bigrbandit

So my dad has been a member of Oldsmobile Club of America for over 30 years, and he wants me to join. Is it worth it? I would like to go to the nationals this summer in Wichita, but everything else I need I can get here on the internet for free. But there are a lot of olds guys my dad's age that do not internet, and JWO is probably the only way to reach them, or see what they have for sale. What say you? Do other folks here recommend joining Oldsmobile Club of America, or not? Can I go to the nationals without joining?

Ryan In Ponca City, OK.

35tac

I joined the OCA because we have an excellent OCA Chapter in Northern Ohio which has a large show in late August. I wanted to participate in the chapter so I joined. I get to know quite a few Oldsmobile owners. If there is a convention in this area I would like to enter my 66.
Wayne

joe_padavano

Well, your first mistake is assuming that everything you need is on the internet - or even that what you read on the web is even correct (don't get me started about the Olds FAQs...). Frankly, I frequent the various Oldsmobile FB pages. The responses to any technical question on average are 80% wrong. If you try to point that out, people start cussing you out. It amazes me the people who have no clue about a technical question feel compelled to post an answer anyway.

More to the point, this is about being a member of a community. I think you will find that the people who take the time to join OCA are a more civil group and are more than willing to help. OCA provides insurance for club-sanctioned events, which is no small thing in today's world. While spectators can come to any OCA Nationals, if you want to enter a car or vend in the swap meet or attend the related seminars and such, you need to be a member. It's a great group of people, and given the amount of money one will spend on the car itself, the cost of membership is peanuts.

Olds64

The OCA chapter near OKC isn't active. I contacted the club president/POC a year or so ago and he wasn't very helpful. I was an OCA member 20+ years ago in Kansas City, MO and it was a blast. I wonder if that club is still active...

Greg Rogers

I am glad to be a member and I feel it is worth it. The nationals are a great time!

CRUZN 66

BOTTOM LINE: If there is no membership support for the OCA --- THERE WILL BE NO OCA -- This will/can result in no more OCA National Events, not to mention, as Joe stated, less/no support for chapter sponsored events / activities...The cohesiveness of the community/people is far beyond what you would see at a local car show... The membership dues, IMO, is not just to join a club (the OCA), but in general to help support the Oldsmobile hobby... Somewhat like making a donation to your favorite charity to keep it alive and prospering...

joe_padavano

^^^THIS. Unfortunately, people have been spoiled by "free information" on the web. It isn't really free. I'll also note that OCA is actively working on upgrading their website, including the addition of technical info. This would likely be members only.

11971four4two

the choice is yours
YOU do not 'need"
"oca'

Run to Rund

I have been an OCA member since 1976. The club is now more open to new ideas, and valuable than ever before. As above, the internet is not a good, consistently accurate source of information.

OLDSter Ralph

l'd say if your Dad has been a member for 30+ years, and suggested you join, it must be worth it. There are many guys your Dad's age who do have computers and internet. The internet is FREE, why not read about the Nationals in Witchita next year when its over ?
......Just my two cents worth

oldcutlass

Oklahoma is starting/ reviving a state Olds club. Problem for me is that so far most of the activity is in your area.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oklahomaolds/

11971four4two

club has been twisted and skewed

Gerald Nickels

Why don't you go fishing in your 1,000 lakes. The club is a good thing if used.
Gerald

11971four4two

CUZ
the GOVT will not give me a permit
i never needed one

Tedd Thompson

The Nor Cal Oldsmobile Club, I enjoyed a lot of activates and the National/Reginald shows but I dropped out several years ago when there was to much infighting and complaining to where it wasn't as much fun. It was a 250 mile one way trip for me to go to a local meeting or dinner and I just didn't get enough out of it.. If it were closer and I was younger I'm sure I would enjoy it as much as ever but non of those options are going to happen. There are things to learn among friends with like interests you might like it a lot, try it. To each his own..... Tedd

Jon442

I just re-joined the OCA after many years away, since I did not own any Oldsmobiles during that time. I'm a firm believer in car clubs, and I also belong to the Lincoln, Pontiac and Buick clubs. While it's true that you can get free information off the internet, it may not always be helpful or even correct. Forums like this are a great place, but nothing can replace the camaraderie you get with fellow enthusiasts at a car show. Yes, you can still get some of that if you don't register your car and just show up and walk around. But you're just scratching the surface at that point. To me, the money spent on a national car club membership is money very well spent.

Human

My dad was a member of OCA, AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America), and a couple of others for many years. The only one he in which he was active in terms of attending events was AACA. It has a large and active chapter in the Charlotte area, which puts on Auto Fair twice a year at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

FStanley

First he asked about the National Olds CLub of America not a local chapter.. most of the time the infighting and complaining come about because too many members don't do squat to help out..

FStanley

Another avenue of information and help to maintain your Olds.

I recently put an ad in and got a part for my Olds for several hundred dollars less then what I could have on EBay this alone paid for my OCA membership for several years.

Charlie Jones

You are only 88 miles from the OCA national meet this June .
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...locations.html
Come and check it out , Friday is judging day so that's the day with the most cars . It's an indoor meet this year .
WARNING ! You may become addicted , and want to join the OCA.

1970cs

I guess IMHO the bad eggs were weeded out by 2014. I believe that we have another crop of good people in power now.
The only board member that I don't care for is Mike Klecz the head of the model advisors.

Pat

Tedd Thompson

First off you have to be a member of the National club before you can be a member of the Northern Cal club, they come as a pair. My experience has been that most all clubs are a 90-10 thing. that is 10% of the members do 90%. of the work. You can just about plan on it no mater if it's a car club or social club what ever, just figure on it. Some of club members are workers and some are good bosses but when the mix becomes more bosses and few workers personalities clash and no one enjoys the group, best to just stay home. Some people thrive on that environment, me I'm not into drama......... Tedd

fleming442

I tried it once; didn't like it. I've been to a few OCA shows as well, and don't care for them much either. I've spent a lot of effort hiding most of the performance upgrades and will still get tossed into the Modified class against LS swaps and tubbed cars. There's no such "Street Stock" (or equivalent) class; you're either stock or modified. I'll put my $40 toward some go-fast parts; I don't need somebody nit-picking my ride.

joe_padavano

OCA has separate classes for Street Stock, Modified, and Race Cars. Frankly, if you don't want people to nit pick your car, don't have it judged.

boese1978

If ur going that route get it right, 10,000 lakes

fleming442

Here's a perfect example of the attitude you'll see at OCA events. GFY

joe_padavano

Thanks for that insightful and mature response.

Frisbee_k9

Run to Rund

In summary, the stock class is for stock; street stock is for bolt-on mods with the correct engine and stock body. Race cars are about workmanship and presentation on a car that actually races. Modified allows many changes and is about workmanship and presentation. New for this year is race class 19c for non-Olds engines in Olds bodies.

If you did nice work on the car, it will fit in there somewhere and not be penalized for the mods you wanted to make.

Lonnies Performance

I liked the club meets for the atmosphere, I never really cared about the judging or trophies.
Personally I let my membership expire as I have not been significantly involved with my car hobbies for quite a few years, but plan to get back into things.

You will always have someone hit-picking your car, usually a jealous person that doesn't have a nice car themselves.
Most will appreciate the car for what it is & the fact that it still exists, even if not perfect or original/factory correct.

Jon442

Joe makes a very good point. I used to be a purist and sweated all the small details. There's nothing wrong with that, and I admire and respect those who are so dedicated. But any more, I build my cars solely for my enjoyment, and they seldom end up stock. I enter exhibition class and have a great time without the stress of judging. To each his own.

jaunty75

This is actually not true any more. Some years ago the OCA quietly dropped the requirement that people had to join the national OCA if they wanted to join any chapter. They don't publicize this at all for obvious reasons (they WANT you to join the OCA!), but, if you check the "membership" or "join us" sections of the various chapter websites, most say right on the application form that OCA membership is no longer necessary.

An an example, here's the application form for the New England Olds Club. Note what it says right in the middle of the document. This form is dated 2013, so it's been at least that long that OCA membership was no longer required.

http://www.neolds.com/NEOCMemberApp2013.pdf


It also says this on the Northern California Chapter's membership page.

http://www.norcalolds.com/membership/index.html

CRUZN 66

Not a true statement... My 66 442 - L69 has been entered in "Street Stock" because of various mods and my 85 Cutlass has been in "Modified"... No real nit-picking... The 66 has placed First at all OCA events and the 85 won Best of Class in both Modified and Senior Class...

FStanley

Originally Posted by fleming442
I tried it once; didn't like it. I've been to a few OCA shows as well, and don't care for them much either. I've spent a lot of effort hiding most of the performance upgrades and will still get tossed into the Modified class against LS swaps and tubbed cars. There's no such "Street Stock" (or equivalent) class; you're either stock or modified. I'll put my $40 toward some go-fast parts; I don't need somebody nit-picking my ride.


OCA has separate classes for Street Stock, Modified, and Race Cars. Frankly, if you don't want people to nit pick your car, don't have it judged.
__________________
Joe Padavano


fleming442
1. The original post was asking about the National OCA. It seems you are replying about a local Olds club(chapter) show. Apples and Oranges.

2. Local Olds club shows don't have to use OCA National rules for the show they put on, as there are way too many National OCA classes to do this cost and time effectively and they come up with their own show rules for their event.

for National OCA events there are Street Stock classes. see: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.oldsmobile...Show_Rules.pdf


3. Having your car judged IS nit picking. For the most part picking Best of Class winners is difficult to do as most of the cars show are pretty dang good, and it comes down to only a point or two.

4. At an OCA National event, judges are lined up beforehand in order to have the best judging team available at that event. Is it perfect? No. But I have received great feedback to make my car better for the next OCA show.

5. Why are you hiding your modifications?? I had a recent conversation with a guy about his "stock" car, oh man it's REALLY stock, really cool eeerrr oooohh except that I have a Edelbrock manifold, duel feed Holley, headers, custom big wheels and radials, ram air hood, Doug Nash trans, etc etc but it's REALLY stock man... uuhhh sorry it's not.

Try reading and understanding the OCA National rules... Again the local club is probably not using them,, For many years our local club used the National rules, and we ended up with zillions of $$$ of leftover trophys that cost the club a ton..

70sgeek

I met some local FL chapter OCA members over the last year or so and have thus far come away with mixed feelings. The dues themselves are inconsequential but I can't forget the first time I was approached by what was apparently one of the local chapter's more encyclopedic members at an open all-makes gathering - it was just a local public show for any classic or custom that someone wanted to show off, but this OCA member proceeded to pick my car ('72 Cutlass ragtop) apart on every non-stock and/or non-date correct thing he could find (despite my mostly-polite advisements as to having chosen to detail the car to my own preferences). Then suggested I join their chapter and bring it out to one of their upcoming shows to be used as a parade car - I later presumed they had a decent turnout despite my absence...

Other members I've since encountered have been a lot nicer but I still haven't come around to consider joining, even as I've since attended one of their formal show gatherings and enjoyed it. Even with my experience though, I generally agree with Joe P and wouldn't discount the value of joining a marque club whose majority members can be a valuable resource of knowledge and tech assistance on your project efforts.

dennis_30281

Thirty five replies and not one mention of the most fun thing about OCA the MAGAZINE!!! Oldsmobile stories, history, tech tips and articles. Things for sale and wanted. Classified ads and nice pics of Oldsmobiles. You can't get all that in one place on the internet. The MAGAZINE is worth the price of membership alone.
Dennis

FStanley

I've probably done this by accident too.

IT just maybe the OCA know it all, may just be trying to inform you of what is correct for your year car.. whether you asked for the info or not. Us purists just kinda do that automatically .. and unfortually tick people off in the process.

the rub comes when people enter their Olds into a stock class category where there are a fair amount of non-stock items and sometimes they would do better in a Non-Stock class depending on the rules used for THAT particular show.. And yes I've seen cars nit picked in a general judged car show where the cars should have been judged on less strict discretion..

ignachuck

I'll second that^^^^

In addition, my model year adviser, Tom Miller, helped me find some impossible to find a/c parts.

zeeke

I did't get a chance to read through all of these but, I'm not sure what twisted and skewed means. I've been a member on and off for about 30 years. I finally joined my local chapter about 3 years ago. Like any new guy, you're an outsider for a while and since I'm usually working when they have their meetings I make about 2 a year. I kind of like being in the shadows, because no one knows me when I show up to the annual meet with my wreck except the guys they park me with. The advantage to this is I do what I can for the Local Club when I can, hassle free.

As for the OCA my opinion is somewhat parallel to others, if there is no support there is no club. Made my first National Meet last year and I though it was great. Met many great people, did some impulsive parts buying and got to see a wide variety of Oldsmobiles I'd otherwise only see in pictures. If my friend can make it this year as well I my crazy mind set will compel me to drive to KS as well. Make no mistake, WITHOUT SUPPORT ALL THIS GOES AWAY. That lack of support trickles down to each and every Olds owner out there. I'm not a big fan of Chevy's so that's not all I want to see out there.

OldsAl