A few months later, after planning and booking the event, the Victorian club was formed. Through communication with Ken McLean, a member of the S.A. Club residing in Victoria, plans were put in motion for the two clubs to get together at Ballarat, during Easter of 1988. At the same time, Glenn put the suggestion forward that the N.S.W. club should be invited. A timely visit to Adelaide by Vince O'Donaghue, member of the N.S.W. club who was holidaying around Australia, helped to get the ball rolling. Vince returned to Sydney, and whipped up their interest in this first Tri-State Run.

So Ballarat became the First Nationals. As a first-time event, it was a great Club Run/Show 'n' Shine. The cruise was through the township of Ballarat, on the way to the grounds where the Show took place. There was members' choice voting and trophies for four classes: Best Sedan, Best Station Sedan, Best Ute and Best Panel Van. The run was such a success that plans were immediately put in place for the second Nationals, to be held by the N.S.W. club the following year.

The second Nationals were held in Wagga Wagga, in southern N.S.W.. Again, there were only a few classes of vehicles, and the event was run in much the same manner as Ballarat. There was a get-together dinner on the Saturday night, and the cruise was the route to the Show 'n' Shine venue. The trophies were again presented on the day, and a barbeque was provided for all participants. It had already been decided that South Australia would be holding the 3rd event, in keeping with the rotation established, and they arrived with information packs for all participants about Adelaide, the venue they had decided upon. In order to maximize attendance, it had been decided to stagger the event to every "odd" year, as quite a few members of the different clubs chose to attend the ASMF Nationals, held each "even" year. Of course, they are no longer, but the FE-FC Nationals just get bigger and better!