In the summer of 1976 there were some ads in the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press newspapers for several weeks, inviting people to a car club informational meeting that was to be held for those that owned “street machines”. It was at the Robbinsdale Police and Fire Department on a Sunday afternoon, and an estimated 150+ people attended.
Backing up a moment, this all started from a letter sent to the editor of the MSRA Line Chaser (Minnesota Street Rod Association newsletter) sent in by one of their members who owned a 1967 Camaro (a newer car than what they “accepted”). He asked if anyone else was looking for a car club for “newer” cars – to contact him. About a dozen people contacted him, they met a few times, and the original president Jim Dolan ran this initial information meeting, with a plan. This initial group came up with a few events – like a poker run, a cruise, picnic, a tech and safety program, monthly meetings, and a monthly newsletter. They explained what this vision was, and asked for a show of hands of “who is interested”… to a flood of arms raising… and Minnesota Street Machine Association was started. That same afternoon a cruise was planned starting right then and there. It had muscle cars, street machines, vans, and even a few street rods. And the bond started.
The first year, MSMA membership total was just under 150 paying the dues to join. If memory serves me right within three years MSMA had it’s 500th member. One must remember though, that about the only other car clubs out there were the Cadillac-LaSalle club, Hudson-Essex-Terraplane club, First 50’s, Suburban Corvettes, MSRA, and maybe a handful of others. No Camaro club, no Mustang club, no clubs for Chevelles, Nova’s, or Mopars like there is today.
So MSMA grew and grew, even starting a “chapter club” program. This was aimed at small towns or area’s that may already have a group of guys hanging out together, helping to get them more organized, and offered the use of our newsletter to communicate with each other. It worked, and the first chapter of MSMA was the “Fridley Street Machines” with many more to follow. At one time there were about 30 chapter clubs. MSMA held an “All Chapter Cruise” with different starting points around the state to meet up together, then go on a planned cruise route and it attracted many cars you hadn’t seen before. The state (Minnesota) then even split into 3 MSMA “divisions” with a separate board of directors running each of them, plus a Corporate Board overseeing all of it. MSMA then for a while changed: added the Midwest Street Machine Association name (still MSMA) with chapters in WI, MI, NY, and Canada (over 100 Canadian members). At it’s peak I think MSMA, overall, had about 1,000 members, and then other clubs started, for almost any group of muscle cars you could imagine. This, of course, affected our membership greatly.
Today, MSMA still exists 40+ years later. We still host a few shows, have monthly meetings, and continue to have that bond when we get together. If you are reading this – come to a meeting, help work a show, and enjoy your love of cars. We do…
Submitted by Jim Thoren (member since the first meeting in 1976)