The N.E.M.V.C. was officially formed in August 1972 by a small group of Jeep owning individuals and has grown over the years into a high profile well informed and organised club with the aim of preserving, restoring, using and exhibiting military vehicles of all periods. The majority of vehicles are WW2. but members also own vehicles built before and after this period. All represent many hours of research, making and acquiring of parts, followed by painstaking restoration work, often at considerable expense.
In restoring and running these vehicles we have the opportunity to honour those who participated in securing our country’s freedom and share in their pleasure at seeing them again. Our shows, rallies, parades, displays and off-road weekends give members the chance to enjoy their hobby with families and friends and pass on skills and knowledge to others.
Club vehicles and members willingly give their support to veterans organisations and have taken part in many historic events – the anniversaries of D-Day, Dunkirk, Arnhem, Bastogne, Bethune, the Liberation of Northern Holland and the Channel Islands besides appearing in many film and TV programmes.
The club produces an A5 format 32 page quarterly newsletter called ‘Wheel and Track’, which keeps members up to date with coming events and is full of photographs, rally reports, technical articles, tips. And can offer advice on insurance, help with spare parts, paint schemes, markings etc.
Meetings are on the first Friday of every month (details of date and venue on our events page) where we hold social events, video shows, and have guest speakers. There is a regular programme of outings and lunches which take place throughout the year. We also have a museum based in the Sunderalnd Air Museum which houses a variety vehicles as well as uniforms, equipment and weaponry, the exhibits are constantly being added to and updated making this well worth more than one visit.
The N.E.M.V.C. can be seen at most shows and rallies but The D.L.I. Museum, Durham, holds our set piece of the year; this rally consistently pulls in over sixty military vehicles. Unfortunately in 2015 we held our 42nd and last rally at the museum as in early 2016 the DLI Museum and Arts Centre was closed by the Local Authority and we had to find a new venue for our annual show. 2016 was a bad year for the club as we could not find a suitable venue at short notice but we were fortunate through our search of suitable sites to find the Ryhope Engines Museum who had a suitable site free on August Bank Holiday weekend so we came to an agreement with them and subsequently our 43rd annual show was held there in 2017 and was a success with vehicle owners from as far afield as Litchfield and Edinburgh attending, along with our regular members and friends in the North East. We have agreed with the museum to have our 44th annual show in 2018 at the impressive Engines Museum.
The North East Military Vehicle Club’s income is received from the members’ subscriptions, donations from our annual show and advertising.
A committee is appointed each year by the members to run the club and co-ordinate regional, national and European activities.