Melissa Morgan

It’s not every day you meet someone who balances motherhood, two property businesses, and a garage filled with high-powered exotics. But that’s exactly what makes our Member of the Month - Melissa Morgan’s story so fascinating. A self-proclaimed "entrepreneur at heart," her passion for cars began long before the mainstream hype—starting with a Mazda RX7 Series 3 and a knack for importing Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) cars. 

After a 15-year hiatus, she made a powerful comeback, reigniting her love for high-octane engines and the community around them with a Ferrari F8. Today, her collection includes a Lamborghini Huracán Evo, a McLaren 675LT, and soon, a Corvette Z06 and a V12 Lamborghini Revuelto.

Please explain your double life to us?

I am really fortunate to be able to wear multiple ‘hats’ in my life. Some days I am the principal of a real estate agency or on a development site, other days I get to drive my cars and socialise and then there are the days I get to be a mum and hang out with my family.

I love that there is no typical week - this week will include a track day, time in the real estate office, final plans for a ‘The Fast Lane’ overnight trip, preparing a property for sale, a dinner with fellow car people and getting my kids ready to go back to school!

If the The Fast Lane was your full time job, why would it get you out of bed in the morning? Where did this passion come from?

I love meeting people that are different but ultimately very similar. Amongst a huge range of ages and backgrounds they all share a similar passion for cars and mindset of ambition and achievement. Strangely I was very introverted growing up but over the years I have become a lot more comfortable getting to know different people and cars are a fantastic common ground.

What is the pathway to starting a car club? How did it happen? 

24 years ago I was into JDM cars and attended a lot of meets and cruises, but gradually life got in the way. Then a few years back a friend in a property forum and I decided to organise a small lunch drive.  What started as a Whatsapp group of 5 people became about 70 people and spurred an interest in me to organise regular meetups. We then met 2 young guys also trying to organise car meetups so we combined our resources and The Fast Lane was born.

What does a typical meet up look like? Tell us about the logistics and what goes into it.

We organise a range of events throughout the year: track days, public car meets, lunch drives for members, overnight trips, charity events, so there’s not really a typical meet.

Probably the biggest event we organise is our annual Christmas Toy Run where we collect toys and supplies for the children’s hospice called Bear Cottage, and then have a car show for the community. This year will be the third one and it just gets bigger every year. I love that we can raise awareness for Bear Cottage and involve our whole community.

Logistics wise for the Toy Run there’s venue co-ordination, organising multiple food trucks, security, photographer/videographer, insurances for everyone, booking in attendees, organising sponsors, planning the parking layout, co-ordinating a drive to the venue beforehand, directing everyone into the correct spots (without causing a traffic jam), social media exposure, how to deliver masses of toys to Bear Cottage and seating at the venue - amongst other things!

What are some important skills required to run a successful car club?

For me I’m a real control freak haha, which I think is important for making sure everything turns out well, but not great for stress levels! I like to think I’m practical and strategic which is useful for solving logistical problems and being social is a big part of meeting new people and welcoming them into the club.

Having a team is also important because it is a joint effort and it would be impossible to run The Fast Lane otherwise.

Pivotal moment in your career?

I was sick with a mystery illness five years ago which was eventually diagnosed as a rare auto-immune disease. Thankfully I’m fine now but at the time there were symptoms of breast cancer and it was a wake-up call to look after myself more and value my family. 

One thing the industry can do to make itself more appealing to women?

I think increasing confidence in women in the industry and showing them that they can build a rewarding and successful career in automotive. Possibly through more case studies and focus on the fun/challenging and varied career paths.

What are some of the assumptions people make about you and your work.. do people understand what you do?

People are often surprised by how passionate I am about cars, and I enjoy challenging their preconceptions and stereotypes. I believe there's a real need for a socially inclusive car club like ours, so once people learn about what we do, there's usually a lot of interest. However, there can sometimes be a mental barrier before they fully embrace the concept.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

One of my favourite quotes is from John Mcgrath, “ it's not the things you do in a day that make you tired, it's the things you leave undone or the opportunities you don't take.” This is my favourite quote because it makes so much sense that doing what we love and enjoy is so energising.

What is your advice to young women considering a career in the automotive industry?

Find an area/segment/market in automotive that you’re really passionate about so that work is enjoyable and be really good at that niche. Become the go-to person for that area. I think that’s what will make someone successful in the long term.