R gruppe roll call

[lateapex911]

hee hee...now it's getting good! (kidding, kidding...)

I wouldn't dare to argue with island911, but my impression of some of the R gruppe cars was rather ...mechanical..and while no group has dirty fingernails on every hand, I got the feeling that the R gruppe guys knew the difference between box end and a boxer. I could be wrong of course, and expect to hear about it regardless...

[island911]

Originally posted by MMARSH
... I think Dave answers who is welcome to join his ride in the fourth post. ....

hmmm ... I thought he did that in the title of the thread; R gruppe roll call

YMMV

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by lateapex911
Man, thats a lot of work, or mess...why are you considering it? Is there a thread going about this??

Will be posting a thread when the car is picked clean. Just have some minor dash work left.

[Jim Richards]

seems like a lot of emotion over just going for a drive.

[dd74]

Last Tuesday I, who drives a non R-Gruppe car, was invited to an R-Gruppe event at Streets of Willow. They comprised a great bunch of guys led by Ray Crawford. Lots of patience and instruction was given to track newbies. As well, not the slightest bit of attitude was displayed by the majority R-Gruppe participants to the non R-Gruppe drivers, three of whom included Mini Cooper owners.

So from wherever this idea of R-Gruppe pretense comes, I did not experience it at the track last Tuesday, nor have I experienced it on other outings where there were R-Gruppe members.

[450knotOffice]

I love this topic. It makes for some fun reading.

My take - fwiw (nothing, as I'm not a member nor even an owner of a longhood) - RGruppe is a private club. They are free to be as large or small as they choose to be. They have a charter, a raison d’être. Being a private club, they have the right to invite (or exclude) anyone they choose. Now, based on the people I've met who belong to the RGruppe, I'd say they are a happy, helpful bunch of folks who happen to love the older cars. I'm sure there are the odd boneheads in the gruppe, but that's true of any large group of people.

With that said, to a large extent, I think they bring the anger on themselves with their in-your-face presence coupled with their exclusivity. On the one hand, the group is a closed, admittedly exclusive private club; on the other hand most of their members make it very clear to everyone else that they are RGruppe member number (fill in the blank). You see it on just about every single member's signature on this forum. It's a badge of honor, to be sure, but it also says to others "I'm a member of this club that most of you don't belong to, and unless you know the secret handshake, you cannot join". In a nutshell, the group highly publicizes their gatherings (which look like a blast, btw), and then closes the door to most who might want to join in on the fun. Yes, most can tag along on the drives, but when it comes time to party, non-members seem to be shown the door. It's like the kid with the ice cream who waves it in all the other kids' face.

Of course, to be fair, a private club is a private club and I can see why they might want to limit their size. A group can easily get out of hand if it's too large.

For me - I'm fine with the group as a whole. It seems they have a lot of fun when they gather. Maybe one of these days I'll tag along in my (gasp) short hood cabriolet or (double-gasp) 996.

[pwd72s]

Cheer up guys, I can testify that there is life after R Gruppe.

You want exclusive??? Really exclusive??? In a recent letter to me, Stan Mott himself appointed yours truly as "West Coast USA minister of Cyclops affairs". I alone hold that title...no others need apply.

Since Cyclops has no West Coast affairs, it's the perfect position for me.

[dd74]

...and then again, how many times have we castigated contributors to various sections of this board for not owning Porsches?

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by dd74
...and then again, how many times have we castigated contributors to various sections of this board for not owning Porsches?

Oh, but I still own one...I won't sign the title until it goes in the shipping container headed for Istanbul. Insurance reasons...
You're right, in my heart, it's gone...Maybe I should pick up a cheap bumpercar 911, let it rot out back under the trees, so I can post here?

[dd74]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Maybe I should pick up a cheap bumpercar 911, let it rot out back under the trees, so I can post here?

Well, if you feel that will justify your being here, go ahead.

I was speaking more about contributors like Mulhollanddose and Cool Chick, and various others who post here that presently do not own Porsches.

[cgarr]

I would never join a gruppe that would have me as a member

[randywebb]

Paul -- if you don't buy a cyclops next, then I suggest an Isetta -- it's the closest thing to it.

Scott -- "most of their members make it very clear to everyone else that they are RGruppe member number (fill in the blank). You see it on just about every single member's signature on this forum."
- I appreciate the sentiment, but how can you know that is true?? You have no way to know how many people belong to rgruppe but don't post about it in their sig. If you had said "many" or "some" instead of most, this would be more defensible. Maybe it is most - I dunno either.

Glenn/Island911 -- You might be right about the yacht club thing. As the cars get more popular or desired, people who have money but not much time (say, a surgeon) are attracted to them. Also, some enjoy driving more than working or rebuilding the cars. AND... as you get older the joy of bench-pressing a flat-6 decreases, as do many other similar forms of playing with grease. For example, read Jhubs thread on doing his interior -- makes me wonder if I really want to redo mine. And, I have 'bugged out' on doing some of the work on my car, hiring top engine builders to do a rebuild/hotrod when I was originally just going to have him massage the heads. I'm going to try and get a shop to do phase II on the front suspension too; instead of doing it myself (depends on how many months to get an appt. tho).

So... that doesn't mean people don't care about the cars.
After all, how many of us have built their own forge to make their own parts?

[eimkeith]

Originally posted by mjshira
Keith looking forward to having you out. Thanks again for helping me with my car recently. I guess you were taking a break from having an attitude for a moment to do that b/c since your in Rgruppe you must be a jerk based on what I read here. ;-)

Actually, I was. - ask anybody.

(I'm thinking about that after-flight Black and Tan right now!)

[450knotOffice]

Randy, you may be right. I suppose it could be a small number of the total membership who actually post their RGruppe number somewhere in their sig. It just seems like many.

[randywebb]

There are quite a few -- gotta be less than 300 but I dunno how many are on Pelican.

[TRE Cup]

Jeez!!......... and all i asked is who is up for the drive??

Im up for the drive if I get the car fixed in time. BTW, the club to be in is the "EVIL Gruppe". We beep the horn at old ladies at stop lights. Stick out our touges at little kids and flatten bicycle tires outside the mall. Anybody want to join? See Tyson Schmidt, AKA ring leader

Come on guys! Let go and drive the crap out of our cars and have fun!

[randywebb]

Originally posted by TRE Cup
Jeez!!......... and all i asked is who is up for the drive??

- Very True!

But by now, we all should know better...

[johndglynn]

Originally posted by cgarr
I would never join a gruppe that would have me as a member

Good old Groucho

"I've had a perfect evening. But this wasn't it."

[mjshira]

time for an rgruppe BBS