In 1967, two Morgan enthusiasts, Neville Crawford and John White were interested in forming a club. As John was the Morgan dealer at that time, he had a bit of inside knowledge as to some of the folks who owned Morgans in Victoria at that time and he gave a list of potential members to Neville who then contacted them.
Neville initally had a 1954 4/4 at the time which had been converted into a Plus 4 . This vehicle unfortunately got bent on a student sketching trip. Neville later bought a 1955 Plus 4 from Digby Thackeray, a partner of John White. John White now lives in Coulsden Surrey England.
The first Victorian Morgan owners gathering was held at Neville’s place at 7 Ocean St Ormond in September 1967.
As a result a club was formed – The Victorian Division of MOCA – Morgan Owners Club of Australia.
The first president of this august body was Derek Allen. Derek was selected because of his maturity as the members felt they needed an older president to give the Club some standing- all the other potential candidates were considered to be too young.
A committee was formed. The early meetings were very casual and were rotated monthly amongst members houses. This practice still continues to this day.
Attendance at the early meetings comprised John White, Neville Crawford, Graham Addie, John Varco, Colin Handley, Gavin Fry (who did the graphics for the newsletter). The club was formed as a subsidiary of the NSW club which had been formed in 1958. As the first ten to join in NSW had become foundation members, the first ten in Victoria also became foundation members.
The most interesting meetings were at Graham Addey’s he was member No 1. Graham had a Series 1 4/4 which he supercharged. This comprised a manifold like a log with a lever under the dash which engaged the supercharger and operated the manifold. He used to test his vehicle on his hand made dyno mounted on the corner post of his back fence at his 1 acre property in Eltham.
On the 16th June 1994 the present independent club VICMOG was formed and incorporated to meet changing legislative requirements.
EVENTS
Like today, Club activities at the beginning comprised social and car events.
One unofficial hill climb used at the time was in Zig Zag road Eltham. It had a zig zag at the start and the same at the end. This was in operation on a regular basis.
In the Club’s early days there were also annual events usually held between Melbourne and Sydney that would attract 10-20 Morgans.