Hi,
I recently bought my MX5 Berkeley and received some information regarding
the UK ‘branch’ of the Miata Club of America (or similiar). Is anyone here
in the UK a member – if so, then I’d like you opinions on the club and the
benefits.
Incidentally, following my recent request on the subject of roll bars and
whether they’d invalidate the Mazda Warranty, Landsdown Mazda here in Bath
have said that if they fit them for me, then it will _not_ invlaidate the
warranty. Which is nice…!
Alex McLean
EIDOS Interactive
Visit http://www.aesthetica.com/ukmx5 or mail timmx5c…@pronews.pro-net.co.uk
Ed Essery
e…@essery.removethis.demon.co.uk
http://www.essery.demon.co.uk
ALex McLean wrote in message
<01bd6c42$b3725da0$c877c…@racer.pumpkin.co.uk>…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
>Hi,
> I recently bought my MX5 Berkeley and received some information regarding
>the UK ‘branch’ of the Miata Club of America (or similiar). Is anyone here
>in the UK a member – if so, then I’d like you opinions on the club and the
>benefits.
> Incidentally, following my recent request on the subject of roll bars and
>whether they’d invalidate the Mazda Warranty, Landsdown Mazda here in Bath
>have said that if they fit them for me, then it will _not_ invlaidate the
>warranty. Which is nice…!
>Alex McLean
>EIDOS Interactive
In article <01bd6c42$b3725da0$c877c…@racer.pumpkin.co.uk>, ALex McLean
<A…@pumpkin.co.uk> writes
>Hi,
> I recently bought my MX5 Berkeley and received some information
>regarding
>the UK ‘branch’ of the Miata Club of America (or similiar). Is anyone here
>in the UK a member – if so, then I’d like you opinions on the club and the
>benefits.
Are you sure it was the MCA UK Chapter or, more likely, the MX-5 Owners
Club UK which is not (AFAIAA) affiliated to MCA. MX5OCUK is currently
in the process of a major dispute within the members which has erupted
onto the net through the mailing list. Basically, although it is called
an ‘owners club’ it is actually ‘owned’ and run by two guys who refuse
to publish accounts or open decisions to votes by the membership – not
even Section Organisers!
Apparently this came to a head recently when Mazda offered to inject
more money into MX5OCUK with the intention of taking the magazine in-
house and publishing it more professionally, as well as other benefits.
This offer was refused by the ruling set without reference to the
membership. Some people have quit the club in protest, others have
(apparently) been asked to rescind their membership and banned from
attending club events – including one of the major local area
organisers. His page on http://www.zen.co.uk/home/page/mx5 had a copy
of the letter the organisers sent him a couple of weeks ago which might
still be there. All in all, as an ‘outsider’ it seemed a bit abusive –
and he apparently ran the most active section of the ‘club’! So much
for being a valued member!
It all looks a bit of an ugly mess and I, for one, am glad that I never
took up their offer of membership. For a road-tax disc holder and a
poor quality nominally quarterly magazine (they sent me a ‘sample’ which
was enough to convince me NOT to join!) which is, by all accounts,
rarely published on time you get to send cash to a couple of guys and
refused information on what it is being used for. Hey I get better
offers than that in my mail box a couple of times a week!
Rumour has it that, as a consequence of their split with MX5OCUK, Mazda
are considering setting up an alternative club themselves.
—
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he’s pissed.
Python Philosophers (replace ‘nospam’ with ‘kennedym’ when replying)
In article <HqrLjGANX9O1E…@kennedym.demon.co.uk>, Dot
<r…@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>Are you sure it was the MCA UK Chapter or
<Big snip>
Gawd! Reading that back after it appeared on the server it sounded like
I had a real grudge against the club!
I don’t, but the message has already gone round the world and its too
late to send a cancel message!
I just decided that the UK club was a poor imitation of MCA and not
worth joining, but that was my opinion. Partially this was driven by
the genuine cameraderie between MX-5 owners in the late 80′s and early
90′s when a club was there in spirit if not in corporate. In those days
you would NEVER EVEN CONSIDER passing another MX-5 without flashing and
winking your headlights! (Flash to pass is the standard setup on UK
spec cars) Usually MX-5 owners would even stop at the side of the road
to chat and exchange tips etc. Unfortunately that has died out now,
(all good things come to an end) although I sometimes respond if I see a
good example or someone flashes me, or that big bright yellow orb is in
the sky. :-)
The previous post was just trying to give you some recent information of
the major debate within the club which has spilled into the world at
large, not to dissuade you from joining! But I genuinely feel sorry for
the guys who have been excluded from the club for expressing their views
to other members, and it could affect your decision so you should know
about it beforehand.
The comparison to the spam mailings was my opinion only – I am sure you
are intelligent enough to have one of your own.
Anyway, what I meant to get across was not to make hasty decisions since
Mazda may be making an announcement themselves soon.
—
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he’s pissed.
Python Philosophers (replace ‘nospam’ with ‘kennedym’ when replying)