I think it interesting that there is such a big difference in numbers between Clinto's and mine, since I joined in mid-2001, only two years later. But I think MVPA was bigger then, around 12,000 active members. Are the numbers issued sequentially? I always thought they were.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of M-series owners don't feel that the national MVPA offers them much. Part of this arose from the thought that MVPA was only interested in WWII vehicles, I know a lot of the local folks thought that, some still do. Same for a lot of folks on here. The MVPA was a bit slow in embracing those vehicles, but have done a creditable job in the last few years.
Many years ago at a convention, I had one of the higher ups in MVPA tell me that M-series vehicles had no historical significance
, and there was no need to be more inclusive of them. I asked him why the membership numbers had declined recently to less than 10,000 while Steel Soldiers had 28,000 active members. His turn to look a bit shocked. I also told him to look around the convention floor and count how many M-series vehicles were there (a lot!). I suggested he embrace them, or watch the MVPA decline into non-existence. Even the simple expedient of adding a couple of M-series vehicles to the banner slide show on the website would help. At that time all the slides were WWII vehicles. It still took several years for that to happen.
I still campaign regularly for MVPA membership, and tell those who complain about it that they have no standing to do so if they haven't joined and done something to change it.
Cheers