that, bringing in a national organization is not going to change that imo.

 

+3

 

What year did the BMWCCA start compared to production of the first BMW car sold in America..
Our MINI has only been around since 2002, and the "classic" wasn't officlally sold here in America I don't think..
I'm not for a National Club, but some might be. As Ben mentioned a few years ago, what benefits/discounts would I get for paying my dues each year.. Compared to BMWCCA. Some of our MINI clubs already pay dues as it is, so for them it might be the way to go.. For the clubs that are free, the National club might actually run off some members atleast to start with till they can see if there is a benefit to being part of it..
We all could still have our local clubs, though they would push for them to become local "chapters" of the National Club... and if an area can't sustain a "chapter" there isn't anything they can do to help other then include that area in with another "chapter"..
They can't force people to join and or buy a MINI and then join to help any certain area..