​Gopher State Timing Association

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 people paying
the dues to join. Within three years MSMA had its 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, Novas, or Mopars
like there is today.

So MSMA grew and grew, even starting a “chapter club” program. This
was aimed at small towns or areas 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 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 its peak 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…