Thread: American Street Rod Association??

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Sorry for the long post, but some explanation is necessary to get at the questions at the end. At World of Wheels in KC this past weekend one of the cars had a sign and stack of info sheets hearlding "A new organization, created by street rodders, for streetrodders", American Street Rod Association. I googled the name, and found their website, http://www.americanstreetrodassociation.com/, but also noticed another one, http://www.theasra.com/ which is The American Street Rod Association.
Confused, I sent comments to both and got responses from both, including one phone call Sunday afternoon! What I gleaned (my understandings):

"ASRA" is trying to bootstrap a new organization that will be coast-to-coast, border-to-border which will ultimately have both regional and national gatherings, ala Goodguys and NSRA, but maintaining control of key decisions by vote of the full membership. Their next meeting of their group of ~10 "directors" is at the end of February, when they hope to ratify a set of by-laws, set their basic dues structure, and discuss how (if) they can work with "The ASRA" to a set of common goals. There has been talk of "ASRA" being set up as a not-for-profit group, but there are some legal hoops associated with that designation, including how to deal with liability. They are looking to 2011 for their first events, with 2010 dedicated to organization and planning. Most of their core group is scattered in central/south Illinois, with one in the KC area.

"The ASRA" established their presence by getting a small business license (LLC) in Mississippi 12/09, and launching a website in January 2010 setting dues at $25 annually. Their website is quite professional, their main organizer has a magazine publishing background, and his message is "We're up and running!" with a note that anyone paying their $25 in 2010 is a "Charter Member". They plan their First Annual Street Rodders Reunion in Diamondhead, MS in June, 2010, and they list several existing Gulf Coast events as gathering points for the group. From their website The ASRA appears (to me) to be focused on the Gulf Coast area, but soliciting membership at large. My understanding is that they tagged "The" as a part of their name because "ASRA" was already registered as a domain name several years back, and had not been allowed to lapse.

I had not known that GoodGuys was "spun off" from NSRA years back by one or more of the original NSRA founding group, and that the financial success of GoodGuys has been a continuing rivalry. This goes a long way to explaining the "30 Year Rule" that has been such a focus in the past year. Has anyone else heard about the ASRA/The ASRA grassroots efforts? Is it a good thing?

I can see plenty of room for both types of clubs.

Roger, not trying to hi-jack your thread, but there is another group trying to get up and running, VSRA, Vintage Street Rodders of America. Here is a link, http://www.pre50streetrodders.com/Home.php. I believe they are based in N.E. Tennessee and already have an event planned for this year.

Mike

Mike, you're not hijacking anything. Looks like there are going to be several groups vying for national presence in the street rod arena, all looking for dues money to fund development while trying to keep their dues low enough to attract members. It will be interesting to see how things play out this year.

I see both groups playing off the recent sentiment of "pre 49", as if to say that anything else is not a true "Street Rod". The problem that I see is that instead of asking the membership what should and should not be allowed (as the other two major players have), the "board of directors" (a select, close knit, like minded or close friends style group) is dictating what can and cannot be allowed. Again the problem is that you have a select few (think elitist mentality here) who feel their cars are above everyone elses. Having been around these cars, and promoting/running shows (public, private, for profit, not for profit, and everything in between) since 1979 I can tell you I have seen it far too many times with different organizations, Corvette Clubs, Mustang Clubs, Camaro/Firebird groups, and yes, Hot Rod groups. You get a few of the long term members with early cars who look down at anything beyond their circle/sphere of influence, then attempt to steer people/clubs into their mind set. Of course we know that by doing so they fracture the memberships into multiple groups, diluting the enthusiasm of some by pointing fingers at others. By doing so they weaken the organizations they belong to by creating conflict from within. As such, you then get spin off groups and clubs, some take off and are successful, many are not. The ones that continue on their path of mostly "not for profit" seem to be the ones that thrive, the ones who's "board of directors" get paid for their positions have a tendency to flourish for a year or two before the "paying members" get wise and leave for the larger groups that they left in the first place (having seen the true nature of why a new club or group was started). Now, I'm not saying that is what is happening with these two new groups, I'm just stating what I have seen in the past. Whether you agree or disagree is up to your own interpretation of what is and what is not viewed (in your eyes, not what you are being told by others) as a hot rod or street rod. it is up to you as the individual to say "I like it" or "I don't like it". But regardless of that, you also have to step back and say "it's someones vision".

Well, I've said my pre-caffeinated two cents worth. Now it's time to get a cup of coffee and clear my head for the days workload.


Sincerely,

Bill S.

MrMustang, To put it in other words, people are constantly trying to redefine the "street rod/hot rod" term. As I see with the pre50s, they even want to define how the cars are to be used, and we all are aware that other groups also want to dictate building style. Obviously a club with broad acceptance would have a better chance of survivng the constantly changing trends.

I do see an advantage in restricting it to early bodies,(though the next question would be "what specific year?") That alone would seperate them from the "look" of the cars we see on the street every day, and makes them seem more interesting.

Maybe a simpler solution would be to coin a new term for a broader group of years and styles... but it will have to include the word "rod" to make people more likely to embrace the title.

Lets see.... "Mod rod"? No.... "Pop rod"? I don't think so.... "Not rod"? ...no that will start a fist fight! :-)

How about seperating the terms street rod and hot rod? To me that would have some hope of success. Street rods could be the early style, which should satisfy the older enthusiasts like myself, who were taught the difference by the magazines of the '60s. (Of course NSRA would no longer back an idea like this, but NHRA would be okay with it.) "Hot rod" would probably work better in the broad sense, since most newer or younger enthusiasts are repeatedly defining that as "any year" modified for performance. Has anyone been discissing this possiblity already? I know there has been debate in many circles, and I don't hear it all.

Thoughts?