Tempest

Seems I'm the first committee member to perhaps offer some clarification: The £10 membership fee was announced a few years ago as a reduced fee to eat into the surplus the club was holding in its accounts back then. The membership fee was £15 at that point of time. Hence it was to be expected that at one point in the future the fee would have to go back to its original level, if not follow a trend observed with other clubs, due to increasing costs for doing the things a club does, to increase beyond the original level (that's called inflation). The club has now kept the discounted membership fee of £10 for several years to sufficiently eat into its reserves, and yes, it is a trend, I am afraid to say, not just one-off expenditures. What precisely club funds are spent on is revealed at each AGM and in the subsequent minutes, that are made available to all members shortly after the AGM. This current year those that attended the national day at Brooklands will remember that their membership fee in essence had been fully refunded by the club having paid for the opportunity to park on the banking (for which there was a charge by Brookland of £10 per car). The club has done similar "full/part refunds" by paying towards certain costs that would otherwise be incurred by members attending a national days in the past. This was all done as a means of offering more value to members, encouraging them to attend the national day (which worked very well) and generally to reduce the surplus in the club accounts. We have now reached a stage where we feel that it is time to call an end to the discounted membership fee structure, for the reason quoted in the Sprinter, i.e. that in 3 years or less the club in essence would have no funds left. With the current membership fee level the club is at present not self-funding. Looking at ditching a paper-based Sprinter in an attempt to reduce expenditure has been discussed at numerous AGMs in the past but each time a majority of members voted in favour of keeping a paper-based Sprinter. The topic of increasing the membership level back to what it was has first been discussed at the AGM this year, but it was then decided to leave the decision till the next AGM to allow ample time to collect members' feedback and present the facts, such as: The club at present would not be self-funding. Tempest

Indeed, nice touch. Bought the A4 version at Stanford Hall a few years ago, now gracing the wall of my study. Yes, it is indeed a US advert, as also shown by the US-G60 on the picture :) Wouldn't know anyone who's got a US-G60 :lol: Tempest

Great issue once again :) Keeping some articles for reading tomorrow for after work to brighten up the day. Tempest

All fine here. Had a few more at my place after we got turfed off the market at 21:00, relaxed brekkie this morning, and Chris and Britt left at around 15:00 or so after a few more coffees and cakes :) No meets in sight for quite some time now. Tempest

Tomorow :) Tempest

Magnus Walker. Had never heard this name before until I joined my current Porsche club, and a few issues of the club magazine down the line, I read an article about him and his obsession with anything 911. An independent film maker graduate from Montreal University has shot a docu-film about this chap, and the result is pretty neat: http://www.reelhouse.org/mos/urbanoutlaw Possibly a bit weird for some, but a guru for many a 911-fanatic, the chap even originates from these shores, Yorkshire. I do love his premises where he restores 911s and lives. Tempest

Another grpup is staying till the end of the market, which last year was around 9pm, or so. Tempest

Remember the noise Jim's former G60 made without the snorkel (nice at first, but then just headache inducing on a longer motorway run), and that was enough reason for me to never actually have even tried removing the snorkel inside the airbox of my G60. Tempest

Went to a little shop in Nuneaton called Modelenium (check out their website: http://www.modelenium.co.uk) to cash in an old birthday present, a gift voucher, for a 1/43 scale model of a 928 GTS (naturally took the 1/1 scale big boy to drive to Nuneaton, hmmm, V8 ...), and had a chat with the owner regarding this Otto model. Had the following response: Maybe worthwhile joining? I have already left my details with him :) Tempest

Try Münster in Germany or indeed the actual Frankfurt market ... Only difference is you won't hear any Brummies :lol: Tempest

It's Rotiform across the side of the windscreen, now that's cool! (Where's the irony smily :lol:) Otherwise not so lol, given the accident was caused by a muppet who couldn't be bothered to check tightness/secure fit of vital items such as steering wheel etc. Only solution in terms of spectator safety would be 2 massive walls either side of those needing to show off their testosterone levels, erm, I mean going down the track. Tempest

Like the idea of a group-buy :) Finally a G60 Rado model :) Tempest

Some more info, copied from another forum :) To finish off the year 2012, during the winter month of December, when many a Rado has gone into hibernation, this is the last chance to meet up with like-minded people. What better way for afficionados of German cars to meet up at an Ur-German event, the German Xmas market, the biggest one outside of Germany is held in Birmingham. Meet up at the fountain on Victoria Square in Birmingham (10 minutes walk from New Street Train Station) at 13:00 on Saturday, 15th December. Last chance too for some late Xmas shopping. Map: http://goo.gl/maps/XL5Dl Tempest

Was originally not running spacers (offset of 38 mm identical to original C alloys), but then fitted 5mm spacers allround due to too little clearance IMHO to my Koni coilies. My Arrows are 7.5" wide though. Tempest

Noooo, I don't want to see more Rados on these wheels :lol: Want to stay unique :lol: Tempest

Car park not big enough, or too many ¨other¨ cars parked nearby? Tempest

Go on, Portent, you know you want one :) Tempest

Done, too. Tempest

Looks like it does contain all the original parts rather than some of the gash stuff that some ebayers try to sell as rebuild kits. Tempest

Received a bottle of VW generic glue remover, smells of oranges (orange acid), which did the trick on the glue residue. Not cheap though. Was given that bottle free as a loyal customer :lol: Tempest

Some pics (for those who missed it): The rest is here (including pics of thre CCGB stand). Tempest

Never had it available for the Dream Rides. Was his daily, and now for sale. Wants £2850 for it, no further details. Tempest

Excellent few days, can't believe how soon it all was over again! Starts when I usually am the first to arrive and park up my C on an empty stand whilst around our stand there is lots of activity building up stands. The show itself was interesting in terms of visiting number patterns: Friday probably as busy as last year, certainly getting slightly busier compared to the first few year the club attended. Saturday was packed! Sunday on the other hand was almost too quiet. This observation was also made by the Sporting Bears Dream Rides team close to us. This year we did have a good location, the Dream Rides event drawing in crowds for us :) Good to meet up with CCGB folk again, as a nice (almost) final event of the year. Looking forward to next year, when we're hoping to put on a nice and special display to mark the 25th anniversary fo the C! Tempest

Wad thinking of givibg this a miss :-O . Reason being: Important 928 meet nr Oxford Sat 24/11, then off to celebrate Mum's 75th Sat 1/12, leaving Thursday befote. Tempest