[smj]

The club's big enough that eventually you'll find all types. Sure, in ten years I've run into a handful of folks who'd made a point to refer to my 944S as an Audi, or a 914 as a VW. Less so in the latter case, nowadays these clowns don't know their history...

I was active in Zone 1 (New England) before I moved to the SF Bay, so I don't know the capitol regions specifically. Overall I find the club to be very accepting, but each region varies and within each region you'll find different crowds. The concours-and-wine-tours crowd may look down at your car for being dirty and not care how well it corners. The wrenching-and-track set might think your stock car's pretty but wallows a bit and suggest some upgrades and a diet.

Even if I have to work past a couple of near misses initially, there's a lot of good folks to get to know through the club. It's definitely been worth it for me.

But don't forget resources like Pelican, or model-specific boards. I have a great time with the folks from 914world.com -- the West Coast Ramble this past summer was an absolute blast!