Mitsubishi 4WD Club Qld.Inc.

25th Birthday 2011

The club celebrated its 25th Birthday at the Woodford showgrounds, a great weekend of partying, entertainment and 4WDing.

A 26 minute video of the celebration weekend at Woodford is available for members through the Librarian

Edited from The PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

This all started in 1986 with the Foundation Members. It was their foresight and like-minded love for four-wheel driving, touring and generally getting dirty and damaged, that brought us all together over the past 25 years.

This has promoted long lasting friendships, through trips together and so much discussion - ‘What have you done/fitted to your vehicle?’ ‘You need to this because it worked for me’ - and in particular the latest tech tips and gadgets we all purchase. It can always be said that whenever Club members get together there is always a bonnet up and very serious looks from the heads peering under it with much debate on whether something will it fit or not.

Over the years, the Club has assisted the community in many ways, with fodder drops during the drought and in flood clean-ups. This is an ongoing item for our club, as we are part of the wider community and when we band together, great things can be achieved.

I also enjoy the ability of the Club to draw on our skills and organise educational sessions, like the first aid and chainsaw courses, not to mention the Driver Awareness Program. They are valuable training for our members.

The DAP is generally the first outing for new members to the Club and the impression they receive on this course can affect what they will think of us over the years. There has been a lot of laughter and plenty of fun to remember from these courses since their humble beginnings.

Past Pesidents pose at the 2005 Christmas party

I think what I enjoy most is reading trip reports and listening to verbals at Club meetings. There have been some crackers over the years and I look forward to many more. I hope the many reports and photographs contained in the following pages bring back a few memories and whet your appetite for future trips.

Our Club is only as strong as our members and from what I have seen over my years of membership, we have a very strong Club with a fascinating history and with a huge depth of membership to build on over the next 25 years.

Thanks go to the Club’s Patron, Mitsubishi Motors Australia, for their continued support. It has become a very valued relationship.


Ancient Club logo		The 1986 Mitsubishi Starwagon

		Photo reproduced from Three Diamonds Downunder, The History of Mitsubishi Motors in Australia

		Yataro Iwasaki and the managers of Tsukomo Shokai at the foundation of the Mitsubishi companies in the 1870s

After first levelling the car by undermining the right front wheel, John was towed backwards while club members stopped the Toyota from sliding back into the gully		First group phot in DiamondTorque, from 1986 Wynns Safari control point, in the Nov 1986 issue

20^th Anniversary at Blackbutt 2006

...GENESIS

Reprinted and edited from the club magazine

If you’ve ever wondered just how the club was first conceived, well sit back and wonder no more…

I remember it well. Way back in the New Year of ‘86, a group of us (me, Paul, Greg and Rob) on a trip to Fraser Island were lounging around, watching some poor so & so washing his vehicle, quite unawares it was ever so slowly sinking to the floorboards into Eli Creek.

There was no shortage of rescuers on hand to help Mr So & So, as back in those days, everyone was a hero on Fraser, each with a bigger, better, tougher vehicle than the others. In the mayhem that followed—two broken diffs, numerous snapped ropes, a torn-off rear bumper and a burnt-out clutch—people got talking. A breakaway band from the Subaru Club were moving amongst the crowd informing them about a new club about to be formed. And that’s where I first met them.

With the help of Mitsubishi Motors Australia, invitations to attend an inaugural meeting were sent to all recent buyers of Mitsubishi four-wheel drives. Those invitations reached far and wide to many varied groups and individuals. The meeting took place on 8 April 1986 at St Lucia Golf Links clubhouse, where it was voted that we become known as ‘The Mitsubishi Four Wheel Drive Owners’ Club of Queensland’. The ‘Inc’ part was to officially come later once our Constitution had been approved by the Justice Department, allowing us to then join the Queensland Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs. Regrettably this didn’t eventuate until December 1987. Printing and postage for the first fifteen months of Diamond Torque had ‘drained the coffers’ , leaving insufficient funds to meet the Association’s entrance fee. Speaking of fees, in the Club’s first year it would have cost you $5 to join and $15 to be a member.

Our club started out not with mass confusion, but rather as a conglomerate of “single" (ed) interest lobbyists whose combined previous experience steered us down the road to success. One member, now a life member, headed a regimented brigade of people ex- “another Club - ed” looking for a new start. With his Shooters Association and prior 4WD club knowledge, not a meeting went by for over a year without him at some time (usually several times) interjecting with, ‘Ah, Mr President, the gun club does it this way…’ or ‘Ah, Mr President, you have to propose a motion before you can vote on it!’ etc, until finally, in 1987, he got to be Mr President.

Then there was the “HARD” faction; those who sought to annex us as a branch of another club. Real adrenalin junkies they were, for whom HARD, TUFF, FAAAST was the only way (well, maybe I exaggerate a bit). They introduced our club to most of the areas we now use for medium to hard trips. They knew them all. They competed in everything, earning the Mitsubishi Club a ‘competitive’ name for itself. Some of them are still with us these days, although somewhat mellowed compared to all those years ago. Daihatsu and Suzuki clubs also constituted some of our initial membership. Our inaugural committee substantially reflected that rebel Subaru group. Some had close ties with people at Mitsubishi, who helped enormously then, just as they do today. Also our Club Constitution and magazine were ‘butchered’ and re-modelled from those of the Subie Club.

So there you have it. The Mitsubishi 4WD Owners’ Club does not boast the thoroughbred heritage you might expect. In fact, we were born a bit of a mongrel, or a brumby, but over the years have matured through the input of a great many people. There are stories behind these stories I’m sure; vital facts that I might have missed. Hopefully, though, it has given you some idea of our club’s ‘roots’.

By the way, Mr So & So was eventually recovered by a chap with a nice 4WD and a marvellous new accessory: the “Snatch-em Strap”

Reprinted (abridged ) from Vol 10 No 7 July 1996 (adapted for the web)