The Rally of Melbourne was the brainchild of Glenn Cuthbert. Originally run as the Healesville Stages in 1993, Glenn introduced the “Rally of Melbourne” name in 1994. Glenn was a rare visionary who wanted Victoria to have a car rally better than any other. He was obsessed with improving competitor safety, presenting a professional level event and with getting as wide as possible recognition for the rally.
Every year, Glenn set out to do something better. The Rally of Melbourne, using that name, ran each year as an Australian Championship round from 1994 until 2006 and was responsible for introducing a number of safety improvements to the conduct of Victorian car rallies.
The organising entity was Victorian Rally Services P/L. This was a private company owned by Glenn and reflected the unwillingness of any car club to take on the financial liability of hosting an ARC round. The author (David McKenzie) assisted in the running of the Rally of Melbourne every year it was held and knows that Glenn’s personal and substantial financial contributions underwrote its successes.
Following Glenn’s untimely death in a boating accident in 2002, Glenn’s brother Neil and Justin Hunt took over the management of the event for 2002 and a further five years, with 2007 being the last Rally of Melbourne. Ross Tapper was Clerk of Course from 2002 to to 2006 and Alan Mackay in 2007. After a two year gap without an ARC round in Victoria, Cerberus Car Club with Alan Mackay as Clerk of Course organised Victoria’s first ARC event under the name Rally Victoria in 2010.
