OK, I think I know the answer to this, but I’m just going to make sure. I did do a search, but the results were all about 20 years old, so I figured it was OK to start a new post.
As a new Jag owner, I’m wanting to join the JCNA. I went to the JCNA website and it appears that there is no way to join the national organization without joining a local club. It seems that you join a local club and that automatically makes you a member of the national organization. Is that correct? It doesn’t seem to be spelled out real well and it is different than any other similar club I’ve ever belonged to (AACA, Early Ford V-8, Antique and Classic Boat Society) where you join the national organization as a prerequisite to joining a local chapter.
I have nothing against local clubs, but the nearest local Jaguar club is in the Chicago area, about 2 1/2 hours away. I’ll join if necessary, but it seems unlikely that I’ll be attending many local club activities.
(Also not meaning to sound like I’m griping; just want to get clarity on the path forward)
Unless something has changed, you can join the JCNA as a “Member At Large”. This is designed for folk such as yourself who don’t have a local club, or don’t want to join one. I am a such a member - “I wouldn’t want to join any club that would have me as a member…” https://www.jcna.com/member-large-form
Hi Scott.
The JCNA website has been somewhat confusing, but I’m a “member at large”, so they do have that option, though the local clubs are organized under the national umbrella. You might have to call them. I’m 2-3 hours in different directions from four clubs, so not being in one particular club works well for me. I’ve attended events and become acquainted with Jag enthusiasts in many of the local clubs.
Ed
Thanks for explaining the “Member at Large” option, David.I may give that a try. There is a local club in my city, but they have no way to pay online and rarely provide feedback on membership via email and only send out a hardcopy mailer once a year. It makes joining the club more difficult and I enjoy the benefits as well as Jaguar Journal.
Member at large is the way to go, most of the clubs have morphed into “New Jag Owners” clubs where they don’t know or appreciate the older model cars. Had a Judge at a Concours ask me what model my E Type was and why did I bring such an old car to the “show”.
Been a member at large ever since. Most of us owners of older Jags have moved to the British car club where all marques of British heritage are welcome.
David is correct, I recently joined as a lifetime member, just not to receive a bill for the next 45 years.
If you become a member at large you DO NOT receive your local/regional magazine or club info but have the national benefits such as the magazine and all the rest.
Good luck and enjoy
gtjoey1314
I discovered that my local Jaguar owners club wasn’t so much about Jags as it was the marketing arm for numerous Real Estate and Insurance salesmen/women. Very few of the members even knew how to change the oil in whatever Jag they owned. After one year of membership I transitioned to the JCNA Member at Large status and have never looked back.
So the interesting thing is that it seems to be substantially less expensive if I join through the Chicago club. First year at large membership is $100(!), while the local club is only $68. Actually looks like the Chicago club has a lot of vintage car owners. Maybe I’ll give it a try.
Funny. The single biggest challenge facing each of the 65-odd totally independent clubs is almost certainly getting new blood into their organization. Without new members, Anno Domini will finish off many clubs by loss of members or retirement of the handful in many clubs who do most of the work.
I’m guessing the MG or Triumph clubs et al would love to have the ‘problem of new members to welcome, leads from dealers to follow up, and additional classes to invent for newer cars in competitive events.
Not digging at anyone and MAL numbers have been climbing, But…
Pete is correct, When I became president of the local club, we had 36 standing members, It was dying as it was an original xk120/140/150 drivers club that had gotten old.
Within 2 months my relationship with MIKE COOK and KAREN MILLER had grown and gave us the backup to set up a membership drive through our LOCAL NEW dealers.
Our club went from 36 to 250 in 6 months.
Yes ,most were there for dinners or brunch but we had a common theme , the CAR!
As Ive said before I’m in for LIFE, have many cars and for the 60/80 or 100 dollars a year, where else can you go and get such a nice group overall.
When I joined with my dad in the early 1980’s an ETYPE owner was the young PUNK in the group!
Sound familiar…
Enjoy
GTJOEY1314
Yes! At the club where I was Chief Judge at one time. Never attended another function. They liked to go on car trips and see how fast they could leave us old car drivers in the dust. One member got stopped doing 137 on the Interstate.
Len as the chief judge you are responsible for training your judges. Are you saying that one of them didn’t know what an E Type was, and that caused you to quit?
It used to be said that the church was the only club that existed for the benefit of non-members, but I sometimes wonder if discussions of JCNA on Jag-Lovers aren’t similar. This is an international forum where JCNA people have been taken to task for airing JCNA issues, usually in discussions they didn’t initiate, involving questions posed by non-members.
Scott asked a perfectly reasonable question and got helpful answers, but beyond that it soon veered off track into the sage brush of subjectivity.
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JCNA stands for 'Jaguar Clubs (plural) of North America. It is an umbrella organization, a bit like the AMA for motorbike clubs or the FIA for cars. About 60-65 totally independent clubs - with their own histories, agendas, demographics etc. - see the advantages in joining forces for things like event insurance and common standards to facilitate fair competition across six regions and three countries. When I raced motorbikes I never joined the ACU in the UK, but each club I raced with was affiliated and my race licence was issued by them and valid at all ACU events.
Not surprisingly, the majority route into JCNA is that people join a local club and clubs submit their membership rosters to JCNA, with a percentage of their membership dues to cover JCNA costs and voila, they are members of JCNA too. So whereas some big marque clubs started out as national organizations which devolved into local chapters (like the JEC in the UK) JCNA started as local clubs who banded together for some functions and economies of scale). The clubs are still independent and run events with or without JCNA sanction, although of course only sanctioned events count towards JCNA championships.
All this and more is available on the JCNA website, which is where JCNA questions beyond Scott’s initial request should be asked, IMO. I’m sure they’d be glad of the web traffic…
