Established in 1979, the Aston Martin Owners Club (NSW) covered all of New South Wales and regions in Queensland but soon became big enough to have its own club based in New South Wales, with 250 members now forming part of it.
motorsport.org.au caught up with Club President Michelle Murphy to discuss the club.
Michelle Murphy: Our club encourages social interaction, with both couples and families being core to the membership. Friendliness and support are present at a large number of weekends away and at activities outside of cars.
While we are linked by our love of the marque, we focus on a broad mix of activities to appeal to social engagement beyond purely driving and racing, which remain of key importance. The latter being important to a small committed group within the club.
What are the criteria for membership to the club?
MM: AMOC (NSW) provides an opportunity to enjoy the company of others who appreciate the special qualities of Aston Martin and Lagonda motor vehicles.
If someone is either an owner, past or present, or an enthusiast, the club is a great place to share their passion for these wonderful cars. The club has a proud heritage dating back to the UK in 1935 and it began in NSW in 1979. It is one of the oldest one-make motoring clubs and one of the largest with world-wide membership of over 6,500 members.
What is a highlight for the club over the past 12 months?
MM: Outside of our club doing a broad scope of social activities, drive days, weekends away and motorsport events, a number of the club members also attended overseas events representing AMOC NSW.
We also do lot of charity fundraising and during Christmas last year, we raised more than $11,000 for the bushfire relief, which was a tremendous effort from our members.
MM: We are working on expanding awareness of our brand to a new generation of owners. All new buyers of an Aston Martin in NSW are provided one free year of membership to the club by the dealer principle.
The club committee is focused on providing a variety of social and motorsport opportunities to engage members as well as act as a conduit to the global Aston Martin Owners Club.
The combined Australian clubs host a nationals event biennially, which the Victorian branch of the club was locked in to host, however it has been delayed to 2021. NSW had already started preparing for the 2022 event, which will now move to 2023.
MM: It is critical to provide guidelines on events, including drive days as well as scheduled motorsport events. It is important to support insurance related to club events.
MM: We are proud of our fundraising efforts and the unique contributions members make. One that sticks out to me was when a group of members drove a series of older cars from Sydney to Perth in preparation for the last nationals, picking up like minded enthusiasts with old cars along the way.
MM: The rarity of Aston Martins creates its own limitations to the club size. As indicated, we believe this fosters greater personal understanding of other members interests and means almost all members are on a first name basis at club events.
.png "P2P_RSA_FC_Pos_Concept (1)"){kind=small}
Motorsport Australia acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.