MX-5 Club of NSW 35th Anniversary
27 September 2025 / Words by Jeff & Pam Rowe, Steve Eccleston & Senia Gaunson, Photos by Rob Wilkins, Peter Hilkmann, Andrew Edgar, Senia Gaunson
History
The Mazda MX-5 burst on to the Australian scene in 1989. Soon after, a group of enthusiasts approached Mazda Australia with the idea of forming a club for MX-5 owners.
With the assistance of Allan Horsley of Mazda Australia, the first gathering of MX-5s in NSW was held at Vicary’s Winery at Luddenham on Sunday 24 June 1990. On that day 104 members signed up to become the Foundation Members of the Mazda MX-5 Club of NSW. The first Club Run was held two weeks later on 8 July.
Legalities as they are, the Club could no longer exist as a group of MX-5 owners banded together as a “club”, so a new Constitution was formed which allowed for the club to become an Incorporated Association. This means that the Club is now a legal entity which offers members the security of being protected and controlled by the Incorporated Associations Act and the
Rules of the Club.
Membership has now grown dramatically and developed into seven regional chapters. We have people of all ages - from 0 to 90ish - and from all walks of life. The common bond ... our love of the MX-5!
On Saturday 21st June 2025 we celebrated 35 years at Gledswood Homestead & Winery, Catherine Field.
The Main Event
In our almost eight years as members of the Mazda MX-5 Club of NSW we have been to a number of events celebrating different milestones. I think the first was when we all descended on Bathurst for the 30th Anniversary of the MX-5 release. What a great spectacle seeing all those MX-5s driving in convoy around the Bathurst Race Track. Another was the 10th Anniversary of the Illawarra Chapter and then the 25th Anniversary of Motorsport. There would have been others like the 30th Anniversary of the Mazda MX-5 Club of NSW but thanks to that horrid COVID we all got to miss so much of what could have been.
Fast forward to 2025. Life mostly went back to normal and the opportunity to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Mazda MX-5 Club of NSW. ‘How do we do it’? Have a bigger and better Presidents Picnic, which is hard to do seeing as it’s a great event in its own right. No, let’s do something that will bring together members of the club who were there at the start, Foundation Members and others who have contributed greatly to the growth of the club, Life Members and others who have supported us with sponsorship over the time. Most importantly though, we want to have a day that the majority of members who can attend the event will register to be there on the day.
‘Who’s going to organise it’? Well, the Club Captain usually organises the President’s Picnic, which we’re not going to have this year so why not let him organise this event instead. So, John Purcell the Club Captain got the job. ‘Lucky John’. True to form John quickly got together a small committee of volunteers to help him with the many tasks that needed to be arranged. A venue large enough with catering capability, a DJ for background music and PA system, a 35th Anniversary Cake, trophies for Concours and Show and Shine, more volunteers for the day, send out invitations, the list goes on. In the background, Bryan Shedden secretly organised a Guest Speaker, none other than Bob Hall - "Father of the MX-5" and our Club Patron - via a live video link. Fiona Shedden stepped up with the design and production of a special edition T-shirt, with over 150 pre-purchased and collected on the day.
Click here for the slideshow that was running during lunch.
Show & Shine
I volunteered to be part of the judging panel for the NC MX-5s on display at the 35th Anniversary Lunch. The panel consisted of three judges all of whom either owned an NC or at least knew what they look like and so were suitably qualified.
There was a selection of nine, from memory, very well presented and lovingly cared for cars. After a quick initial inspection it soon became apparent that picking a winner was not going to be easy as each car was so very well turned out. The panel therefore had a long discussion about the common features that could be rationally compared and that after a more detailed inspection of each car the winner could then be decided. But alas, due to the very high standard of presentation the comparison of these common features was so close that this more precise and technical approach didn’t help either.
Ultimately, it was agreed that the standard of cleanliness of both the vanity mirrors behind the sun visors would best provide a clear winner, which it, did, but only by one random thumb print!
Congratulations to each of the participants - it was a pleasure to inspect and judge them all. Finally and in closing it must be said that Sydney Chapter members do look after their cars very well as they took out first prizes for NA, NB and NC models.
Member Profiles
It was great to see so many old and new faces at the 35th anniversary, including two Foundation members, Colin Caldwell and Ross Hutcherson, as well as seven Life members, Jean Cook, Stephen Carter, Mike Hicks, Paul Beerworth, Pam Estreich, Ray Estreich and Bryan Shedden.
We also met two brand new members, Craig Willsmer and Emily Sweeney from Tumut, who purchased a 35th Anniversary Edition ND two weeks prior, joined the club and were at the Anniversary celebration after a couple of late cancellations. Theirs was one of two Artisan Red 35AE cars at the celebration. The other one was Kay Godfrey’s pride and joy, the long awaited #32.
The Club currently has 28 members who have been with the Club for 25 years and over, many of whom are still active members. There are a few though who we haven’t heard from for a long time but have continued their membership for over 25 years - Senia caught up with two of them.
Karen Evans joined the Club in 1997, doesn’t currently have an MX-5, however, has owned four over the years and hopes to have another in the not too distant future. She started out with “Scarlett”, a 1989 True Red NA, followed by “Crystal”, a 2001 Crystal Blue NB, then “Saph”, a 2005 Sapphire Blue NC. She also “shared custody” of a British Racing Green NC with her partner. Sadly, this beauty was sold in lieu of a mortgage. Karen joined the Club when Jean Cook saw her car being serviced and left a card under her wipers (something we can no longer do unfortunately). We hope to see Karen on a run sometime soon.
Alexander Osborne is another long time member we haven’t seen for a long time. Alexander joined in 1999 after purchasing a 1999 10th Anniversary Edition, Innocent Blue Mica NB, which he still owns with only 27,000km on the clock and still has its original tyres, which he is currently replacing! MX-5 owners are created in all different ways, Alex was searching the Trading Post for second hand bricks and saw an article by the Mazda Rockdale dealership which intrigued him. He test drove a red NB and ended up buying the 10AE, the rest is history. We hope to entice Alex to take it out of the garage!
