The BritishV8 Pub

Phil McConnell asked for my thoughts about adding a forum section for non-British cars. I have plenty, but for the moment I won't list them here. They're subject-to-change anyhow. Let's just discuss the topic a little.

I'm thinking of possibly re-naming the Other British Cars section and of re-writing its description to make it welcoming for a more diverse audience. I'm not sure this is a good idea! Inviting kit-car builders or Miata-V8 swappers to post in the Other Cars section may actually deter posts by Sunbeam, Lotus, or Morgan owners. Maybe we need a whole new section, or two, or three... but on the theory that our Other Cars section is and will remain a catch-all anyhow, what are your thoughts about its name and description. Please give me some suggestions.

Quote:

Other British Cars
upgrades for other British cars (Jaguar, Jensen, Lotus, Mini, Morgan, Rover, Sunbeam, TVR, etc.)

(This is the current description on the index page. Every sub-forum MUST have a concise description.)

The idea of opening up this forum to non British cars has merit as there are many other sportscars that have been hotrodded. My only concern is that I think you will not get many people coming to this forum to look at non British cars. The obvious reason is the title of this forum "British V8", this title is unique and sets the tone for the whole forum. So when a person is interested in doing a swap for say a Fiat 124 does a search they are going to be looking at a forum that is mostly British that has a catch all for all cars non British. I think such a person would tend to stick more with the forums that deal with Fiat 124's as they would get more information from fellow Fiat fans, mind you they also would probably get a lot of flack for thinking of desecrating a Fiat! Maybe over time the "Non British Cars" section would grow big enough that it would have separate sections for Italian cars, German cars, and Japanese cars.

Cheers
Byron

The reason I posed this question to Curtis came from the Car Craft Summer Nationals. Schwartz Performance builds complete frames for American muscle cars that allow these cars to perform like sports cars. I don’t want to turn this into a muscle car forum, but Jeff Schwartz, the owner, has a 1000 horsepower Ultima kit car that is worthy of posting in our forum. I am embarrassed to say that I forgot Jeff’s son’s name, but he is building an LS/T56/Miata that I would love to watch come together. These guys do amazing work and yet remain very personable and friendly. They were very interested in the construction and performance of my car. Jeff even took time away from his booth to drive my car in the autocross. Yes he kicked my butt in my own car, but that is why I asked him if he wanted to drive it. British stock is getting harder to come by and I think we all want to see as much “Performing Art” as possible.

"If it ain't broke....."

Too much dilution will make a great BBS/Forum into a mediocre one.

Just sayin'.

YOMV

I would like to see other classic euro sports cars on here . I think it could bring some new ideas everyone could benefit from and the cars do kind of fit in. Plus, variety is always a good thing as long as its somewhere in the same subject area. Australian cars may end up being like hot rods from here and Japanese may attract a totally different kind of crowd though. Done get me wrong, I like all modified classics,especially old datsuns, but they are a little different than the old euros.

I don't think it would hurt if it is done well. Consider when we brought in the Triumph men. Unlike BMC we survived the experience and profited by it. Perhaps that is because Curtis is an MG man, but I think there is more to it than that. There is a lot goung on in these other areas that can feed our particular addiction. (And Edith is not at all sure that is a good thing mind you).The potential problem is the possibility of being overrun by another segment such as American muscle cars to the point where they begin dictating forum policy. Up to that point I feel they would be a benefit so if Curtis is willing and able to put safeguards in place to prevent that then my only objection is that at some future date those safeguards might be bypassed in some manner.

But many forums have "other" categories. Perhaps we should have a plan to split off the new area into a separate forum or site if it gets big enough to threaten LBC control of this one?

Jim

Curtis. Isn't it going to be more work for you for what measurable benefit for the site?IMHO TIM

I have owned interesting cars (monster miata 302/ Brunton Stalker) and love talking about them. Just not sure this is the site to do that. I think this site is just fine talking about only British cars. Just my two cents.....

I think if you need to do it to tap into a new revenue stream then you should, but I am content with the format as it is. You could also add a category for Purists : )

I tend to resonate with the comments from BWA and Mike, but I do like looking at the swaps and modifications others do. How about leveraging the BritishRaceCar.com approach... create a new site designed for and catering to engine swaps or other performance oriented modifications. As a category like "BritishV8's" emerges it could be broken out & "hung" under the new umbrella site. An approach like that might set you up to have the premier "hot rod" site that caters to everything left out by the sites like the H.A.A.M.B. that focus on traditional hot rods. With some creative thinking to set up the look of the site & how you'd do the sub boards and link sites like BritishV8, this could be huge and fill a gaping void.

I have 6 classic cars and only one is British. I hang around people and family with many other cars and none is British. All have interesting things worth discussing.

Perhaps a seprarate site, but linked ? I would like to see LEC's,(little european cars), in a site. Perhaps this would work as a next step ? I don't know about including Japanese sports cars,don't they have enough forums ? Cheers, roverman.

Curtis, I have to say stick with what we have. Another site for such cars would be fine, and linkage from this site would be great, but please keep our modified British cars as a seperate entity. This forum serves as the basis for a great group of people and although I welcome new faces to our group with similar interests I worry about diluting our comradarie with a lot of people interested in other than British marquess.
I love British Racecar, but those cars and readers are quite different with much different passions about how they use their cars. Gear heads like you and I do love the engineering displayed in racecars and like to incorporate a lot of it into our street cars, but racing is a complete different world from the regular British V8 enthusiasts and his interests.
Start a new forum for the other marques if you want, but don't include it in this forum. Leave the Other British cars pretty much as it is, so far it works pretty well as far as I can see.
Just my tuppence worth,
Bill Young

Gents, I appreciate all the excellent feedback and I hope it continues... so I'm going to keep relatively quiet and listen for a little longer. Except for pointing out two little things:

1) The message board has been running since October 2007 - almost five full years - and to date the "Other British Cars" section has only generated 137 message threads. It has failed to reach critical mass. There is good reason to try something new. If not this, what?



2) We already welcome folks who don't own British cars, and we always have. Consider "NixVegaGT" (pictured above). Nick hasn't been on lately, for personal reasons I believe, but I expect he'll be back before long. Nick was the eleventh user to register for this board, and he has posted 659 messages to date. I'm looking forward to running a "How It Was Done" article on his Rover-powered Vega GT when the time comes. We already have a place for that and a precedent: I'll file Nick's HIWD right next to Richard Moor's (also not British) Fiberfab Avenger.

I think the reason other british cars section doesnt get many posts is because it kinda seems like a catch all (trash can?) for what doesnt fit into the main stream sections, so people just tend to stay on their own specific forums elsewhere. Im not criticising, I love this site, but thats how it comes off to me, and I think thats why I havent put much into it about my sunbeam. It seems like it matters less, so whats the point to make the effort? I just stick to the very helpful technical sections. Theres lots of good knowledgeable people on here. Maybe under others have separate subforums for rootes vehicles, fords, jaguars, vauxhall, etc. so they each have their own little space.

As Bill said, the camaraderie here is great. We also have to realize that Curtis is trying to make living. He spends many, many hours here building & improving this site.

The people that come to discuss the "other" cars will mostly stay in the sections that interest them, so the flavor of the MGB or Triumph section should be unaffected.

I say bring on the other gearheads & streetrodders. We can learn some new tricks. Tell them to check their attitudes at the door, though. None of that H.A.M.B. 'tude allowed here!


At our local British club, SOB=Some Other Brand or Sort Of British (for the new Mini & Ford based Jaguar).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2012 07:35AM by MGBV8.

Taking Robbie's comments to heart, this morning I've created a sub-forum specifically for Rootes Group (Sunbeam, Hillman, etc.) performance enthusiasts. Still weighing options for other changes/improvements...

If the Nostaglia drag racers with their blown, injected v8 Anglias, Austins,Bantams and Fiats discover the website, there will be a tremendous influx of new innovators& info into the website. Street Rodder magazine recently included article on V8 Healeys & prejudice a/g by both groups-sports car guys & hot rodders. Tigers East/Alpines/East magazine included a request for opinions on the same topic, modified sports cars vs restored. Personally, given the "Hot Rods" like Allards, Daimlers, Cobras, Tigers, etc, they are already part of the car culture. There's room in all car groups for innovation & imagination & another place to gather infromation like this is greatly positive. Will Potter

Hey Will,

What issue of Street Rodder had that Healey article? I'd love to see it. Anyone have a scan?

I'm of the school; the more the merrier. I like Carl Floyd's response, "Bring on the gearheads and street rodders." Personally I know I can learn much from the rodders. but with my passion for English cars I researched then found this site. If they have their own area for posting, why not? AND, as already mentioned, it could be good for business.
I'm the new guy around here so I want to walk softly but I also think you are interested in enhanced membership, what a better way to do it?
Marty