Ageing membership

[Deleted]

???The Rover P4DGuild has noted that its membership is falliing as it ages and younger members are not buying P4's .

Apparently the same is with the Rover Sports Register and even the largest Moriis Minor Owners Club is suffering.

It is also said that fewer people are actually restoring cars, although this is not evident from this Forum.

Parts situation thanks to the likes of Wadhams and Ebay is better now than it ever has beeb since the early 80's so what is going wrong?

Now that Guests have to register how about a survey of ages here?

[Deleted]

I admired the P5's when I was a young lad and the P5 was still current production (I am now 50) and so when I was 39, I was in a position to buy a car I had always wanted.
If you apply that reasoning today, that might explain why the younger generation are not flocking to old Rover P5's but will be lusting after Golfs, Astras, Escorts and the like.

[David]

Just a thought but shouldn't the poll ages read. for example. 20-39 then 40 - 49. 50- 59 etc. I happen to be a 'round number' so am not sure which age group to click on.

[dorsetflyer]

Seeing as we are all ageing, it's best to go in the higher group, then you'll last longer before it comes round again.

[Phil Nottingham]

You are old as you feel?

[Deleted]

Deliberate ploy - it proves the point as to middles aged and staid thouygh, where are the young ones unless these are 50 odd who have looed but not voted!

[Smallfry]

Yeah......I think that what Freddy says is right. Younger people are looking to the cars that were around when they were young, and to them, any old luxury car will be seen as staid and unexiting. Its an aqquired taste for younger people, and maybe not appreciated until they get older ?

After all, isn't it about some sort of nostalgia trip for most of us ? And lets face it, it seems to me that most don't care much about the past any more.

There are many other reasons too............

Mostly image related.

I think the classic car movement as we know it is dying anyway. Take a look at any of the magazines, and you will see that its no longer about having a nice drive in the sunshine, packing a hamper and stopping somewhere for a picnic (where can you stop by the road now anyway ?) Its more about racing, performance mods, and bolt on tat ! Just look through the ads and you will see what I mean !

[Deleted]

I fit into one of the younger groups at 26 , and have wanted a P5 for many years. I now have one of the first cars that Rover put a V8 into along with one of the last (MG-Rover this time), and they're both great cars.

[Phil Nottingham]

Good for you - there are not many in this age group most are old middle aged codgers excluding contributors and rally attenders of course

[glennr]

Goose, you are a man after my own heart. I still feel twenty six, although I am forty three. It seemed only yesterday when i was watching the 'CURE' play in concert plus Japan and The Clash! As Phil 'The Guru' say's you are as young as you feel. Welcome to the forum ;D

[dorsetflyer]

Phil, you have been caught grovelling again.
I agree about the statement that the younger generation hanker after the Escorts, Capris, Astras and Golfs etc. but as they get more mature I think that they will eventually look for something with a bit of prestige. That's when they turn to the P5s and P5Bs etc.
Down here we show our cars on the Esplanade at certain times of the year to raise money for charity and promote our local clubs cars. The main interest is in the P5s, P5bs, P6s, Humber S/Snipes and Jaguars etc. That interest is shown by all age groups from about the mid twenties upwards.
My other half sometimes gets annoyed when I spend all my time going over my car again and again with interested people wanting to know the ins and outs of whatever car I have on show.
All car clubs suffer the same problem, ageing membership, when all said and done, very often it's the more mature person who has seen the young fly the nest, they can then turn to a hobby that has been sidelined over that time.
There is another problem. Some classic car owners have more than one type of classic car and they are faced with the problem of which car club to belong to. I know of a couple of P5 owners who were members years ago, but have other makes of car and have joined their owners clubs. If you add all the local multi-make clubs to the list it can make it a very expensive proposition.

[Geoff Arthur]

One of the reasons the P5 Club has a publicity officer (Peter Mueller) and promotional officer (me) is to keep the cars in the public gaze and hence maintain interest and desire from all age groups. I have certainly had a lot of interest in my cars from all age groups although my lairy Coupe with 200bhp engine, sat nav, sub woofers, central locking etc does get more response from the younger ones. This is because its what they do to their own Citroen AXs etc and they can relate to it. My very original cars get more response from 30 year olds onwards. The hope is that we will attract future generations otherwise all the older classics will die out in time and the thought of everyone collecting Astras does not endear itself to me.

[Phil Nottingham]

There just seems to me that when I joined the club in 1992 (I was very young then) the membership was generally younger and more active (clubwise that is) - there are quite a few of those same members still around today and some even contribute to this modern medium.

There are definitley fewer attendees at shows etc nowadays (perhaps there are too many?) and the 20 year rally attendance although very good was well down on that 15 years ago.

Its just that complacency will result in further decreases and offshoots as happened with the RSR from the late 1970's onwards and look what that has ended up as - I hope this club never becomes like that.

At work the employees number over 80 but only one knows what a P5 is and admires it and another one admires my courage nad is interested! All the rest think I am eccentric (true) and my cars are old bangers (1/2 true - they are old) and ask why I do not have MG's and Jags etc

Ps I am a member of the RSR as well at least at this minute

[Smallfry]

Thats what I was saying about an image problem......

MGs are seen as old sportscars

Jags are seen as class........of a sort.

Old Rovers are seen as potential banger race cars !

I also have a Triumph Herald and a Vitesse, and am also a member of the Triumph Sports Six Club and Club Triumph. The membership there is generally younger, and more active, despite the cars having a "not a real classic car" sort of image.

As an example, I posted a request a while back about a local meeting...........no responses on here at all !
I figured that as most members dont use this forum anyway, I might as well give it a go and see who turns up. Answer......no one. I will not bother again !
In contrast, if I go to one of the Triumph club meetings, the pub car park is more or less full.

[Phil Nottingham]

Notice that Smallfry is from Noth Kent - is not that where the breakaway P5 Alive Club is (was?)

[David]

Smallfry,

Maybe as the Triumph Club covers all models, you will always get a greater response. Our club (for better or worse) is marque specific, so will always be short on numbers.

Trying to get younger members? just take them for a drive in it along the high street and see how many head s turn, compared to a Citroen Saxo

[dorsetflyer]

The only time a Citreon Saxo or other like cars would turn heads is when they are broken down at the side of the road.

[Peter Mueller]

It is very interesting indeed to read all the comments about aging membership etc. I think the most valid point is that our cars have a kind of image problem.

In my own experience the P5 and especially the P5B with the still admired V8 burble attract interest and admiring glances from any age group. The trouble is that it is commonly seen as an expensive car, particularly as far as the running costs are concerned. Only last week did I talk to someone who has two Porsches in his garage. Yet when I mentioned that we have a P5B his immediate reaction was: 'Oh well, I wouldn't be able to afford one of those.'

We have the MG Owners Club close by and several Triumph specialists. Talking to them it becomes clear that the cars they cater for are not only existent in far greater numbers but also seen as sporty and cheap. Quite naturally that is attractive to more people than a luxury 'barge'.

Not only that, for various reasons, as has been mentioned by others here, people tend to be better off later in life. Lower mortgage, kids grown up, and better paid jobs make the prospect - and reality - of owning a classic car much more feasible, even if that is merely a matter of image and perception.

Many other clubs I have contacts to or to whose members I have spoken over the years have the same problem - an aging membership. I think what we have to face up to is the fact that different generations have different aspirations. While many might have bought a P5 because they admired them in their youth, nowadays it is just not 'cool' to lust after something big and thirsty. Sticking plasticky bits on a mass-market car is, obviously, a more attractive way to set oneself apart from the crowd.

Quite frankly, the question of how to change an entire generation's attitude causes me a lot of head scratching . On the other hand, as PR officer I see it as my job to address this issue . If anyone has any clever ideas please let me know.

With regards to being as old as you feel, I second that. I refuse to accept that I am 44. I am just 25 with 19 years experience. ;D

[Roy of the Rovers]

I bought my first P5 coupe Rover when I was 17 in 1988. It was my girlfriends brothers car and I hadn't seen one before. I liked the look of it but when I found out it had a V8 I HAD to have it! To me a V8 was a sports cars engine and SDIs were 1000s so not an option, my coupe went well and sounded great (and was £800 tpft if I remember!). I still prefer the v8 in P5bs but I've bought 2x 3 litres in the past. One to stop it being scrapped as it was so original ( I mot'd it and sold it on) the second is the convertible sitting in my garage. I only bought it because it was different. To keep my interest in P5s it will have to include modifications, 80 P5s in a field is a nice sight but just gets boring in the end. We as a club are sadly lacking in modified P5s and its these who will attract the younger membership. I'm sure there are loads of modified p5s out there but they are not club members. This club has a reputation of discouraging modification (old boy brigade) but also will not take into account expensive modifications when it comes to a club valuation. If you can't get support from your club what really is the point?

Personally I will be a member all the time I have a P5 or until I receive no support any more. Our pub meet has a range of ages from late 20s to mid 60s, fortunately they are all fairly broad minded when it comes to P5's....thank god for that!

Lastly couldn't we put out an appeal in the club mag for details of all modifications done - period and modern, then we could have a new section in the mag each time. Younger people don't want to just read about rally reports and someones trip to the railway! (no offence meant).
Roy - Sussex

[Phil Nottingham]

Whlist I prefer generally umodified cars - I too like to read about them and see them. when I first joined the club there were also many more every day runners and even tatty cars at rallies and even thse should be encouraged after all not everyone can afford to spend small fortunes to restore cars to as good as new

[David]

Roy

The magazine is open to all contributions ... the more the merrier.

Any volunteers?

[johnbirmingham]

As an aged member I now feel guilty of adding to the problem ! It may even be worse than the poll shows - we old f***s ( well perhaps just me ) take ages to learn the computer ,ages to find our way round a site , and even longer to pluck up courage to contribute and even dare to vote ;so there's probably even more of us lurking out here! I'm also a member of the vintage bike club who have the same problem ( my car may have been spotted with a vintage bike perched alarmingly where the rear bumper should be ) . They admitted later and later models to attract the "young" which worked to some extent ,but most of we oldies began using the more modern bikes ,changing the whole character of the club runs.The original vintage (pre 1930) bikes became a nieche in their own club.When the P5 gets left in the garage 'cos it might rain and you use the 75 instead then it's really time to worry ! Let's look on the bright side - we're going to die , then a youngster can have the car;problem solved! John,age 65 witheld.

[Ken Nelson]

I didn't even know what a Rover P5 was when I bought mine for $100. I just knew that if I wanted to get a little more practice on my welding skills, this would definitely be a car to work on! Living in Michigan, there probably aren't many in the state. I can't resist a challenge when it comes to something archaic and unloved, so about 12 years later I hope to soon have mine on the road. I almost abandoned the project 10 years ago when a pristine original Rover P4 with only 20,000 miles came up for sale at a bargain price. Went back with the money to pick it up the next day and it was gone. Presently, though, I'm glad I stuck with the P5. ;D The P4 "Aunty" Rover is just a bit too dowdy, and I see the prices going up bit by bit on P5 values, and more articles in "Classic Sports Car" and vintage Brit magazines, so I think more of us "old f****" may be buying and fixing them up. While I still feel 25, with just 34 years extra experience tacked on, it is a heck of a lot easier climbing in the Rover than my MGA or MG-TD these days! Ken Nelson