The following article has been put together using information sourced from VMVC newsletters and personal memories dating from mid 1976 . Please excuse any errors , it was a long time ago ! I have not mentioned any names , no pack drill etc. !

After reading through some early issues of the club newsletter, beginning with the June 1976 issue , I thought a few lines about the club’s earlier days may be of interest to today’s membership. I did not actually get to a club event until the Oct. 76 trip down to Fort Queenscliff , but, I did make it to the August and October meetings of that year, held at the Rats hall . The Fort Queenscliff trip was something of a milestone for the club as it was really one of the first club trips where the vehicles were presented as things of historical significance , rather than being just cheap off road play things . Attending that event in Queenscliff , the variety of vehicles was amazing , 16 vehicles including Jeeps , Dodges , two Blitzs a 1942 Ford staff car and a WLA Harley bike were some I recall . Before the club became established , old army vehicles were considered to be mainly  of use to farmers and industry and by the mid 1970’s many vehicles that had been disposed out of military service in the post war period , were completely worn out . If you think there were Jeeps in pristine condition lying around , think again , most of them were in a horrid state , at least the ones I saw on farms etc. The historic military vehicle scene was all exciting and new in Australia then , the VMVC was quite a small outfit in mid 1976 with around 50  members , some members were people who had previously been involved with the Cross Country Jeep club , a club that was more into off roading . In the VMVC, the emphasis was turning towards a more historical aspect , bush trips were held occasionally , but members were becoming more aware of things like , paint colours and vehicle markings . Looking back , some of the club members vehicles were pretty rough and ready compared to today , but, at the time, we were going through a learning process . The general public must have been wondering what we were on about as a report in the Nov. 76 newsletter said that during the Queenscliff trip a local had rang the authorities and reported that  “ there is a bunch of loonies with a cannon driving around Queenscliff “ ( a  25 pndr gun ) . By Dec. 76 the club membership had grown to 74  and in early Dec. we attended the opening of the RAAF museum at Pt. Cook . A week after Pt. Cook we were invited to the MG club concours at Berwick .

In those days , the club was run in a very informal fashion , there were no elections or constitution . We were just a bunch of individuals with a common interest . The XMAS trips in 76 and 77 were held at Barooga N.S.W., we had the use of a large property there on the Murray river , members turned up with a good variety of vehicles including Bren carriers and Ferret scout cars and we enjoyed roaring around the large paddocks in the intense summer heat . A reporter from  the ‘ Shepparton News ’ newspaper attended Barooga in 76 and wrote up a feature article on the club . I still have a copy of that article , yellowing with age . During 77 the club began an association with a secondary school cadet unit , cadet camps were a regular thing for a couple of years. Other events I can recall in 77 were the Sunbury fair , Diamond Creek fair and the Colac motor show . Bush trips were popular , even in Winter . The club purchased a WW2 vintage ex army tent during this period .

Restoring ex-military vehicles in the 1970’s was something of a guessing game . The information to “ get it right “ was not easy to find .These days , restorers are spoilt with the internet , back then we just did our best with what was on hand . One bonus for us was that there were still , just surviving , a few of the surplus businesses that had purchased tons of WW2 vintage vehicle parts . These places were treasure troves , unfortunately , long gone . Although Jeeps were prominent , members interests were diverse with some preferring more of a challenge. When you think about it , just getting a vehicle to an event was a major achievement, this was all before the days of the CH registration system we now have . Back then, our vehicles had to undergo the tough roadworthy test at a garage and of course , left hand drive was a big obstacle , many members had to resort to doing shonky RHD conversions on their Jeeps .

Moving into 1978, in April, the club attended the opening of the Bandiana RAACT transport museum, we also went to the Ballarat Begonia festival and the club was again featured in a popular magazine
‘ The Australasian Post ‘, with our presence at the Echuca Rich River Festival being written up with many colour photos . A big highlight of that year was our weekend visit to the Monageeta proving ground , where, our old vehicles were allowed to drive over parts of the back breaking course . The Penfield aerodrome near Sunbury saw us attend in 78 , for the air pageant . Our sister club in N.S.W., the AMVCS, drove down to meet us at the Pucka armour museum in early 79 , their convoy continued on to visit John Belfield’s large collection at Lysterfield . Held in 79, was the initial Cavalcade of Transport , on Australia day . 79 was also very significant in that it was the year that the VMVC first provided vehicles for ANZAC day . In August 79 the membership was at 133 . In early 78 we deserted the Rats hall and, for a few months, the club meetings were held in a members garage , a more suitable meeting venue was found in East Malvern . The meetings eventually returned to the Rats hall in mid 1980 .

The end.
Upper Beaconsfield 1977 . Cadet unit camp .