The Model Car Forum

[idealcopy]

Hello all:

Excuse the facetiousness - but I couldn't resist.

This has to be the perfect forum for Mercedes-Benz owners.

By all accounts there is a sum total of two subscribers on here who have the slightest bit of interest in the marque.

This leads to a mature, thoughtful exchange of views, experiences and information, and is a thorough pleasure to be a part of.

No playground ganging-up, cliques, holier-than-thouness, endless recriminations, mud-slinging and slanging matches, bannings and trollings, 'bring back Mr X/no bring back Mr Y' campaigns, 2000 words in praise of microfibre wash mitts and other pitiful self-indulgence.

There's meaning here - maybe the future of marque-specific online forums is to limit membership to just five people, all of whom have been drinking partners for at least five years, live in the same postal district and are sufficiently familiar to be entrusted with each others' PIN codes, interest in morris-dancing and commitment to world peace in the face of impending nuclear armageddon.

[3xpendable]

One marque forums can certainly be cliquey, its not too bad on a certain MGB forum I post on, but there are a number of members who will positively spit poison at you if you have a rubber bumper model.

[tractorman]

+1 about one-make forums. I also get the impression that some of their members only post because the car has a problem, so others post that their (same model) car has the same problem and the internet myth starts that ALL those cars suffer the same problem. Even worse when the forum members are mainly owner-drivers and not those who actually get dirty hands on experience of the cars.

I was talking to the chairman of a certain tractor club the other day about their forum and suggested that he looked here to see how some sections could work on their forum. I reckon the "social" areas make this forum what it is - members tend to know a little more about each other than just "he's got a 'B'" or "He knows about gearboxes" etc.

Of course, good mods help - as do sensible members (OK, mainly sensible members!) Not having the "Corsa brigade" or the "the model of car that I own is the only one worth mentioning" people helps a lot. Any make or model is welcomed and not ridiculed (much). So much nicer than a certain piston -loving forum, where you daren't have an opinion because someone will flame you if you do!

[Fatbloke]

I thought this was going to me a discussion about Model cars!
Dissappointed now

Did Scalextrix ever do a Triupmh Herald 13/60 convertible?

[TerryG]

I doubt it but you could buy an airfix model, measure the wheelbase and find a scalextric car that matches then do a body swap

[suffolkpete]

Getting back on topic, I find the two one-marque forums to which I belong, Matrasport and the Classic Rover Forum an invaluable source of advice and expertise. For example, when I rebuilt the rear calipers on my P6, I was able to refer to a set of photographs posted by another member. Beats HBoL hands down. Partly down to good mods and partly due to the fact that the more rare a model, the more close-knit the community tends to be. The same is true, I think, of clubs.

[TerryG]

I have varied experience with single mark forums. The MMOC forum is great but the various land rover forums to which I am either currently or have historically been a member of tend to be populated by people with whom I would not chose to associate (trying to be diplomatic) in that they see everything as only having one solution and shouting down anyone that disagrees.
On several previous occasions (not on here) I have had cause to ban users for the aggressive way they present themselves if someone's opinion differs from theirs.

[idealcopy]

Yes that's right Terry; a mixture of weak moderators and a handful of keyboard thugs makes some of these forums no-go areas for the sane.

There is maybe an inevitability about it: expression of opinions relating to matters that mean a great deal to people, like cars, should be carried out face-to-face - it stands to reason. It's a passionate business.

Nonetheless, you read some posts on these forums and it seems impossible that anyone could get so worked up about an, er, tin can on four wheels.

Evidently they need more in their lives, probably of a human nature.