In November 2007 we headed to Sydney and purchased our 2001 Supreme Blue Series 2 NB.

It has certainly proved to be one of the best things we have ever done.

Looking up the Club website one day we saw that there was going to be a gathering of MX-5s in Beechworth, for (as it turned out) the 2008 Natmeet.

Members we met from SA at Winton race track, participating in one of the planned activity days, encouraged us to join the Victorian Club, which we did as soon as we got home.

So what does John do next? He decides that perhaps the Ballarat area could get a few cars together.

After an advertisement in the local paper for interested people to meet up at the local lake, 18 cars showed up.

And the Western Victoria Chapter was born.

Since that day we have had so much fun and made the most wonderful friends, enjoying our great little car on the many runs we have had over the years and zooming on roads we possibly would never have ventured in our daily drive.

We have certainly enjoyed our membership in this very special club and hope to continue to do so for many more years.

Zoom Zoom!

My NC (Grey Ghost) is my second MX-5 which I enjoy driving immensely.

I upgraded from a 2000 Heritage model.

I enjoy the long-lasting friendships I have made within the Club, and travelling over roads well known to me or exploring new roads is always exciting.

New members for our Chapter, and members from other Chapters, are always welcome to come and join us.

I love driving them all, and experiencing the differences between the older and newer cars.

They drive differently but all have the same heart.

I’m also the owner of two Austin Healey Sprites and an old Jaguar … I’m told six cars is enough, and looking at the driveway I’m starting to agree.

But there is room for one more, so who knows.

I have been a member of the Southern Tasmanian chapter since 2008, and going on runs and other events has been such a highlight of my car journey.

They have happened as the result of individuals and teams stepping up and doing their bit to make it happen.

In the motorsport group it is our practice to rotate the Captain’s position every two years and, aided and abetted by my extremely capable Assistant Captain John Downes, I am now entering my second year.

Key challenges are to put together a practical Club Championship every year (quite challenging in the post COVID malaise), organise fun events plus the occasional extraordinary extravaganza such as The MX-5 Challenge at The Bend in South Australia earlier this year.

Over the years I have run a number of MX-5s on track:
an NA8 shared with Robert Downes that must go down as one of the most flogged NA8s in Club history, a silver NB8B that I sent to the Promised Land at Sandown turn 4, and my current mount, a Grace NB8B that I putt around in, in Modified Class.