Fiat Run After the French Italian Car Show

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:10 pm

Eladio,
I was under the impression that it is Merkel's club that is picking the Spider. He has the only real club in the LA area, our group is merely and group and not a club at this time. Since Merkel only was holding 2 events a year, some us decided we wanted to get together more often. This didn't go over to well with Merkel; he felt we were trying to compete with him and siphon off members. Consequently, he put out the word to his members to avoid our gatherings, and for the most part it's kept our get-togethers very small.

fiatS2000 · Post by **fiatS2000** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:35 pm

I thought Merkel's club was "The Rear Engine Fiat Club". I'm pretty sure all 124 spiders have the engine in the front. I was confused because I remember that it was You and Daniel who started the Fiats of So. Cal Club, and it appeared that Daniel had spoken to Jerry about the challenge.

bandit wrote:Hello Jerry

It will be nice to put a face with the voice thanks for all the
support on the club i'm looking forward to meeting you as
well !!!
I'll introduce you to someone who can help you with some
info on the Lancia Scorpion you were asking about .

Thomas
Jerry is a member and Organizer of A Fiat Club in Texas
and has offered the winner of the Best of France and Italy's
124 Spider a trip to there Car Show in 07 .

Daniel

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:16 pm

Merkel has changed the name of his club, to something very similar to what Daniel and I had come up with.

SoCal Italian Cars · Post by **SoCal Italian Cars** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:05 am

So Cal Italian Cars will be at the Show Nov, 5th and we have
an opening for a spider to enter for this Contest in Texas thru
ICF as far as I know of unless Jerry has selected merkle's club
instead ?

We have members from SCF and Merkles and I'm pretty sure
we will have larger turn outs by next year since we are running
add's and coming out with a really cool Website with live chat
Forums Photos Sounds the Works a very interactive Website !!

Here's a picture of the Bussiness Cards, Site isn't up yet next
week some time .

Andrew (Active Member SCIC)

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:49 am

Eladio

Jerry Contacted me and asked if we ( Fiats of SoCal ) were interested in joining this Contest ! and I wasn't sure who could enter there car at this point i wanted to be fair and have a car worthy of the contest and the only person that has 1 in our group didn't want to travel to Texas .

So if you think you can have a show car ready in time then maybe we could send you ? other then that all i can say is if ICF wanted to offer this to every club around it would be costly and maybe thats why it's only a select few clubs across the country plus i think Jeff had something to do with the offer to us as well since he would run with us ?

Daniel

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:25 am

It's amazing to me that in a City / County as large as LA we
can't have 2 clubs ??? or for that matter 1 Large Club .
Mark and myself have setup events and have had some cool run's
and some small turn outs .
Merkle's club isn't doing so well either from what i hear A few
months ago he had 3 cars show up to one of his outings .

Now for some reason Merkle's taken offence to us organizing run's
on our own without him, once he called me and seemed upset that we
were making plans as an outside group he asked if he could join us
i said " sure " but not once has he showed to one of our events ??
whats the big deal were just trying to have fun i really don't
want to get involved in politics let's have fun thats what i wanted
nothing more no power trips or ego bs .

Daniel

cecat · Post by **cecat** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:32 am

Eladio

Your correct, there was not enough time for people to get there cars ready for such a significant event. Two or three weeks, before the Best of France and Italy show, we all find out that a car would be picked to represent Southern California against other cars in Texas. I'm sure magazines like Classic Motorsports would be involved with spreads of the winning cars. They love the Fiat 124 Spider.

That's the problem we have here in lovely sunny Southern California. In the last six years i have been involved in Fiats, We have the worst club support system i have ever seen. The truth is to find people to work the club, president, and staff, newsletters, meeting location, collecting money and setting up runs, events and charity events. You all know i collect classic mini coopers. If you could only see how they run their club, mini owners of Los Angeles http://www.moala.org.

I have talked about this in the past many times, in pre-fiatspider.com and on fiat center.com. But with two little kids and working on other cars, such as my brother Spider, running a club would be very difficult. Forget to mention the wife would have a say in it. But I would definitely volunteer, and support any effort in forming a club.

The fiat 124 Spider was made basically for the north American market. I see them used everyday as daily drivers, and yet nobody has really worked to get everybody together. Now we have issue with egos. I liked when Dan and Mark setup the different runs. I had a blast. The runs with Merkles have slowly died away. The two runs he setup, only two people showed up. His club needs to come into the 21th century, like maybe a web page.

I don't know why it's different for Fiat's in So Cal. Back east has Fiat freak out, up north in Oregon they have there events, and Texas/Midwest with the FLU guys. In So Cal we have (in a 20 mile radius, (6) parts/repair shops that specialize in Fiats). So there must be tons of fiats running around town, who would love to hang out with other like minded people. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something.

Dan and I have talked about having other Italian marques get together for some runs, with the Lancias, and Alfa's and maybe we can start something at the next show.

http://www.drivingtelevision.com/segmen ... ual%20Cars 124 Spider

Late George

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:23 pm

I'd like a real club also, with regular get-togethers. They don't always have to be runs, just monthly gatherings. It helps keep interest in the cars. The problem I had with Merkels' club is they only used to do 1 run a year. I think he tried organizing more runs when he heard about our group.
I've tried to figure out why there is such little interest in the greater LA area, but just can't figure it out. We've got good weather most of the year and lots of potential drives to do. Maybe it takes more structure to get owners involved.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:12 pm

I would not have believed there would be a problem in SoCal with participation. Our problem on the east coast is everyone is so spread out. The idea of getting together with other Italian cars may help the cause. I'm part of an Italian car group that has 25 to 30 people in attendance for the monthly dinner and parking lot gathering. I'm usually the only Fiat in the group! We coordinate runs with the British and German car clubs and have several events a year with as many as 100 cars participating. We all have one thing in common: We want to enjoy our rides and the company.

cecat · Post by **cecat** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:24 pm

For all the people who would like to get together in the morning before the show, for breakfast or coffee. The place is called the Lamplighter Family Restaurant. From there we will take off to the show. We will meet at 7.00AM and leave around 8.15 or 8:30, only half mile from the park.

Lamplighter Family Restaurant
(818) 788-5110
5043 Van Nuys Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

link to address
http://local.yahoo.com/details;_ylt=AsH ... Nuys%2C+CA

George

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:28 pm

Denise
we have the same problem with distance here in Calif. The spread from Ace to where I am is over 2 hrs driving time. Most runs are 1- 1 1/2 hrs from me, just to get to the meeting spot. It seems that with everyones' busy lifestyle, finding a whole day to go cruising is difficult.

spiderrey · Post by **spiderrey** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:29 pm

eladio. this is the first ive heard of this also. i dont see what the big deal is? if your car is not ready for this competion yet, chances r it wont be ready in a few months. mine might not even be ready 4 the show. chances r itll never be good enough to win anyway. and i know of only 2 cars wothy of this right now, if theres better in san diego, bring um. by the way. that card looks just like daniels buisness card, whats up with that.

spiderrey · Post by **spiderrey** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:38 pm

Who is so cal italian cars? Danial, why are you posting under two different sigs? Just come out and say it, its you. thats your buisness card, and im pretty sure thats your spider, i dont see the need for secrecy, ( by the way, i know thats spelled wrong). just curious. if your part of so cal fiats, why start another club? im just really really curious about this. thanx

0

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:23 pm

Rey must be my biggest fan lol

As for the spelling of my name it's spelled Daniel not Danial if that's what your talking about ? Don't understand the Question and why your so worried about my club dealings . I never charge for anything never asked
for money favors free stuff nada so if i started 20 clubs what would be the
big deal .

As for the Card it's the clubs and not mine but " looks like mine " hmm
well lets see the Text , Web Address, Car Logo's, Flag style, it's for a Club /Italian Cars owners BUT it is Black like mine is thats what make's it
seem like my cards ? I had car parts and body kit's on mine ect ect
not dealing with clubs / events/ chat rooms .
I am not doing all the posts for the club if you want to ask Andrew
or someone else like Scott about the club talk to them !
socalitaliancars@yahoo.com

BTW i have a blue Spider with Tan Top and Seats the other Spider
has Blue Seats Light blue / grey color it's a pretty cool picture i think,
not sure what your saying "whats up with that " here's a picture of my
car still looks just like this nothings changed .

Daniel

spiderrey · Post by **spiderrey** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:39 pm

im not worried about anything, really, just curious, trying to get straight or complete info on this club. everything just seemed so vague. as for your car. seen a pic once and the pic in the post looked similar enough, especially given the use of your card. As for spelling, some people really shouldnt go there. what are you talking about when you say youve never charged for anything. what did i say that brought that up? and it really dosent matter to me if you do start up 20 or even 40 clubs. i was just trying to figure out who was actually heading this club and who was actually already involved. why cant you answer a question without getting all excited. when i said whats up with that, that really didnt mean anyting negative. i was just making guesses with the clues i was given in your posts, since the info wasnt complete.
i have a brother named daniel, that was just a typo.so who is heading this club, and who is involved. and what are your goals. how are you, or this club going to be different then whats out there? whats the web site address, id like to check it out. im all for anything or anyone that actually promotes these cars, and thats the gods honest truth.
im helping my buddy put an alfa sprint veloce on the road, so he can come play with us. lol. i found a 73 spider for my girlfriends sister, which ill put on the road for her when shes ready. and u know i put my sons 68 out on the road recently. so its All about promoting the cars. id really like to see that web site. thanx buddy.
Also, who is going to do the judging for the fiat spider contest that youve been talking about.

Fiat Run After the French Italian Car Show

Morning Meet in Van Nuys-Breakfast or Coffee