The world of cars is an ever-evolving place where innovations in several fields all come together to develop new machines people use every day. While some people use their cars just for getting from point A to point B, there have been communities forming around different car makes and models for over a century. For those who are interested in modifying their cars in the form of performance improvements, vanity upgrades, utility changes, or just having plain old fun, car clubs are some of the best ways to surround yourself and connect with people who have experience in these things for a specific make, model, or type of car.
One of the many car clubs available here in the St. Louis area is the Boone Trails Corvette Club, which is a car club that is based around every model of the Chevrolet Corvette, a popular 2 door sports car. Bob Marsh is the elected president of the Boone Trails Corvette club, and has been a part of the club for roughly 8 years.
“Primarily, there are 5 elected officials. The president, vice president, secretary, the treasurer, and then a position called the governor,” Marsh said. “What I do is just coordinate all the events. I make all the decisions on what the club is gonna do and run the meetings.”
Car clubs generally have scheduled meetings, where they all get together and show off their cars and talk amongst themselves about their similar interests. In most clubs, attendance is encouraged, but not mandatory. The Boone Trails Corvette Club has a meeting once a month and occasionally has scheduled events in which everyone goes out as a group and participates in an activity.
“We’ve organized trips where we’ve gone to Memphis for a weekend, we’ve went up to Chicago for a weekend, and we’ve organized trips to this place called the ‘Tail of the Dragon’,” Marsh said. “It’s a highway between Tennessee and North Carolina. It’s a fun and really twisty road.”
Car clubs as a whole have been slowly dying out. The reason for this is that many of them struggle to grab the interest of younger people who don’t know much about car clubs and what they entail. The Boone Trails Corvette club is one of many struggling with this issue. While they are able to retain membership right around one hundred people, there aren’t many younger members a part of the club.
“The biggest issue primarily is membership,” Marsh said. “We have a hard time getting young people to join the club. And that’s not just us. When I talk to other clubs they have the same issue.”
Marsh encourages all young people to find a club and join up. There is a club for almost every make or model.
“Find one for your make or model and join,” Marsh said. “There’s no commitment and costs are not prohibitive.”
