The Brindabella Motor Sports Club was originally known as the Renault Car Club, and while the membership had mixed interests (predominately motorkhanas and some hill climb enthusiasts), there was an increasing interest in rallying and the membership was starting to shift.
This was around the mid 70s. About that time Corin Motors, which was the Renault dealer in Fyshwick, ACT, suddenly took an interest in the club because Renault was bringing on to the market a new Renault (Renault 12). renault had proposed to have an R12 feature race series and wanted all the Renault Car Clubs in Australia to promote the R12 and the series. They flew the Presidents and Secretaries of all the Australian Clubs to Melbourne for a special launch of the car. When asked what support were they (Renault) prepared to give to the Clubs to keep them afloat and interested in the make, the attitude was that the Clubs should be prepared to give and not receive. From that point on the Brindabella Motor Sports Club had been conceived.
It took some time after that to get the structure arranged, the constitution and other regulations agreed, but there was a determined group of people to make it happen. The initial challenge was to win over the stalwarts of the old Renault Car Club and this was not made easy by the fact that the focus of the "Club" was shifting away from family fun activities to a much more rally orientated Club. Eventually though, the Brindabella Motor Sports Club was born. This took place around 1975/6. Why Brindabella Motor Sports Club? Well simply because the Club did not want to associate with a car make, given the experiences with Renault, and that the club members saw the Brindabella Ranges every time they drove to meetings. The words "motor sport" were inserted to indicate the multi focussed nature of the new club.
The club did run a number of different types of events, including the Australian Motorkhana Championships. It was the first time the National Championships had been run on bitumen (using the car park in front of Juliana House in Woden). What use to take all day to run elsewhere in Australia and was very dusty, we in Canberra, The Brindabella Motor Sports Club, gave the Motorkhana fraternity the best and most competitive dust free National Championships they had ever had to that point. It was over by lunch time and all adjourned to the "Greek Club" for lunch and a good drink.
Paraphrased from an e-mail sent by the BMSC's first President, Chris Heaney
Where Do We Meet?
The club members meet on the first Tuesday of every month (except January). Meetings take place at:
