Are you an MCA member?

[Ludachris]

Had a conversation with the head of marketing/past president of the Mustang Club of America (MCA) yesterday. I had reached out to them to see if we might be able to come up with any ideas on ways we could align the TMO forum with the MCA and work towards some common goals/visions going forward. I felt like I had an oddly difficult time getting him to truly understand what this forum was about even after trying to explain it a few different ways. And I found myself repeatedly explaining that we aren't a racing organization or a track event organizer, we are just a community full of members with varying degrees of experience and interest in taking their Mustangs to the track. We have members who are into wheel to wheel racing and other competitive events, while some just want to learn more about taking their car to the track for open lapping days and meeting up with other members who share this interest. It was almost a little awkward at times on the call. I've never run into that before when talking to other organizations about the forum.

After going in circles a little bit what I came away with is that the MCA doesn't promote racing at all (he views NASA HPDE events as "racing", where everyone's banging doors and passing everywhere, they are not open lapping day events - when I offered a differing perspective on that I was shut down pretty quickly and decided it was best to just let that one go), virtually no MCA members - and only a tiny fraction of Mustang owners overall are really interested in HPDE events, time trials, or W2W racing, and that they have no more than 10 MCA members who take their cars to track events regularly. I was a little surprised to hear that. I know the percentage of Mustang track enthusiasts isn't massive, but we do have members signing up here daily/weekly who describe themselves as track enthusiasts with a few years of experience. I think they might be underestimating it a little but I didn't feel like I could say anything that would make any difference. His views on some of this felt a bit, for lack of a better word, "static". In today's world I know it can be challenging to get people to agree that the sky is blue on a clear day, but I couldn't help feeling a little bit like we were on different planets having completely different experiences.

It made me wonder how many of you are MCA members, and for those who are, how you'd describe the real value of being an MCA member? Maybe you can also share some thoughts on why you think it might be worth pursuing some type of working relationship with them. I have my own thoughts on all of that but maybe there's more that I'm not thinking of - or conversely, why it may not make sense to align the forum with the MCA. Would love to hear your thoughts.

For what it's worth, we do have the MCA 45th Anniversary event being held on April 2-4 posted in the TMO calendar here: https://trackmustangsonline.com/events/mca-45th-anniversary-celebration.44/ - please do view that event in our calendar and mark if you are going to the event. Maybe those who are going can wear their TMO shirts

 

[bob]

I just found out from this thread what mca is. The next mustang is the mustang mach-e suv. That's where Ford research says the market will be. So I think it is us who fail to understand that guy from MCA and I probably never will. I'm pulling my s550 racecar drinking at 6mpg with my ram diesel economy truck that gets 11mpg until the last drop of oil comes out of the ground. I also flush my toilet more than once. I hate brown stripping the bowl. Can I have a straw with my coke please?

 

[Ludachris]

I just found out from this thread what mca is. The next mustang is the mustang mach-e suv. That's where Ford research says the market will be. So I think it is us who fail to understand that guy from MCA and I probably never will. I'm pulling my s550 racecar drinking at 6mpg with my ram diesel economy truck that gets 11mpg until the last drop of oil comes out of the ground. I also flush my toilet more than once. I hate brown stripping the bowl. Can I have a straw with my coke please?

There is that disconnect, yes, but that isn't really what threw me off about the call yesterday. My conversation yesterday was with a GT350 owner who has had his car out on the track before but made it clear he would never take his car to a NASA HPDE event, which he considered a racing event, and didn't believe many other Mustang owners had any interest in taking their car to HPDE-style events. His perception of NASA HPDE (as well as most other open lapping day orgs outside of the MCA) as well as the number of Mustang owners who are into tracking their cars was pretty different than what I've experienced over the years. Again, I know we make up a relatively small percentage of the overall Mustang ownership, but it also isn't necessarily a tiny group either. Just reading through the posts in this forum alone would make that apparent.

 

[xr7]

Too much politics, too disorganized and anal retentive. I know the type, having been in one club. They would die if they hit a traffic cone, mine eats cone for lunch.

 

[Ludachris]

Too much politics, too disorganized and anal retentive. I know the type, having been in one club. They would die if they hit a traffic cone, mine eats cone for lunch.

Yeah, I know what you're getting at. There definitely seemed to be a very rigid view of what an MCA member is and what they're interested in. I think in the grand scheme of things, it is beneficial to the Mustang community to have the MCA doing what they do. Just as it's also beneficial for the community for a forum like this to exist. And I can envision a scenario where we promoted each other to help educate Mustang owners on what each group does. But I'm not sure they'd ever see value in that.

 

[mwjscn]

I agree with xr7. I was a member back in early 2010s, but let it lapse since it was neither a fun nor inclusive atmosphere. It was more of a cliquey garage-queen club that wasn't very interested in anything post-1972. The club offered no value to me, even though we tried to engage with the group. To be honest @Ludachris, your conversation with them matches 100% what my experience was. They only understand their small slice of both time and space and anything else is foreign to them (and they have no interest of bringing anything new into the fold).

These are people that brag about how few miles their vehicles have, not how many or how reliable it is. Any activity that involves the chance of a paint chip is racing. While I think it's great you're always trying to bring more organizations into the TMO-fold, I think MCA might be more akin to mixing oil and water.

 

[Ewheels]

I know this post of mine will include some large generalizations so apologies in advance but I have experienced four types of Mustang owners.
1. Garage queens - this group thinks their car deserves to be in museums and will freak when dust touches it. (MCA)
2. Stance bros - only concerned with appearance and going to local car shows...this group is likely the one that gave Mustangs the reputation for crowd killers.
3. Rental car - honestly, the Mustang platform is cheap. People buy it cause they think it's cool but really aren't car enthusiasts.
4. Track people - may or may not be a Mustang enthusiasts but are all definitely fans of going fast.

In my opinion, MCA members have entirely different goals than we do and I do not see any beneficial gain in partnering with them. I actually started my Mustang forum endeavor on Mustang6G and I quickly noticed that site was not for me. Far too much misinformation and far too many people who prioritize Cars and Coffee social points over improving lap times...MCA is the same thing.

 

[TymeSlayer]

I love the old codgers at my local MCA Mustang club. They are more show than go but that's alright. I remember when I first joined eight years ago, I asked about doing track events and other than a yearly autox for the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup, and I got deer-in-the-headlight look and no-one there really seemed interested. They do a quarter mile run with Ford at Bandimere Speedway every year and this year we will be running at Pike Peak IR (The roval course) for one day during the big Mustang show. But I'm a TMO renowned Pace car driver more that race rat, so to give you an idea of their track skills, I've won every Kart race we've ever done as a group. Trust me when I say that more than half you guys on here would scare the living crap out of them if they saw you driving around them. Now, to be fair, there are a few who participate with NASA or SCCA and even a few vintage races and I know for a fact, a few of them lurk on here but most club member haven't a clue what HPDE is all about. I think if educated, you'd see more participate. I get the Monthly Mustang Tymes and there's a guy that writes a column about racing, I think his name is Charlie Jones and it's mostly basic stuff but educational just the same, depending on your skill level.

All that being said, I do know some MCA guys that would get a lot out of joining here and I've shared a link to the site to a couple but if you think you get a lot of oil or tire selection questions now.... Oh boy will you open the flood gates.

 

[Ludachris]

I know this post of mine will include some large generalizations so apologies in advance but I have experienced four types of Mustang owners.
1. Garage queens - this group thinks their car deserves to be in museums and will freak when dust touches it. (MCA)
2. Stance bros - only concerned with appearance and going to local car shows...this group is likely the one that gave Mustangs the reputation for crowd killers.
3. Rental car - honestly, the Mustang platform is cheap. People buy it cause they think it's cool but really aren't car enthusiasts.
4. Track people - may or may not be a Mustang enthusiasts but are all definitely fans of going fast.

In my opinion, MCA members have entirely different goals than we do and I do not see any beneficial gain in partnering with them. I actually started my Mustang forum endeavor on Mustang6G and I quickly noticed that site was not for me. Far too much misinformation and far too many people who prioritize Cars and Coffee social points over improving lap times...MCA is the same thing.

That's the point though - one of the reasons I thought it would make sense is that they clearly appeal to a different crowd than we do here, which gives us the opportunity to point our members to each other that have different interests. They don't cater to people who take more than a very casual interest in novice track events, which means they could easily point people over here if they have more interest than that. Most people here don't come here to discuss car shows or making their cars show-worthy, so we could point more of those people to the MCA club to get more of that. We'd be able to compliment each other in that sense, or at least, that's how I envisioned it. Where I got stuck on the phone call is that when I was trying to make that point I kept hearing that they "don't promote racing". As if linking off to us would be an endorsement for racing (and that would somehow be bad?), and that none of their members are interested in that. I didn't really know how to respond to that in a way that didn't come across wrong.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Ewheels

All four groups mentioned have their place. After all, they bought their car for their reasons, same as us.

Hay Y'all

Garage Queens. So it just aint right to talk about garage queens like they aint nuthin. After all, its likely they were dropped on their heads too many times by their mama nem. Ain't their fault.
Stance Bros. When you can't do nuthin, at least look good doin it. Likely never got picked when playing dodge ball in school. At least that's what their shrinks tell them.
Rental Cars. Cheap??? Don't tell my wife Mustangs can be bought cheap. If she finds out, I got sum splainin to do.
Track People. Them's Gods Children over yander, right??

Everyone has their reason to drive and or enjoy their cars.

PS. I have three coworkers from Mississippi in my office mentoring me. Can ya tell??

 

[Ludachris]

Everyone has their reason to drive and or enjoy their cars.

Sure they do. And they don't always share the same interests with their cars, which is what makes having different forums/communities/groups work so well. Also provides a good opportunity for groups with different interests to link to each other, wouldn't you think?

PS. I have three coworkers from Mississippi in my office mentoring me. Can ya tell??

So that's what was going on there...

 

[blacksheep-1]

I've gone to several Tampa area mustang club events, I'm like a fish out of water, these guys mostly just like to show "their" car. They, IMO, are sunny day patriots when it comes to Mustangs. They know every bit of technical info, yet they have no idea who Parnelli jones was. They want the car because it says "mustang" on it, a status symbol. One guy just bought a new Cheetoh Orange GT500, I'm thinking 90K car, twenty dollar driver..

 

[Bullitt4439]

Yes I am a MCA member. I like the mustang times magazine and seeing everyone's mustangs from all over in there. Have a few pictures of mine from various mustang events from all over the country.

As far as MCA and tracking, yes there are very few who track regularly. Some people with plastic snake logos on their cars attend Mid America at Hallett once a year and call themselves track rats.

Attended the MCA show in Houston and it was all show cars except for 3 or 4. I had spent 20 hours detailing my car and of course rain was forecast Sunday so I attended a track day at MSR Houston Thursday with the S550 club. Everyone at the track was saying how clean my car was and I asked them if they were attending the MCA show the next day, not one of them even knew it was happening.

Everyone at the MCA show I was parked next to all knew each other and were cool enough to ask me about my car, but when I told them I had tracked it the day before I showed it the looks of absolute horror were comical.

I still attend a few of the Houston local MCA sponsored (Mustang Club of Houston, Northside Mustang) car club shows and can tell you almost no one is interested in tracking. They see my dozen track stickers from all over the country I have and could care less or say "that's cool" then go talk to the mustang owner next to me, with great enthusiasm, about what mods they are doing to cruise to the next show and sit in the parking lot to try and win an $8 trophy.

I do see MCA trying to do a few more HPDE style events like their Road Atlanta and Hallett stuff, which I think is great.

Road Atlanta is a bucket list track for me and I would be attending their April event, but I have a fellow with a new GT500 that I have convinced to track at MSR Houston that I promised some lead follows to the weekend after.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Sure they did. And they don't always share the same interests with their cars., which is what makes having different forums/communities/groups work so well. Also provides a good opportunity for groups with different interests to link to each other, wouldn't you think?

So that's what was going on there...

For anyone who may take my post above seriously, Sorry it I offended.....Not really.

Cars are transportation to most and vehicles for enjoyment for a lucky few. If someone chooses to enjoy their cars in a different manner, Good for them.

Brand loyalty, or a passion for one certain motorsport over another is fine. Make room for others to enjoy while they do the same for us. Except them drifters, them boys is crazy. LOL. (Humor Warning).

 

[mwjscn]

Beyond looking at what schism of the Mustang church they belong to, my opinion of them is largely based on how they made me feel as a member. You'd think an organization titled 'Mustang Club of America' would have a little something for everyone - and maybe it does have a little sprinkling - but its focus was just too narrow for my liking. I love classic cars and the design of the time period they represent (also having a few within the immediate family), but there would just be one guy who trailered his first gen coupe which had 14 miles on the clock and pushed it down the ramp (since I'd imagine the act of starting it up would make it leak out of every dry rotted gasket) and would just win all classes at every event it attended because the judge group is their own clique. I found more camaraderie with random people I met during the few years I attended Mustang Week (which is actually an event for everyone, though, sometimes to a fault - but it did have rallies, cruises, showing events, drag, circle track, and autocross days) than the club you paid to get into that didn't feel like acknowledging you at all. This is all solely my opinion and it's probably reflected by the specific chapter I was a part of and it may be unfair to condemn the organization as a whole, but I won't be adding my name back to the member list.

 

[ChrisM]

Well, I came into the track scene it was because of some track rats who infiltrated the car show scene with their dirty beaters. It wasn't until I stood around and talked to them that I understood they were way more in touch with their cars and a helluva lot more fun. So I still go to "meets" occasionally with my dirty beater (when I'm stateside) just to recruit people to actually, you know, drive their cars. Most people walk past my car and scoff and that's fine, but the ones who stick their heads in and ask about the harnesses and seats...game on. No issues whatsoever with people doing what they want with their cars but sometimes people just don't know what they don't know. If MCA doesn't want to be seen around the track, not my problem. I may attend an event and if someone there wants to find out more about track time, I'll be happy to open that door for them. One of my best friends now was one of those guys in a track beater that showed up to a car show full of parking lot queens with his "ricer" Mustang, met me at an HPDE event later, coached me a bit, and we still talk even internationally. So there's value-added in cross-org efforts, but I wouldn't get wrapped around the axle worrying about it. Track time ain't cheap nor clean and if people don't want to get involved, no skin off my back. Some people just don't know these events exist though, so it's always good to mingle.

 

[boardkat]

i went to a local MCA meeting once, right after i'd picked up my factory ordered '15. definitely not "TMO people", they seemed more interested in planning their summer big corral/car show/swap meet, weekly show 'n shines and various cruises. nobody there had much to add after the meeting when we were all hanging out in the parking lot, and i started talking about the changes i was going to make to the car. they were mostly flabbergasted that i was doing my own work on a brand new car with a warranty. and when i told them i was going to take it all over the country to autox in (didn't even do HPDE/TT back then) - it just didn't compute.

i definitely think there's crossover somewhere, but as you said, it sounds like it's going to be a tough nut to crack

all that said....

 

[Ludachris]

i went to a local MCA meeting once, right after i'd picked up my factory ordered '15. definitely not "TMO people", they seemed more interested in planning their summer big corral/car show/swap meet, weekly show 'n shines and various cruises. nobody there had much to add after the meeting when we were all hanging out in the parking lot, and i started talking about the changes i was going to make to the car. they were mostly flabbergasted that i was doing my own work on a brand new car with a warranty. and when i told them i was going to take it all over the country to autox in (didn't even do HPDE/TT back then) - it just didn't compute.

i definitely think there's crossover somewhere, but as you said, it sounds like it's going to be a tough nut to crack

all that said....

View attachment 63175

 

[mwjscn]

Digging into the humorous side, if for some reason you need to escape from them, you can have these photos I took in 2016 as ammunition (works like a crucifix on vampires):

 

[ChrisM]

Digging into the humorous side, if for some reason you need to escape from them, you can have these photos I took in 2016 as ammunition (works like a crucifix on vampires):

Woah, at least add a NSFW tag!