The BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) is a U.S.-based organization of enthusiasts and owners of BMW-made automobiles (including MINI). Organized into five regions and 69 chapters, the club has more than 75,000 active members within the United States, making it the largest BMW owner/enthusiast organization in the world. [1] The BMW CCA arranges a wide variety of social, technical and driving events, including autocross, high-performance driver's education, rallies, club racing and owner education on topics such as mechanical repair, automotive maintenance and collecting vintage vehicles.
Founded in Boston in 1969, [2] the organization began as an owner-support network, the club exists as a separate entity from BMW AG and its North American subsidiary, although there is a close working relationship, such as discounts on vehicles and parts provided to club members by the company. Currently headquartered at 2350 Highway 101 South Greer, SC, the BMW CCA is a not-for-profit corporation, governed by an elected board of directors that meets quarterly. Five Regional Vice Presidents, who serve on the board, represent the interests of the chapters. Each chapter is an independent corporation chartered by BMW CCA and operates within with minimum standards of service to the membership. [3] All chapters are geographically based except for the E30 and E31 Chapters, which are non-geographic model-specific chapters. [4]
In March 2002, the BMW CCA formed the 501(c)(3) BMW CCA Foundation. This charity is dedicated to preserving the history of the BMW marque in the U.S., the club's history and to fund and operates a Teen Driver Safety School Program, known as Street Survival. The Foundation operates a car museum and archive building adjacent to the BMW Manufacturing Plant and BMW Performance Center in Greer, South Carolina.
The Street Survival program is aimed at teaching young American drivers, age 15-21 the importance of safe driving through emergency and accident avoidance training conducted in their own cars by qualified volunteers and professionals. [5] [6] Since 2002, over 1000 Street Survival Schools have been conducted in the United States and Canada.
Roundel is the club's national, monthly magazine. More akin to mainstream automotive periodicals than a newsletter, Roundel covers the history of the BMW marque, reviews current models and trends, offers articles on vehicle modification and maintenance, coverage of the organization's club races and columns by notable authors, racing drivers and club officials. Local BMW CCA chapters publish newsletters to inform members about upcoming events.
BimmerLife is the BMW CCA's public-facing online news site, sharing stories about the BMW community. BimmerLife covers BMW news, motorsports, events (both CCA and non-CCA) as well as general interest articles from the BMW community as a whole. While some content is user submitted, BimmerLife also has recurring articles from columnists such as The Hack Mechanic: Rob Siegel.
Each year the club hosts a week-long event, Oktoberfest, a national club gathering, that includes non-speed competitive driving events, a wide variety of technical sessions, vendor displays and presentations, as well as plenty of socializing with fellow BMW enthusiasts.
The first BMW CCA Oktoberfest was held in 1970 in Concord, Massachusetts. Since then, the annual gathering of the Club has been held every year. Here are the Oktoberfest locations and the years:
The BMW CCA organizes and oversees the BMW CCA Club Racing series, one of the largest single-marque amateur racing series in the United States. Begun in 1995, BMW CCA Club Racing has grown to nearly 50 races annually, organized by region, with more than a dozen classes for different models and levels of modification. [7]
Techfest is not currently an active program. The BMW CCA Techfest was a national three- to four-day gathering of Club members and BMW technical experts and vendors. Techfest presented lectures, panels, and technical instruction workshops aimed at informing BMW owners on advanced repair and maintenance techniques, and also provided a forum for independent service providers and aftermarket vendors to show off their wares and services. Techfest 2003 was held in the Los Angeles, California area. Techfest 2004 was in Reston, Virginia. There was no event in 2005. In 2006, Techfest was hosted in St. Louis, Missouri. The last Techfest was held in 2007 in Tacoma, Washington. [8]
Techfest was the successor to the long-running Gateway Tech, which was held annually by the Saint Louis BMW Club, a BMW CCA chapter, starting in 1982. Although it was presented by the St. Louis chapter and staffed mostly by volunteers from that chapter, and remained a chapter event, Gateway Tech eventually became sanctioned as a regional event by BMW CCA. Gateway Tech was always held in the St. Louis, Missouri area, but attendees came from all over the United States. The last Gateway Tech under that name was held in 2002. For 2006, Gateway Tech's successor event, Techfest, returned the gathering to its roots in St. Louis, Missouri.
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The team also won the 34th America's Cup in 2013.
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation was a global paperboard and paper-based packaging company based in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois, with approximately 21,000 employees. In 2007, Smurfit-Stone was ranked 13 in PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Top 100" forest, paper, and packaging companies in the world as ranked by sales revenue. The company was also among the world's largest paper recyclers.
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company in the 19th and 20th centuries. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg formed S. Bettmann & Co. and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them under his own trade name in London. The trade name became "Triumph" the following year, and in 1887 Bettmann was joined by a partner, Moritz Schulte, also from Germany. In 1889, the businessmen started producing their own bicycles in Coventry, England.
Laguna Seca Raceway is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States.
Gateway Motorsports Park is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.250 mi (2.012 km) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series, a 2.000 mi (3.219 km) infield road course used by SpeedTour TransAm, SCCA, and Porsche Club of America, a quarter-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Midwest Nationals event, and the Kartplex, a state-of-the-art karting facility.
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an annual automotive event held on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the most prestigious car show in the world and it is the pinnacle Concours d'Elegance competition worldwide.
Kitchener–Waterloo Oktoberfest is an annual nine-day festival in the twin cities of Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Based on the original German Oktoberfest, it is billed as Canada's Greatest Bavarian Festival, and is the second-largest Oktoberfest in the world. It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after. Estimates indicate that the event attracts roughly 700,000 visitors to Waterloo Region, Ontario every year.
The 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 50th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was won by Fabrizio Giovanardi with 10 race wins and 17 podiums. Going into the final race, Fabrizio Giovanardi was one point behind Jason Plato but a second place for Giovanardi and a fourth place for Plato resulted in Giovanardi taking the championship by 3 points. The Teams' championship was won by SEAT Sport UK, the Manufacturers' championship was won by Vauxhall, the Independents' Trophy was won by Colin Turkington and the Independent Teams' championship was won by Team RAC.
High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) refers to driving schools held on dedicated race tracks designed to teach drivers proper high-speed driving techniques. HPDE events are held by various automobile enthusiasts' clubs at some of the most renowned road-course tracks around the world. Participants include both students and instructors. Students are grouped according to their ability and experience, with "Novice Group" students being the least experienced, "Intermediate Group" being more experienced and "Advanced Group" drivers being the most experienced. Some organizations permit advanced students to drive the racetrack without a ride-along instructor. Mandatory classroom instruction contributes to the overall learning experience and allows peer-group discussions of event logistics, on-track performance and track characteristics.
Techfest is the annual science and technology festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, consisting of social initiatives and outreach programs throughout the year.
The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. It is attended by six million people each year and has inspired numerous similar events using the name Oktoberfest in Germany and around the world, many of which were founded by German immigrants or their descendants.
The Porsche Club of America (PCA) is a non-profit organization of Porsche enthusiasts in the United States and Canada. It is organized into 148 regions, which are grouped into 14 zones. PCA has more than 165,000 members and is the largest single-brand club in the world. To the current date, the Porsche Club of America has been around for 69 years.
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The Dominican Order was first established in the United States by Edward Fenwick in the early 19th century. The first Dominican institution in the United States was the Province of Saint Joseph, which was established in 1805. Additionally, there have been numerous institutes of Dominican Sisters and Nuns.
Devin Shane Jones is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He currently competed full-time in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving the No. 82 BMW M4 GT4 for BimmerWorld Racing.
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Monterey Car Week is a week in August in which a number of car-related events are held in and around Monterey, California.
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