Author Topic: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)  (Read 19662 times)

Bob Purton

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #15 on: August 08, 2012, 10:06:58 AM »
I'm a complete dunce at all this stuff but one thing I wouldnt like to see is us losing our forum format, try using the Yahoo base forums where you have to open each post individually, they drive you mad, our roll on thread format is the best!  Maybe the answere is to add a gallery section to our existing site where folk with there cars on the register can volunterily post the pics of there cars? I dont know if this is possible, I gues Jim is the man to ask.

Barry

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #16 on: August 08, 2012, 10:10:07 AM »
Agree with you Bob.

(Battery sizes coming later this morning)

Jonathan Poll

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #17 on: August 08, 2012, 11:01:08 AM »
Well, whenever I've finished these 4 sites, I could get back to the RUMcar site. We could sort out an online register for whoever wants to :)

JP
Cars: Messerschmitt KR200, Nobel 200
Mopeds:
- Peugeot BB3SP, BB3T, BB3 "BITZA", BB VT, BB104,  TSA, Bima Luxe,
- Motobecane: 50V, M7 SL, 51 Club, EV50
- Other mopeds: Malaguti Superquattro, Solex 2200, Puch Monza, Puch Maxi

richard

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2012, 07:45:26 PM »
yada yada yada johnathan  :D
outside of a dog a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read .Groucho Marx 1895-1977

Jonathan Poll

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #19 on: August 09, 2012, 06:26:36 AM »
yada yada yada johnathan  :D

 ;D Patience is all thats needed ;)
Cars: Messerschmitt KR200, Nobel 200
Mopeds:
- Peugeot BB3SP, BB3T, BB3 "BITZA", BB VT, BB104,  TSA, Bima Luxe,
- Motobecane: 50V, M7 SL, 51 Club, EV50
- Other mopeds: Malaguti Superquattro, Solex 2200, Puch Monza, Puch Maxi

Bob Purton

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #20 on: August 09, 2012, 11:32:50 AM »
Patients?  I think we have given up on you!
Mind you another user of the forum was supposed to be making a CD from footage taken at the 25th special rumcars weekend years ago! By the time we get it we will have forgotten that such a weekend ever happend! ;)

blob

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #21 on: August 09, 2012, 01:22:24 PM »
Quote
Mind you another user of the forum was supposed to be making a CD from footage taken at the 25th special rumcars weekend years ago!


I noticed Jim's DVD came out a few years after Story so we're about on par, besides list of to do's... strip the loft, replace the floor, roof beams then panel it out and insulate, replace and level 3 ceilings, relocate the loft hatch, remove all the render upstairs, sound proof, batten and insulate both remaining bedrooms, build a wall, render the chimney breasts, have them inspected, reinstate both fireplaces, level and rebuild the kitchen bay window, replace the other kitchen window and add a concrete lintel, replace the joist level the floor and concrete under floor to stop rodents! Fit new bathroom and plaster the entire house, sand and polish all floors, decorate, oh build porch at the rear of the kitchen secure the garden and rebuild the garage...  so when do you want to start then Bob!

 ???

Barry

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #22 on: August 09, 2012, 01:49:41 PM »
It's all about priorities I suppose.

richard

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #23 on: August 09, 2012, 02:10:23 PM »
And patients eh
outside of a dog a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read .Groucho Marx 1895-1977

Bob Purton

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #24 on: August 09, 2012, 03:37:09 PM »
The thing is Blob old chum, you are never going to do all that in a million years so you may as well do the DVD. ;D ;D

super-se7en (Malc Dudley)

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #25 on: August 09, 2012, 06:08:46 PM »
I think the purpose of the Rum Car is shown perfectly by the response to the topic about the Nobel. Within days countless information and enthusiasm was given to a new member
showing a caring and knowledgeable bunch that have a love of these cars. for myself if the process of registering could be made more computer friendly it would help me register my 2 frisky sports.     

Jean

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #26 on: August 09, 2012, 07:33:26 PM »
I have read with interest all the comments that have been made on this subject. 
It must be realised that anything that is done to help the efficiency of RUMCARS is done on a voluntary basis and a shoe string budget.  It must be said that we need more volunteers, gone are the days when the numbers were small and I could do all the jobs myself as was the case when I set up the Register in 1980. Those of you that take and read RUMCAR NEWS will see that I have a group of a few dedicated and extremely hardworking, and I suspect out of pocket enthusiasts, who help me these days. Chris, Alastair and Mike give of their time unstintingly now that anno domini is creeping up on me and limiting the amount that I can do these days.  Two areas remain where assistance is desperately needed firstly with the accounts and secondly with the web site.
It is all very well to say it would be nice to do this and nice to do that but we need volunteers to do these things.  Jim Janecek from America very kindly set up the web site on our behalf when our former web master had to give up at short notice.  Without Jim we would not have the Forum or the PayPal facility  that you all seem to love but he has not the time to maintain the body of the web site and to keep it fresh and up to date, and neither should we expect him to.  We need someone who is prepared to take it on who is prepared to devote a lot of time and energy to create a new format. We also need someone else to is prepared to do at least the book keeping part of the accounts as soon as possible to help me keep on top of things.
I do appreciate that some people volunteer to do a job and then find they have bitten off more than they can chew which leaves every one unhappy.  If you are truly be prepared to give of your time for nothing but the satisfaction of giving back a little something to the hobby  that gives you a great deal of pleasure, please let us know, you will be welcomed with open arms. But don't bite off more than you can chew.  Jean
Jean
Register of Unusual Microcars

Jim Janecek

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #27 on: August 09, 2012, 08:25:49 PM »
Without Jim we would not have the Forum or the PayPal facility  that you all seem to love but he has not the time to maintain the body of the web site and to keep it fresh and up to date, and neither should we expect him to. 
We need someone who is prepared to take it on who is prepared to devote a lot of time and energy to create a new format.

That scares people off.

Given the recent comments by several people regarding the difficulty in submitting and paying for Register inclusion online, I am going to update that section to make it happen.
Prior to this I have been taking a "hands off" approach to everything for a number of reasons, the primary one being that there was a time when the site appeared to have an enthusiastic person willing to migrate it to a new, simple format that would be easy to update.
If I continue to update the site and in particular, get rid of the toilet blue background that is everywhere, there is really no incentive for anyone else to do the work.
Also- my time has been extremely limited in the last year.

I think I can safely say that for most everyone here they would much rather devote "a lot of time and energy" to their cars and other elements of the hobby, not sitting in front of a computer for hours on end working out how to make things work for everyone else.

I have said it before and I say it again now: The only reason I am "in charge" of the Rumcars site is because absolutely no one stepped forward after Darren declared his term to be over.
I told him I would be willing to do it as a "last resort" only.   and......the rest is history.
I did not take it over to re-do it and constantly update it and freshen it up.  I did it primarily to maintain the forum and also because I really enjoy RUMCARS.
I've also been able to provide the domain name and hosting for ZERO money in the hopes that this might free up some funds to be used elsewhere.

I think RUMCARS needs to seriously consider finding some money somewhere to PAY someone to set up a new, fresh site that is easy to update and maintain.
It needs to be able to incorporate this Forum AS-IS as well.  This is not difficult but it takes a bit of effort.
Volunteers have no real incentive to take on a project like this or finish it. (it is never "finished")

That being said, money alone will not guarantee that things get done.
And no, I do not want to be paid to do the website.

I think RUMCARS needs to sit down with everyone involved and discuss
Where You Are Now,
Where You Want To Be in 2 years, 5 years, etc
How It Will Be Possible.

When I was on the Board of Directors of the old Microcar & Minicar Club in the USA, I tried to get the others to have this same discussion.
No one on the Board really wanted to discuss it at length.
I never suggested any ideas that I was not personally willing to implement, but could never get any of the other "volunteers" to actually do anything.
For many years they were in "reactive" mode where all they did was put out fires because no one wanted to address the future.
Eventually they imploded, blaming me of course because I saw the writing on the wall and left.

I don't want to see that happen here.

Big Al

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #28 on: August 10, 2012, 08:28:42 AM »
Spot on Jim and I recognise the position as I am in a similar one myself. The crucial thing is that it is still enough fun for it to be worth doing but I also see the putting out fires thing on a tired committee. So many organisations need new folk with new ideas to come in. There is no easy answer. There is no one answer either and sometimes I have to bite my lip as I do not feel a new idea is right but in the absence of no idea it is the best thing to do.

The mutual and non profit registers manage to continue with very little heated argument in the main as no money is involved. So discussion and debate but everyone is pointing in the same direction. Often there is a single figure about which most happens. It is money that mucks things up faster than anything else. However with the internet becoming ever more dominant I understand the desire to have a bigger and better presence on that media. Certainly for world wide contact things have never been easier. In the absence of skills for free I guess the purchase of them might be in order. How that is achieved is one thing and the second is how much information to express there.

There seem to be broadly two camps on that web based resource. The more restrictive and the full blown open access. I would dearly love the latter but I just know it will end in tears as I fear in their generosity of nature many of those supporters of free access are forgetting the nasty elements out there who would spoil something of value for their own profit. In normal times I would support a fund/charge to create the website but to be frank I am seriously under the financial cosh at the moment and have no spare money for anything. No new club memberships for instance. Though the reasons might be different than that for others I bet I am not the only one. Needs someone clever to come up with a cunning plan, Baldrick, to create a suitable fund that folk can buy into. Unless the website has paid subscribers, but is that not complicated.
Messerschmitt set, Goggo Darts, Heinkel 175, Fiat Jolly, Autobianchi, Fairthorpe Electron Minor, Borgward, Isuzu Trooper
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steven mandell

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Re: The Purpose of the Register of Unusual Microcars (RUM CARS)
« Reply #29 on: August 10, 2012, 06:31:12 PM »
Also, it's thanks to the register (I think!) that my dad found out his old Peel P50 (CKH 728B, currently in Lane museum) was a replica. The seller told my dad it was a replica. He was wrong!


Am I assuming correctly that the seller told your Dad that it wasN'T a replica?  I have had a peek under its skirts, and it looked like a new Vespa 200 engine in an old chassis to me.