Who's going to Chateau Impney

[Suffolk944]

We went yesterday and had a great day wandering around and chatting to people. I was even inspired enough to (sort of) give my car a bit of a clean there and then ! [] The Passat and people carrier thing gave a certain unique feel to the gathering but it was great to see a good number of '44's there and plenty of signatures on the bonnet (even if it is red [])

 

[Diver944]

I had a good day on Saturday (despite having to get up at 5am [] to make the 7am Marshalls meeting). The bonnet was looking pretty much full of signatures when I left and I think we had over 20 cars on the display. I spent most of the day with two new Porsche friends that I met whilst Marshalling, one had a gorgeous red 968 with gold wheels and the other had an immaculate 944 Cabriolet in silver.

That is what these events are about, meeting people, chatting about the cars and generally kicking back in good company. I don't normally go for the 'Country House & Gardens' type of show because I normally prefer an event where the cars are being driven, like a track day or race meet. Every few years I'll give in and go to one though and Chateau Impney ticked all the boxes. The food and drink onsite was very reasonably priced too, so well done to whoever negotiated the concessions. A cuppah for a quid and a good quality Sub for £2.50 sure helps when I'd forgotten to make a packup []

 

[macandsue]

When we were asked to produce the Jubilee Display for Chateau Impney we checked with Porsche Post to see which other cars had their Anniversaries. Consequently we thought that at least one 944 owner may wish to have his car on our display. Each one we asked was either not going or was already committed to the 944 Display, but you may have noticed that there was a red 924, a white 924S and a red 968 Clubsport, representing the front engined cars.
Apart from the 964 RS Display on the driveway the Jubilee Display could not have been more prominent.

As I was on "duty" at the top of the drive up until 11.30am on Sunday morning every single front engined car was sent to the correct area. If any were in the main car park they were not sent there by me.
(By the way the people who should have been on this duty never turned up).

Sue

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Hi Sue,

You should have spoken to me about the jubilee display. I knew nothing about it needing a 944, but one could easily have been picked from our display, or one planned in advance as I knew who was going for both days. We did the same for the decades display, again I wasn't aware of it in advance of the Saturday [], and just sent the most appropriate car out to the front when it arrived.

 

[PSH]

ORIGINAL: macandsue

When we were asked to produce the Jubilee Display for Chateau Impney we checked with Porsche Post to see which other cars had their Anniversaries. Consequently we thought that at least one 944 owner may wish to have his car on our display. Each one we asked was either not going or was already committed to the 944 Display, but you may have noticed that there was a red 924, a white 924S and a red 968 Clubsport, representing the front engined cars.
Apart from the 964 RS Display on the driveway the Jubilee Display could not have been more prominent.

As I was on "duty" at the top of the drive up until 11.30am on Sunday morning every single front engined car was sent to the correct area. If any were in the main car park they were not sent there by me.
(By the way the people who should have been on this duty never turned up).

Sue

You know I read this and thought this is wrong but then thought I'm no longer a member ( ex 10 years) so it's non of my business but then rethought and decided again that this is wrong and unfair to some 944 owners who must have put a lot of effort and time into this weekend.

Sue surely if you have a problem with members who let you down then take it up with them, or go directly to the 944 reg secretary so that he can pass on your complaint privately and try to ensure that it doesn't happen again. It's bad form to moan about it in general here to the members, some of who would have been there over the weekend, as you are basically tarring all with the same brush.
People in authority such as yourself should refrain from demeaning public comments , you should be above such things and I think you'll find that you'll gain more respect for doing so. The strongest voices are not always the loudest.

IMHO since this was the 30th anniversary year for the 944 then the club should have planned ahead and made a better effort in support of these cars and their members. This I think you'll find is why some get upset with how things are run, justified or not it should at least be given consideration when planning future events. If I could have, I would have attended to give my own support as I have done so many times in the past, another day perhaps.

Pete

 

[macandsue]

Hi Paul,

We had been asking for red white and blue cars regularly for several months and unfortunately we didn't get any success from the 944's. By the time we arrived at Chateau Impney we had managed to gather the 15 cars for both days. As I have said previously the front engined cars were represented but this was purely by chance.
If fifteen 944's had applied there would have been fifteen 944's on the Display believe you me. These would have included my own red convertible. As there was a 944 Display anyway we took our Supersport instead, as we had to have a car in place on our own display.There was never any intention to cause ill feeling. All I was doing was responding to those who felt the 944's were placed wrongly.

Now to answer Pete.

I find it difficult to understand how you can misinterpret what I have written to be some sort of insult to 944 drivers. Mac and I own three different 944's between us and absolutely love the model.
I am not in authority within the Club. I am a volunteer at events like everyone else. I consider that I work hard for the Club and foolishly perhaps I would like others to do the same. On Sunday morning, I had been in position at the top of the drive from 9.00am to direct the cars for the Jubilee Display to the correct place, with another chap whose name I didn't catch. At 10.00am he left me because he was off to do his car park duty. I was due on the main car park at 12.00 midday. At no time was my allocated position at the top of the drive. However because the people who should have been present didn't turn up for their duty I was left to hold the fort. (I did hear that they were at the Chateau but were still in bed but this could be rumour).
I hope that I greeted everybody in the correct manner and directed all 944 drivers to the correct place, in as cheerful a way as possible.
I was relieved from that responsibility at 11.25am. By the way we had been at Chateau Impney since Thursday lunchtime and arrived home yesterday afternoon, and we paid for our tickets and accommodation.

Yes Pete I am annoyed and indeed hurt by your post. It was totally unjustified especially from someone who does not know me.

Sue

 

[PSH]

Sue it was not my intention to annoy or hurt you, it was only to address your comments. Perhaps I misunderstood what you said, you see when you said that you were directing 944's, that you were then let down by people who failed to turn up and add to this the fact that these comments are made on the 944 forum then I bet I'm not the only one who thought you were having a pop at members here. On reading your reply it seems I misunderstood you and therefore I apologise for my words, if I get something wrong I'll admit it and say sorry.

Sorry

Pete

 

[macandsue]

Thankyou Pete.

Apology accepted.

Sue

 

[Peter_Bull]

Hi Mac and Sue

You are the type of members who are the backbone of the club and without you the weekend would not have been as successful as it had been. There are many members who dedicated so much time and effort to the weekend, but very few who gave as much as you both did.

Let the keyboard warriors have their say but had they been there then they would have seen what you all the volunteers did for the good of the entire club.

Over the next week I will be writing to each and every volunteer on my list to thank them for their selfless devotion.

I thought the 944s looked splendid and was delighted to sign and squeeze my name above Pauls!

 

[PSH]

'keyboard warrior'?.. very original and so unfitting but hey I guess some people don't know when to leave alone. I have apologised to Sue and she had the good grace to accept, your two pence worth adds nothing Peter but says a lot.

regards

Pete

 

[Peter_Bull]

ORIGINAL: PSH

'keyboard warrior'?.. very original and so unfitting but hey I guess some people don't know when to leave alone. I have apologised to Sue and she had the good grace to accept, your two pence worth adds nothing Peter but says a lot.

regards

Pete

Almost priceless - I need say no more.

 

[PSH]

You know I was going to leave alone as you probably had a point, until that is you decided to edit your post, rattled are we?
You know what comes to mind here?....Pot,Kettle,Black by chance?...I'll leave you be now as I have no intention of wasting my time on you, be careful as your true colours are beginning to show.

Again I sign off with my regards, at least one of us has the manners to do so.

Pete

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Jeez, let's play nicely here? []

I guess I misread Sue's post, thinking it was accusing the 944 register of not supplying a car for something I never knew was happening. If that wasn't the case then fine; you certainly can't have failed to see Sue manning the top gate for the entire weekend, without being relieved by the people who'd volunteered to do a 2 hour stint, and every front-engined car was sent to our area by her regardless of whether it had signed up for the displays, or was even a Club member.

Yes, I'm annoyed that one of the cars I had spent weeks sourcing could have been on the Jubilee display had I been asked, but you have to understand that this entire event was put together by an incredibly small team. You just have to accept that a lot of little details weren't right, but that overall the event was a huge success. The tiny, niggly problems are really only an issue for those who choose to criticise when they weren't even there. I hate the way people snipe at events, organised by a Club they aren't members of, and that they didn't contribute to by at least paying a tenner to attend!

Pete, you're one of the longest-standing 944 owners in our little community, and we go back to the Titanic days as well as many events from both Clubs. As you say, you're an ex-member for ten years so really don't have a right to criticise the Club in any way. That said, I'd welcome more input from non-members as to how the Club, and the 944 Register in particular, could better serve the owners of an increasingly shrinking number of cars in the future. The reason the administrators have fought to keep the Club forum open to non-members is precisely because we need people like you to contribute your experience to it.

My thoughts over the last few years have been about how the 944 model moves from mass-ownership in to being a very niche car, with running and restoration costs very out of proportion with the purchase price. A different Register, and a different place in the Club, have to be considered. I think it's a fine line between non-members being too critical of the Club, or even worse how the Club was many years ago (944 man [][]), and the 944 community fragmenting in to smaller "free" forums and clubs that don't have the collective experience and buying-power.

So, any comments are welcome, but let's not get in to criticising each other where it's not justified please? []

 

[944 man]

I wish that Id gone. I had intended to actually, along with a friend, but it didnt materialise. The principal deciding factor, for me, was the two day format. Whether this actually made a difference Im not sure, but it may help if everyone comes on the same day - so that everyone can see everything and everyone can meet everyone else.


Simon

 

[ukmastiff]

Sounds like an event that I would have thoroughly enjoyed. As a light hearted sideline , the matter of people not helping out or saying they will and then not turning up is a common theme in most hobbies

The one i really hate is
' turning up wearing the t-shirt but doing any work ' but saying how much you did , I call them Peacocks or just .....

I am a dog judge and general dogsbody its the same in that hobby
Also a minorr Karate official/dogsbody really same in that hobby , personally i enjoy being a helper its satisfying and as mentioned you can meet great people.

Im glad you all had such a pleasing day

Mas

 

[pauljmcnulty]

The principal deciding factor, for me, was the two day format. Whether this actually made a difference Im not sure, but it may help if everyone comes on the same day - so that everyone can see everything and everyone can meet everyone else.

I couldn't agree more. I know it's tempting to do a two-day event when you've spent a week setting up, but it doubles the effort for traders and other suppliers like owner's cars, at their cost, and halves the numbers each day. One day is more intense, and gets a much better atmosphere. Have the Saturday afternoon open to arrivals who are staying overnight, but not a full day in the programme IMO.