Hi Guys, I drove up from Bloomington, Indiana (220 miles each way) because I am interested in becoming more active and because I want to get involved in the FCA 2005 National Meet to be held in Indianapolis(tentatively) which is very close to me. Some of the meeting highlights: The FCA 2005 National Meet(hopefully) will be held in Indianapolis, immediately following the USGP. Meetings are continuing with IMS to use the USGP course for all of the track events. This could turn into a HUGE event with the potential of 1,000 entries! This could rival Monterey. Concerns of IMS center around controlling speed around the oval and keeping our Ferraris off the wall. The event formerly held at Oakbrook will have a new name and venue. Due to protests from the group who organizes the event at Pocono, the name change voted on is now "Automobili Italiane". Negotiations are underway to stage the concours at the Doral in Itasca. A reception and overnite accomodations are possible with this location. More info to follow as plans are finalized. Check the FCA Chicago website for events and dates. A full calendar is planned for 2004, and some traditional dates have been altered. The Oak Street event will now have two rows of cars, allowing more entries. June 6. Entry fees for events was discussed. Most people agreed that raising entry fees was necessary as the club has ended up losing money on many of the events. Because of "vote early and vote often " tactics, it was decided to give each member one Peoples Choice ballot at each event where there is a peoples choice award. The webmaster would like to have people register their email addresses on the FCA Chicago website so that we can all be notified in timely fashion regarding events, cancellations, time changes etc. It is very important that people show up with their cars ON TIME for events, and register for events before deadlines. Also discussed was the tendency for people to leave before the event is over or as soon as awards are presented. BAD PUBLIC RELATIONS especially when there are spectators from the general public. Everybody knows in advance when the event will officially be over. Maseratis will continue to be allowed entry in Ferrari Club events. FNA is Ferrari and Maserati. That's all I can think about for now regarding the meeting. Any questions......let me know. I do not log on but a couple of times a week, so my responses may be slow. Or email me: [email protected] On a personal note: I came away from the meeting with a very positive feeling. Emphasized was......this is a clubfor the members.....let's let them know what we want from the club! Mike Fisher
Thanks Mike! Nothing too dramatically new, which is fine. Glad to hear that the Maser issue even came up. Good. Everybody at the FCA and FNA level should know, that there is some resistance to this rude approach. And I can't imagine I'm the only one who thinks like that.
The Maserati issue was cussed and discussed quite vigorously. Not a long discussion, but the issue is a sore point. As an owner of both, and a member of FCA and the two Maserati clubs, it would not bother me at all if FCA events were Ferrari only. Like one person pointed out: the BMW club does not include Minis. Here in the Midwest the Maserati clubs are not that strong and there has been a real rivalry between the two Maserati clubs. Now that Maserati Club International has been taken over by Kerry McMullen, I think there will a better rapport with The Maserati Club. I spoke with him at length at Monterey last year and I have invited him to the USGP and all the FCA activities this year, as my guest. Maybe we can do some dual events sometime down the road. WOW, what an event we could have if both clubs joined forces for the 2005 National event!!
Whoa! Thanks Mike for this insight. Makes me feel really better. As I said, Masers are fine cars and deserve their place. I don't even have an issue with them participating in any of the events as long as they don't take away from the Ferraris. Spacewise we can hopefully address it by better logistics and two rows at Oakstreet might just be the answer. Trophywise I still think they should have their own cup and group. Interesting also the statement about BMW and the Coopers. Well, the fact that I'm not the only one thinking like this might actually change the situation one day. There is hope.
MikeF, just out of curiousity: Do the two Maserati clubs allow Ferraris to their events? Not that I plan on going there, but I wonder whether reciprocity works.
The only events I have attended with my Maser have been Italian Car events like Concorso Italiano at Monterey. We have our own banquet, cocktail parties, tent at the event, and provide our own awards etc. Of course at Concorso each marque group does their own thing even though they are all at the same arena. I do know that on drives or rallies you can use any kind of car you want. Can I bring my Ford truck on the next Ferrari Drive? I am also a member of Mercedes Benz Club America (way too many clubs) and it is strictly Mercedes Cars Only. Just a side note. I found it interesting to see a couple Alfas at Cavallino last year. I guess this ties to Enzo in his early years.
So .......where are the replies from the 'Board'? ZILCH so far..... Doesn't it tell you guys something? Me thinks, our input doesn't really count. That's why I didn't attend the meeting. The 'Board ' only wants to hear positives about the the club; any negatives will either be ignored, or flamed. Or am I just 'Whistling Dixie'?
Not sure about that: After all they did discuss the Maser issue. Whether they would have anyway, I don't know. The part where I think FCA Midwest section is missing out, is not using this forum as a quick medium to announce stuff and/or hold polls. OTOH in all fairness I have to say it is probably a minority of the FCA members who are also FChat members. From a marketing perspective however it would help FCA if they'd show a little presence here. After all there is a bunch of guys on here that haven't joined the club.
Skip ,If you have read this thread you would see that Mike F already gave a report on the meeting.What would you like me to add? If you are so intrested in what happens you should have been there.Everyone who came had a chance to voice their opinion and vote on issues. We are going to have another open meeting in April.If you have something to say I think you should be there I will be more than happy to answer all your questions but if you choose not to come at least stop being so negative ( I read the last post before you had it removed). Skip, you may think that I am only about the board members and what interests me and not about all the members but you couldn't be farther from the truth.
Skip: I did get to read your scathing post of 1-13-04 BEFORE you had it removed and I have gone back and read all your posts, some of which have been very (unfairly) critical of this Board, which I am proudly part of. What is your problem ??? While we ain't perfect--we sure beat whatever is in second place. You, of all people, who have worked with us on some of the events know firsthand how difficult all this stuff is to produce. Over the past year you have repeatedly (off-line) criticized us and used that "good old boys" line way to often. This is 2004 and we are NOT a good old boys network and never have been.This a wide open chapter and we need not make any excuses. We have over 400 members in this chapter, many of whom have, over the years, gave very positive reviews to our events and the way they were run. You certainly had every opportunity to attend this last meeting and take a "hands on" approach to present your issues and make a POSITIVE contribution to your club. You chose, however, to just go to your keyboard and take your shots from here and try to get the chatters against us. I certainly do NOT plan on continuous E-debate with you. What I will do is correct whatever needs to be corrected for the betterment of ALL the members of this chapter, and I do welcome their input.
