The Council of Motor Clubs

2011, my first year "back in the President's saddle" after a stint as Secretary. We have continued on with an annual rise in member club numbers.  And again these clubs are all for relatively modern vehicles. From the clubs concentrating on popular Japanese cars to the Lamborghini Club they all seem to be for vehicles from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Not a bad thing let me say, but an indication of where the movement is headed.

Last AGM we elected a new Secretary in Julie Williams to carry out the Council's paperwork and website functions and that has proven a Godsend with things happening far more efficiently and timely. We have agreed to reimburse Julie for all of her expenses, which made the position more appealing and we have been fortunate to gain Julie's expertise and enthusiasm.

Of concern to us this year has been the intended implementation of new rules covering modified vehicles and those Engineers who are licensed by the NSW RTA to sign off on the modifications.

Caught up in the changes we found clauses which made a re-bodied vehicle an Individually Constructed Vehicle or ICV. We pointed out the case of someone finding a chassis for an early vehicle and restoring it to a running state. Most of the cars imported into Australia in the early part of the 20th century where rolling chassis with no body fitted.

Many Australian firms manufactured bodies for these cars hence there was a very diverse range of types available. If the person restoring the vehicle then decided that as there was no knowledge of the style of body which had been fitted in the past they would fit a body of their choosing such as a boat tail or sports tourer.

This act would make the car an ICV under the new RTA (or RMS as they are now known) rules which would require it to have ABS, ESC, collapsible steering column, airbags, seatbelts with pre-tensioners, emissions compliance et al.

We understand that the rules will be changed and hope that they will.  However, we have not seen the revised version as yet.

This issue provided the impetus for the CMC to join forces with the Street Rod Federation, the Street Machine Association and now the 4WD Association to form a group known as the Australian Confederation of Motoring Clubs (ACMC). To date this group has had meetings with various RTA staff and is hoping for a meeting with the Minister. The NSW RTA is going through considerable upheaval since the election of a Liberal National Government in NSW after 11 years with the other side of politics.

Whilst the CMC and its members have only been slightly affected by the proposed new rules we feel that joining forces with the other groups has been, and will be, very beneficial in the long run. It is only a matter of time before we face more "unusual" rule changes, which will affect our hobby.

We held another of our forums in June and again the topic of most interest was the Historic Conditional Registration Scheme (HCRS). Some considerable debate had arisen from the new Victorian Scheme with its logbook of 90 and 45 days relatively unlimited use. We understand this to be similar to the SA scheme which has been in operation for 10 years or so.

After considerable discussion, which highlighted some perceived shortcomings, including the fact that both the Victorian and SA schemes appear to be more expensive than our $50 deal for rego and CTP in NSW, it was decided by a vote of 90% to stay with the existing NSW scheme and not ask for any change. The point was made that if a NSW member cares to join up to four clubs as allowed by the RTA, and then attends as many of those clubs events as possible they could  get more than 90 days from their vehicle. The majority seemed to think that they would never use 90 days a year for their current HCRS vehicle.

National Motoring Heritage Day (NMHD) in May saw an increase in vehicle numbers with visits to our six sites around Sydney at an all time high. Trying to get the participants to go to more than one site on the day is proving to be a problem but we will persist.

Our major event in August, the Shannons Eastern Creek Classic (SECC) has also grown larger with more vehicles than ever attending the display day. 1,965 entry cards for display vehicles were sold to our member Clubs who then issued them to their members. Overcast weather kept the public visitor numbers down slightly on the day.  However, the event still proved to be well worthwhile for our partners in the event, the ARDC, who manage the Eastern Creek International Raceway where the event takes place. The major concern for the future of the event is a dwindling group of volunteers to help with set up on the Saturday and the running of the main event on the Sunday. A push to engage more members in this work will be a factor in 2012.

Joining CAMS as a Marque Touring & Enthusiast (non sporting) group has given us coverage for our ageing volunteers as their insurance cover goes out to 85 year olds instead of the 70 year old cut off we have had in the past. The fact that moving vehicles involved in NMHD and around the track at SECC were specifically covered was also good. The attaining of the permit took only one email. It was issued for no fee.

Those who remember CAMS as a difficult organization to deal with should perhaps consider that things have changed.

In closing, I must thank all of the Committee for their input and efforts in keeping the CMC moving ahead into the 21st century with all its inherent computer technology. Without these folks and their willingness to handle the tasks we all face, the CMC would not be as successful as it is.

Kay and Tony DeLuca, in particular, put an enormous amount of time into the CMC and they must be thanked for their efforts.

The daunting task of scanning and electronically archiving the last 50 years of CVVTMC and CMC documents has begun and will continue for a good part of 2012. We are also planning celebrations for 2013 when the CMC / CVVTMC turns 50 years old. Please be sure to put aside the first weekend of March in 2013 as we will have several interesting things for you and your fellow Club members to enjoy.

I thank you for your support over the past 20 years that I have served on the Committee and I look forward to continuing in whatever role I am elected to.

Terry Thompson  OAM

President 2011.