As another state side member I'd say Yae to 21st century payment. I've long wondered about the concern with money over some items such as a nice glossy print color magazine and now this. We own cars that are costly to buy and to own and we worry about a few bucks or pounds to make a payment? I, for one, and I've said this before, am in favor of raising membership fees in lieu of improving the magazine and other items. Heck, maybe we'd even have the opportunity to hire some attorneys for certain negotiations that have taken place recently. Our state's Porsche club chapter has a rag that put's Action to shame.
On a bigger note, moving into the 21st century on the web, in the magazine and other aspects in return for a higher membership fee is important to maintain and gain membership numbers as well as assist in maintaining interest in the cars. Worst thing would be for a younger crowd to not have interest in these machines and values dropping like a brick in the future. People are willing to pay for a good product, even if they don't own an original or none at all and are just fans of the brand and it's history. Look at Saac for example. Make the membership fee such that we can hire a staff, print a full size magazine, contract with knowledgeable writers, journalists, photographers and get it distributed for sale in the specialty bookstores.
This would also attract more advertisers to offset some of the production costs. Many of us already get multiple classic car rags such as Octane, Motorsport and Classic and sportscar. Getting them here in Michigan is costly, but a lot of us do it. I doubt there would be much opposition to putting out higher quality for a bigger fee. There is so much to write about history, individual restorations, photo shoots of meets, tours and ralleys etc and current news on brand related stuff, that a magazine could be filled easily with AC, Shelby, Kirkham, superformance, SAAC, Ironic Roadsters info to name a few. Just my two cents...
Gus