A Corvette is more than just America’s Sports Car; it’s a lifestyle choice for many. Ownership isn’t limited merely to world-class performance and styling that turns heads at every red light.
Those who are privileged to own a Corvette become a part of an automotive story that dates back to the middle of the last century. So, it is only natural for caretakers of the legacy to gather together.
Atlanta is fortunate to have several dynamic clubs to choose from depending on your location and preferred activities. The vast majority of Corvette clubs across the United States have a traditional club structure, and unfortunately, the issues that come with it.
But, what if there was a different way?
What if you started with a clean-sheet approach to the whole notion of what a car club is and what it could be? Steve Bracken, Founder & Coordinator of Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta, did just that.
We caught up with Steve to learn about his Corvette journey and his innovative club concept. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Enjoy!
Owning Corvettes
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Steve, thanks for taking the time to share your insights into the Amazing Corvettes Club.
Before we talk about the club, can you take a few moments and give us your Corvette story. When did you first start to enjoy them, how many have you owned, and what are you driving now?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder/Coordinator ACC – I have had eight Corvettes in total. Here is a list of what I’ve owned.
C2 1966 White Roadster – With two tops. The engine was 427 425 HP 4 speed.
C2 1967 Coupe – It was a 427 390HP Customized with wheel flares, three taillights, Custom Chrome Wheels, and custom paint. I did the bodywork and primer paint. A friend sprayed the color, War Bonnet Yellow.
C3 1973 Roadster 427 – Automatic coupe with a split roof.
C3 Corvette Race Car. 1975 frame with a 1968 rear half body and a 1973 front end. It had a new 350 Corvette engine built to produce 500 HP.
My partner and I fielded the car in two IMSA races, Sebring and Atlanta. At Sebring, we raced against John Greenwood’s car that was two stalls from us. He had 750 Horsepower from an all-aluminum 427 with a custom Ram Fuel Injection manifold built at his tool and die company.
He had a top speed of 225 certified at Talladega Raceway. We could not go any faster than 175 MPH and did not stand a chance against his car. We retired the car with a blown engine after 5 hours. Atlanta’s race resulted in another blown engine.
Because we didn’t have a sponsor, and we were funding everything ourselves, so we decided to go back to amateur racing. We decided to do auto crossing and solo ones while we both had some money left. That is where we both got our start in racing.
It was fun and a lot less expensive than IMSA racing. We didn’t have the money to play in the IMSA big leagues.
1968 Coupe 427 Automatic. I had planned to convert it into a twin to John Greenwood’s 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Widebody IMSA “Spirit of Le Mans” with a 1,000 HP engine. The cost did not make sense for an amateur racer. I didn’t do it because of the high investment for a street driven Corvette.
2006 C6 Z51 Corvette Coupe. Built as a show car, I enjoyed showing it and won a lot of car show trophies.
2015 C7 Z51 Corvette Coupe. This was a 50th Anniversary Gift from my wife Brenda. I had it built as show car, and I enjoyed driving and showing this car.
2016 C7 Z06 Corvette Coupe. This Corvette was an upgrade on my 50th Anniversary. The first photo of Brenda and I just after being given the Best in Show Trophy at an All-Corvette Show. It is my present car and built as a show car, even though it has plenty of get-up and go with 650 HP. It is my dream car, and I believe it will be my last.
Getting Started
ROD WORLEY – Editor – When did you join your first Corvette club?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – My first Corvette club was back in 1966. It was the Corvette Club of Richmond, Virginia. I was their club photographer.
In 2006 I became the president of the American Dream Corvette Club of Atlanta. 2008 I was the founding president of Corvette Cruisers of Atlanta.
In 2014, I founded the Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta.
Club Positions
ROD WORLEY – Editor – What did you like about the experience, and what positions have you held in the clubs?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC
Photographer – It was a fun position. I got to photograph all of the activities and the people enjoying themselves and then showing the past event slides at the next meeting and at the Christmas Party to show a review of the year’s activities.
President – Leading a club can be fun when everyone has the same objective. You do get the chance to form an organization so it can be the best club for everyone.
Founder & Coordinator. – Gave me the opportunity to form a new type of club. Planting the seeds for growth with the objective of having fun. It has been very rewarding watching it develop into the way it was planned.
Club Like No Other
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Steve, Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta, is a radical departure from the traditional Corvette club.
Can you share with us the differences between a traditional club setup and the Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta approach?
And when did you officially start, and what is the club’s main focus?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – We first started in April 2014 with a Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/amazingcorvettes/
Since we did not have a treasury to fund a web page, the thinking was this would be a good way to announce the club for a start. It was shortly afterward that the webpage was launched with the help of Kai Guettner.
Kai donated his time; he built the page and maintains it. During the building of the page, I had to provide answers to questions for people visiting our landing page.
Please visit our page at http://www.amazingcorvettes.club/ to see the list of questions and answers.
The difference between our club and so-called traditional clubs is, we do not follow a corporate structure or collect dues for membership in ACC. That being said, the differences are as follows;
We don’t have – Officers, Board of Directors, By-Laws, or Dues. What we do have is fun – Our tag line is “LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL.”
Meaning most of our fun is on our cruises, and our wheels are rolling to our next destination. Webster’s Dictionary describes a Club as: “To combine or join together, as for a common purpose.
There is no mention of Dues, Officers, Board of Directors, or By-Laws. So, which club is the traditional club? I am not saying there is anything bad about clubs that collect dues.
And it was something I had considered for ACC because I had followed that format for the Corvette Cruisers of Atlanta. But I wanted to eliminate any arguments over money as I had experienced in other dues-based clubs.
I had decided to eliminate the cause of the contention and eliminate dues, thereby eliminating any possible arguments, which did prove the best solution.
How To Join
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Steve, what is the process to join the club?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – New Members go through what we call a provisional membership for 180 days to see if they are truly interested in being active members.
They also have proven by their commitment to participate in as at least 4 events or meetings in a one years’ time frame. If they wish to maintain their membership in good standing.
Cost Of Membership
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Are there dues and requirements?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – Instead of dues, we do have requirements for people wanting to be members.
They are required to buy club ID clothing and material directly from our suppliers. For example, shirts, jackets, hats, other items with our club logo on them. The club does not receive any funds from these purchases.
They are strictly between the member and the supplier. There is one other group of purchases that have to be made by members.
Logo pins from Bill Winton for each member. A windshield static cling sticker from Steve Bracken.
If they have multi Corvettes, more can be purchased. Total cost per single member or for a member, spouse or companion is minimal.
This cost for membership is a one-time expense because, again, we do not have annual dues.
Club Requirements
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Are there requirements for membership?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – Yes, we do have some basic rules for members.
Membership Rules: Our goal is to have fun!
These 3 Rules must be respected at all times to remain a member in good standing with ACC
1. You cannot disrespect your fellow member, their car(s), or others in the car community.
2. Members acting in a hostile way, being disruptive, argumentative, and, or creating drama.
3. If you have traded or sold your Corvette and do not plan on buying another within one year.
Club Advantages
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Are there advantages to your members for this club approach vs. a more traditional club design?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – ACC was originally designed to bring people together to share their passion for Corvettes. In essence, we are a social club with a shared passion for Corvettes.
We offer an environment to contact and develop friendships with others that have common interests. We believe these are the opportunities to grow new friendships.
This belief is supported by the reality that, in fact, it does exist. We don’t have a corporate-like structure.
Because we don’t want to have the trapping of a business-like structure with a required financial commitment, when want we want is a club to grow our circle of friends. Our structure is based on having fun with very few rules.
Everyone has an equal voice for events and activities.
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Are there any vendor discounts or select car insurance options?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – We presently have 25 Vendors offering various levels of discount to our members, including insurance.
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Steve, how many members do you currently have?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – Presently, we have 715 registered members. We also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/amazingcorvettes/
This is for people that have Corvette passion but either do not have a Corvette or they do not reside in Georgia. Presently we have 658 members, and the Administrator is Angie Guettner.
Example – Club ID badge to wear at meetings, events and activities
ROD WORLEY – Editor – As the average age of Corvette club members increases, where do you see the concept of a Corvette club being in the next ten years?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – That is a tough question when predicting a Corvette club’s future. I know the experience that members have had of developing new friends remains a stable advantage.
Even if people drift away from the club, the friendships made between people remain permanent.
Looking Forward
ROD WORLEY – Editor – Where do you see the Amazing Corvettes club in those same ten years in terms of evolution and membership growth?
STEVE BRACKEN – Founder ACC – Because of our primary objective of having fun and developing new friendships, I believe it will remain strong.
Recently in 2019 we added a chapter. Amazing Corvettes Club North East Chapter. This chapter is headed up under Lew and Diane Houser of Dawsonville Ga. Perhaps there will be more chapters but that depends on the interest level of others Corvette Owners in Georgia.
Like anything else, it can always be improved, but I don’t have suggestions for evolution at this time.
Membership growth for ACC at one time was too big for our website master to manage from a time vs cost basis, especially considering he is offering his time and equipment free of charge.
The issue was the disc space required for the data, backup time, and space needed to handle the membership level that had grown to over 1,300.
A decision was made that any member on our rolls for over a year without any recorded activity, either in our events or meetings, would be subject to removal from our rolls.
Unless they requested to be left on because they were ready to become active members.
Sometimes Less Is More
In general, people join car clubs because they want to meet new people and have fun with their cars. The Amazing Corvettes Club of Atlanta offers a viable fun alternative to a traditional club’s classic structure.
If your idea of a better club environment involves less structure, less internal politics, and no annual dues, you should take a hard look at ACC. As is sometimes the case, less is more at the end of the day.
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