The North Eastern Car Club first conducted their North East Trial in 1953. The following year it became the North Eastern Trial, subsequently the North Eastern Rally, and ran for most years through until its final edition in 2004. The North Eastern was a round of the Victorian Trials/Rally Championship for numerous years and also achieved Australian Rally Championship status on two occasions in the 1976/77.

The event always ran in the north east of Victoria, mostly starting in Wangaratta and often finishing at the NECC’s clubrooms at Tarrawingee. Earlier editions included a lot of navigation and ranged widely as far south-west as the Strathbogies. By the mid 1970s the event was very much of drivers event, fully route charted and focused heavily on the pine plantations around Stanely, Myrtleford and later, Bright. That came to an end in 2001 with the lockout of the pine plantations by Hancocks, and only a few more editions survived. The club subsequently focused it attention on the Mitta Mountain Rally.