When petrol rationing ended in May 1950, fuel became available for private motoring for the first time since the Second World War. Most people didn't have a car, but a group of eight businessmen in Norwich felt there were enough car enthusiasts in the area for a new motor club to be successful.
They met In early 1951 at the Castle Hotel, Norwich to decide on a name for the new club. The Sporting Car Club of Norfolk was chosen because it was different from any of the pre-war motor clubs in the area, so SCCON was formed.
The club soon changed its meeting place to The Cottage public house on Thunder Lane that is still there today as a pub restaurant.
SCCON's competitive events began in February 1952 with the daytime 'Pancake Rally'. Starting at the Cattle Market in Norwich, it had a 60 mile road route that finished in Watton plus tests of driving skill held on private land. 25 cars took part, varying from 8 horsepower saloons of mid-30s vintage to a brand new MG. The rally was designed to test skilful driving rather than outright speed, so everyone had a chance of winning. Jimmy Risk, a farmer from Denham, won driving his Ford V8 Pilot. Earlier that year he had completed the Monte Carlo Rally in the same car.
Appropriately, SCCON still has the Jimmy Risk Trophy that is presented to a member (chosen by the club chairman), who has given exceptional service to the club.

John Olorenshaw

John was one of the founder members of SCCON and lived until 2012, so he was well known to some current SCCON members. John and his father Frank ran the Norwich Motor Company on Prince of Wales Road. They owned a 1901 De Dion Bouton in which they completed many London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Runs and a 1913 Sunbeam Sports that they nicknamed 'Miranda'. When John's wife Sylvia died in 2021, the Olorenshaw family made gifts of £1000 value to SCCON.

Charles Cowlin

Charles who died in 2016 was another founder member known to just one of SCCON's current members. In the 1940s he served with John Olorenshaw on the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable. In the 1950s Charles drove his MG TD on British long distance rallies of the time. For example, the 1951 Daily Express National Motor Rally lasted for 4 days and attracted an amazing 700 entries of which 450 were selected to start the event. The celebration dinner at the finish in Brighton was held in two different hotels on two consecutive evenings! While he was a member of SCCON, Charles worked for the City Engineer of Norwich and he did a lot of remedial work after the floods of 1953. He ended his career as Chief Executive of Hastings Borough Council.

Chief Constables

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Chief Constables of both the City of Norwich Police and the Norfolk Constabulary were Vice Presidents of SCCON. They attended the club's annual Dinner Dances and other events where they would present the awards.

Sydney Allard

Sydney Allard is the only person to have won the Monte Carlo Rally (in 1952) in a car of his own manufacture, an Allard P1 saloon powered by a 4.3 litre Ford V8 engine. He was a friend of some of the founder members of SCCON and he was the club's first President from 1952 until 1965.

Stirling Moss

Stan Boshier, another founder member of SCCON competed against Stirling Moss in the 1950s in motor races on the Isle of Man and at Boreham and Goodwood Circuits. Stirling, one of the all-time-best British racing drivers was invited by Stan to be a Vice-President of SCCON, a role that he accepted and fulfilled from 1953 to 1962.

The Morley Brothers

Twin brothers Don and Erle Morley farmed in Suffolk and, with their brother Norman, were members of both SCCON and Eastern Counties Motor Club. In 1955, SCCON's Ten Tests Rally saw a win for Don and Erle in their Ford Zephyr MkI and, after winning the 1959 Tulip International Rally in a Jaguar, they became works drivers for the renowned Competitions Department of the British Motor Corporation (BMC). They won many international rallies driving powerful Austin Healey 3000 sports cars, gaining two prestigious Coupes des Alpes in 1961 and 1962. Their brother Norman was a very good rally navigator and he excelled at Autotests (then called Driving Test competitions) gaining many class and outright wins in his Mini Cooper S and ex-works Ford Escort rally car.

Johnny Wodehouse, the 4^th  Earl of Kimberley

The six-times-married 4^th Earl of Kimberley, known as Johnny Kimberley was a member of SCCON in the 1950's. He competed in rallies in his 3.5 litre Jaguar Mark VII saloon onto which he fitted a very noisy exhaust system to make it go faster, not something we'd encourage today. In his autobiography he confessed that on the night sections of SCCON's Ten Test Rallies, householders along the route were sometimes annoyed by the noisier cars. "I wonder who they could possibly have meant?" was his not altogether innocent comment. Early one Sunday morning he raced against his friend Dr. Matthew Banks from Kimberley Hall, Wymondham to Newmarket racecourse. Matthew flew his Auster light aircraft against a head-wind, while Johnny Kimberley drove his 100mph-plus Healey Westland sports car and the Healey won the race! To celebrate the club's 60th Anniversary in 2011, SCCON held a huge event at Kimberley Hall that included a display of 60 cars, one made in each year of the club's existence. And 3 fighter aircraft gave air displays over the hall.

Ted Cleghorn

TTed Cleghorn was one of the great characters in the history of SCCON. He lost his right arm in a lorry accident before the war, but that didn't stop him competing, always in manual gearbox cars through the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He drove his blue Dellow in rallies and trials, winning many awards and he entered the Monte Carlo Rally no less that nine times, firstly in a Singer Gazelle with Norman Morley navigating, then a Triumph Herald and, for his last four attempts, a Volvo Amazon. Ted and his wife Mibs were SCCON committee members from the 1950s until the 1970s and Ted was the President of SCCON from 1966 to 1974.

Jack Sears

Jack Sears' family farmed at Ashill and he won the British Saloon Car Racing Championship (the forerunner of today's BTCC) in 1958 driving his own Austin Westminster and again in 1964 as a works Ford driver in Cortinas (GT and Lotus Cortina) and a huge 7-litre Ford Galaxie. He was a works BMC rally and race driver from 1958-1960 and he finished 4th overall in the 1960 RAC Rally driving a factory-supported Jaguar MkII. He gained notoriety in 1964 after testing an AC Cobra GT Le Mans racing car on the M1 in the early hours at over 180mph which was a legal speed because there was no motorway speed limit back then. Jack participated in SCCON's Midsummer Car Runs until 2013.

H.R.H. Prince Michael of Kent

In 1973, the club's Lancia Pointer Stages Rally attracted royal patronage because Prince Michael of Kent entered that event in an orange Ford Escort Mexico. He finished in 73rd place out of 169 competing crews.

Olivia Colman

The late Keith Colman was a member of SCCON in the 2000s. He drove his 1961 Sunbeam Alpine, Volvo PV544 and Ford Escort Mexico on 12-cars (winning one of them), Special Stage Rallies and Historic Rallies. And his daughter Sarah was also a SCCON member, navigating for her Dad on a few 12-car rallies. She is known by her family as Sarah, but the world knows her as Olivia Colman; there can't be many motor clubs who've had a future Oscar-winning actress as one of their members.

Howard Joynt

Howard has been a committee member for 20 years and is currently SCCON's social secretary. Ten years ago he started to purchase a fleet of 998cc Nissan Micras out of his own pocket. The club now has nine Micras which are available on free loan for newcomers to motor sport and youngsters from the age of 12 to compete on tarmac and grass autotests. In 2017, Howard was selected by the Motor Sport Association as one of three 'Volunteer Officials of the Year' out of the 9,500 accredited marshals in the UK. He and his daughter dressed up in their finest to attend the 'JLT MSA Night of Champions' at the RAC Club in Pall Mall, London where Howard received his award.

David Mann

David is the current President of SCCON and is best known over his long career in the world of motor sport as a national rally championship winner. He won the 2000 ANCRO Group 1 National Championship (for near-standard cars) in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO V and he won the 2003 ANCRO National Rally Championship outright in his Subaru Impreza 555.

SCCON's early events were developed into rallies where navigational accuracy AND fast driving were required to win.
During the 1950's, SCCON became well known for its annual Ten Test rally that started late on a Saturday evening and ran non-stop through the night to a compulsory hour halt for breakfast. Then, on the Sunday morning, the tired competitors tackled a series of speed tests timed to the second including one at Snetterton Circuit where they had to drive three laps, attempting to record the same time for every lap. At the finish venue, there were more speed tests and lunch was available for an extra eight shillings (40p).
By the mid 1970's SCCON was running two multi-venue Special Stage rallies every year, both attracting more than 150 entries. Over the years SCCON has organised: 12 car navigation rallies, high speed road rallies, multi-venue and single-venue special stage rallies, autotests, autosolos, hill-climbs trials, treasure hunts, quizzes and annual dinners but has never organised a motor race. During the 1990's SCCON gave considerable help to the RAC for their Norwich Union Classic Car Run, and that led on to SCCON's Midsummer Classic Car Run, the first of which was held in 1998.
Finally, please don’t be confused by the name - you don’t need a 'sporting car' or a sports car to join the Sporting Car Club of Norfolk. We are a family oriented club and you can have fun with almost any car competing in a wide variety of events, some of them at surprisingly low cost.
Nowadays SCCON is a not-for-profit Limited Company that contributes to local and national charities. Recent donations have gone to the East Anglian Air Ambulance, the East Anglian Children's Hospice and for research into Cancer and Motor Neuron Disease.
We meet on the third Thursday evening of every month at The White Horse Inn, Trowse - easy to reach from the A47 Norwich southern by-pass.
Everyone is welcome.

Autotests and Autosolos

A series of short timed tests around traffic cones. Held on private land, some are for driver only, some for driver and passenger; sometimes on tarmac and sometimes on grass. Almost any car is eligible.

Targa Rallies

A series of medium length, medium speed tests on private land. For driver and passenger. Unmodified cars are suitable for some Targa Rallies.

12-Car Navigation Runs

A test of navigation and map reading skill with the route defined by cryptic clues. Accurate route finding is the name of the game rather than fast driving. Starting at 8.00pm they are held on autumn/winter evenings. Typically 50 - 60 miles long, there's always a tasty buffet at the finish.

Hill-climb Trials

Speed is unimportant on these events where the aim is to get as far as you can up a series of steep hill tests on grass or loose surfaces. The farther you can go up each hill, the fewer penalty points you score.

Classic Car Runs

Over 100 cars take part in SCCON's 80 mile run around the East Anglian Countryside. There are checkpoints at places of interest, and refreshments en route.

Special Stage Rallying

High speed driving against the clock on private land. Extensive car preparation and specialist safety equipment is required. Not for everyday cars.