Special General Meeting - Name Change
On the 14th, you will be asked to vote on whether or not the club changes its name to The Melbourne 4WD Club, Incorporating the Range Rover Club of Victoria.
This vote is about 20 years in the making, because that's how long we have been concerned about the diminishing relevance of the Range Rover marque to the 4WD scene. After long and detailed discussions, the committee has finally determined that we have reached a tipping point, where the Range Rover name is causing more harm than good, for the viability of the club.
To add weight to this, and to emphasise that it's not just on the whim of the current committee, seven presidents, spanning over 35 years, are the co-proposers for this resolution.
There are many factors that influence the health of the club and a credible name is just one of these factors. The simple question in front of you is should we change the name?
Some of the consultation responses we received suggested we should just work harder on recruitment, website, advertising, events, families, etc etc. While this feedback is not wrong it ignores the biggest barrier to recruitment - our name.
You can read the original discussion and proposal papers from these links, and below is a sample of some common questions asked, with responses.
RRCV Future Viability Consultation - 1st Feb 2026.pdf
RRCV - Name Change Proposal - March 2026.pdf
PROXY FORM
If you can't make it to the meeting, you can use the Proxy Form to have your say.
Click on the Proxy Form link. Your web browser or Adobe Reader may allow you to complete and sign the form. If not print it, complete it, and take a photo of it
Send the completed form to the Club Secretary, secretary@rangeroverclub.org.au
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Key questions and answers from the consultation period
Shouldn't the name have some element of Range Rover or 4WD activity in it?
We looked at several name options, including derivatives of "Range" & "Rover", and doing words like "roving" and "adventure" but each option failed to gain enough weight in our multi-criteria decision session.
Melbourne 4WD Club is bland and boring.
Maybe, but it's clean, professional, simple, and would be top of the search engines for anyone looking to join a 4WD club in Melbourne.
By adding "incorporating the Range Rover Club of Victoria" while making it a long name, it shows homage to our past, and gives the option to those that prefer to still refer to the Range Rover Club.
"Melbourne" as a geographic limit?
We meet in Melbourne and over 80% of our membership live in Melbourne Metro area, with another 5% in the greater Melbourne Area. We will make it clear that members from a wider area are welcome, nonetheless members are mostly from Melbourne.
The name itself: Is the proposed wording final, or is there room for refinement?
We had a detailed process of considering various alternatives, and this came out on top - we believe it has sufficient merit to put to the club for a vote.
VicRoads / club plates: What is the plan to protect existing permit holders during a transition?
VicRoads can do a global "administrative name change" where they simply update their records with the new name; with no input or effort from the Permit holders.
The 50th anniversary: Will the milestone be properly celebrated regardless of name?
Absolutely! – It's the club's anniversary, irrespective of the name. In fact hitting the 50th year with renewed branding and energy is great timing.
How are other clubs faring?
Most clubs are feeling a pinch in favour of less formal groups and associations, often managed within social media groups, such as Facebook. However, this is irrelevant to our need to change the name. With fewer people joining traditional 4WD clubs, or they are joining other clubs, having a name that resonates with new members is more important than ever.
What is the plan beyond the name change? …
The mere act of changing the club name will trigger a raft of activities, such as: a complete revision of branding, logo, badges, merchendise, website, social media, advertising, brochures, banners, and communication of the name change:
You might ask "can't we just do this anyway".
Yes, some of it, but a name change forces this full rebrand activity with a matter of focus and urgency.
Other activities to improve club offering
- Review types of frequency of different trips and events to make sure we are engaging as many of our members as possible
- Special Interest Groups:
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- Range Rover Special Interest Group – to run events to better engage our Range Rover enthusiast members who are not 4WDing (needs to be driven by RR enthusiasts)
- Caravan / trailers touring (big lap) interest groups
- Range Rover Special Interest Group – to run events to better engage our Range Rover enthusiast members who are not 4WDing (needs to be driven by RR enthusiasts)
- 50th Anniversary activities…
We received a number of practical suggestions, all of which would be done whether or not we go with a name change
- Website homepage & Social media update - it's already on the agenda
- run more/better/appropriate/bitumen/basecamps/family . . . trips - OK but we need more people to support this
- dealership outreach - We send Torque to dealers – although many LR dealers closing!
- fee waivers/discount - will action for those joining during special events (4WD show, Day on Range)
Offers of help
We even received offers of help from members with specific skills, such as marketing and graphic design. We shall definitely be taking them up on these offers.