Who knows we're here?

[Pete C]

I see several F's and TF's around my area........sadly, always going the other way. It has occured to me that many owners bought their cars cos they liked 'em, but have no idea that clubs and organisations exist for them. Does the MGCC of F Register advertise their existance anywhere? Has it been considered?

[TimM]

Pete - yes we do - we place occasional adverts in classic car magazines and our committee/reps visit other forums when events/meets are in the offing - however this forum is the main source of MGF Register info etc. One ad has just appeared in the December issue of Classic Cars for Sale, for instance, next to a feature on MGF servicing. From time to time we contribute to articles on the MGF in magazines and get a mention that way as well.

The problem with regular advertising is cost - the register simply doesn't have the funds to place adverts in a wide range of publications on a regular basis.

We do have the regular column in Safety Fast which goes out to some 11000 club members and is probably our main means of advertising.

The problem is that a lot of F/TF owners are simply not interested in clubs or runs or events - they just want a nice sporty and increasingly cheap sports car. Actually getting the message to these people who do not attend car chows or read the car magazines is just about an impossible task hence you will see lots driving around with blank expressions when you wave cheerily at them.

We try to keep as high a profile as possible to make ourselves known !

[Pete C]

Thanks for reply Tim. I've had two Rovers prior to my F, and it never occured to me that there were forums out there. How about a hundred foot helium balloon over docklands? lol

[Fletch29]

MGOC used to run a competition where members left a flyer with details of the clubs activities/contacts on windscreens of likely members, whoever got the most responses received a prize. I don't think a prize is necessary, but it might be a way of letting F/TF owners know we are around. Mike

[Broon]

I suppose the chances of an average MGTF owner being interested in classic cars to buy a magazine though cant be that high?

Just speaking personally. I would never have bought a classi car mag, and only knew about this site through the .org.

[David Clelland]

As Tim says the vast majority of F/TF owners are not interested in club activities. Regarding the flyers, I know that most of Register Reps already do this. Unfortunately my own experience is that for a lot of effort there is not much return. Something else that should be noted is that to be a member of the F Register you first have to be a member of the MG Car Club and that all of the Registers are self sufficient - they do not get any funding from the club. Basically that means that any money spent on advertising is a financial loss. The only benefit is swelling the numbers on here and at the various events held throughout the year.

[Emma Jackman]

Pete, you said you're in Thamesmead. I'm near Dartford, and to be honest there are not that many of us Kentish F-er enthusiasts. To name a few: me, David A, Ralph, Paul Balcombe, probably more but I can't think off the top of my head.

If you see me give me a wave!

[Pete C]

Pete, you said you're in Thamesmead. I'm near Dartford, and to be honest there are not that many of us Kentish F-er enthusiasts. To name a few: me, David A, Ralph, Paul Balcombe, probably more but I can't think off the top of my head.

If you see me give me a wave!

I often see two TF's on my way home from work in Crayford. I'm sure there are owners who wouldbe enthusiasts if only they knew.
I always wave/flash (headlights that is ) but never had a response.

[bestgolfer]

I am a bit surprised at the responses. I understand that people new or newish to MG's may not understand the conventions, after all, why should they?

I go back with MG's to the sixties (I know a 'century' away) and here in Australia, certainly in the early days, it would be unheard of not to acknowledge an MG.

Times change, and with a new breed of owners, who really have little or no tradition behind them, MG folklore must be a bit of a mystery. Even after I sold my A in the late sixties and bought a B-GT in the 90's, people were still acknowledging each other, and being a member of an MGCC was almost mandatory! After all, it was part of the mystique.

Now I have my F (ABOUT ONE WEEK OLD) I will be interested to note whether other MG say Hi.

I live on the Southern Australian coast, about 20 minutes from Geelong, population around 350,000, and the local MGCC has about 300 MG's, including 165 B's and 31 F's. To me, being in the Club is just part of having an MG, but I can see not everyone is as fanatical as I might be!!

Melbourne, with almost 4 million, has a huge MGCC and when I lived in Melbourne, the Club was part of my life.

[Daved]

Nice car BG. I love the colour

Waving in the UK to other MG drivers has waned I think because as intimated in other posts here, the history, heritage and tradition around the MG Marque are unknown to new drivers. I have MGF Register and South Mids Sportsters stickers on the back of my F, my daily driver, and park in a work's car park that houses 9 or so other Fs but I have not been able to recruit from them. Even when I put flyiers on the other cars they were simply thrown on the car park floor!

MGBs and Midgets wave but I have given up waving at other Fs I see regularly going to and from work because they simply ignore me

Cheers

Dave