Lotus Clubs day at Hethel

[stuartgb100]

Just a heads-up for anyone who may have missed it.
But there's still time to make it on Sunday 23rd Sept.
Entry is ?15 per car (including 4 adults).

See:

http://www.club-lotus.co.uk/news2.php?id=40

for details.

Regards,
Stuart.

[richardcox_lotus]

In the pas, these sort of events have always been free, or a nominal cost. Hard times at Hethel ???

[SimonH]

I would say ?3.75 per person if you have a car with 4 in is a fairly nominal cost really.

There will be a lot of things there to see. Its not as if you can see round the whole place, including some of the engineering site, every day.

[ppnelan]

I believe it was going to cost ?30 PER PERSON initially , but that was probably enough to put most enthusiasts off! Particularly those who had been to (and made it into the car park for... ) the 50th Anniversary event. I would say they are mainly trying to limit the event to enthusiasts rather than anyone who happens to be passing, to help with their parking arrangements.

As Simon says, they only open the site up like this occasionally, so make the most of it

Matthew

[Matt]

At ?15 per car for a day out seems cheap to me

I going in my +2, if you arrive in a lotus product you can park arround the test track
Looking at the events list it should be a good day

My fingers are tightly crossed for nice weather !

Matt

[pereirac]

Bummer... Missed this...

[ppnelan]

We had a BRILLIANT family day out today in our +2 weekend family car!
For those that missed it, the factory & deisign & test areas were all open with excellent displays to peruse. There was a long queue all day for the ?5 for a couple of laps passenger rides in Elises/Exiges - I got a ride in the orange Exige 'S'. This was the one that looked the most 'Top Gear-like' i.e. sideways with smoking tyres around the bends... He said he was the 'Chief Test Driver' - didn't catch his name as it was difficult to hold a conversation with helmets on at 130mph or so on the straights
There was a funfair with FREE rides all day for children on bouncy castles, electric go-carts, dodgems, laserquest, etc.
Parking & travelling were EASY unlike the 50th Celebration a few years ago...


FULL MARKS TO LOTUS FOR A WELL-ORGANISED CELEBRATION!


Matthew

[1964 S1]

Hello Matthew, thank you for your fun description. I'm stuck in the USA and love hearing first hand reports from the sacred ground!
And I want to let all Great Brits know how lucky they are to even maybe think they might see an Elan coming down the other side of the road towards them... it'll never happen to me.

[Matt]

Yes it really was a great day out
I have never seen so many lotuses in the same place it made the turn out for the likes of Stoneleigh and Donnington seem tiny, walking round the lotus only parking took me over an hour !

I was please that the factory doors were just open and you could rome arround as if you worked there and all the lotus staff would show you anything you wanted to know. Even the free goodie bag you got had really good stuff in it.

Well done Lotus

The weather was lovely and the 300 miles in the Elan were great with so many other lotuses traveling with it.

[ppnelan]

Thank you 1964 S1!
I think you non-UK owners must have a greater appreciation for each other and be closer friends since I read that you often drive many hundreds and even thousands of miles just to get to a Lotus gathering. It is often the case here in the UK that you can see another Lotus on the road and not even be acknowledged, particularly the new breed of young Elise owners who sometimes do not not even seem to recognise a 20th century Lotus.

Many top Lotus people were there - Mike Kimberley, Hazel & Clive Chapman, Tony Shute (he was one of the 'Eli-ge' hot laps drivers), Malcolm Ricketts, and that's just the ones I recognised!
All the staff were very friendly & helpful which made it into a great day.

There were A LOT of Elises/Exiges in the car park. I didn't get chance to look around for Elans/+2s when it was FULL in the middle of the day. Matt, I did see your immaculate red car just before I left. A bit of a contrast with mine... Did you bring a car load? I bet your back (booster) seat passenger enjoyed it! How old is he/she?
Did the Spitfire flypast take place in the end (it was late and we were in & out of the factory & 'hot' laps after the time)?

Matthew

[niallf]

Nice to see Matt & Si at yesterday's 40th at Hethel

I had a great day, met with a crowd of Elise owners and convoyed over from the Midlands. Bumped into Matt on the way in, and then Si & Matt on the way out.

Tried to take pics of all the Elans in the car park.

Pictures here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... 138196150/

Cheers,

Niall

[Jason1]

Thanks Niall for the pics.

I am well gutted, it looks like it was a great day
I was planning to bring my +2 but could not get it completed in time.

I thought about driving the eurobox but could not face Matt

Any idea if they are holding another next year?

Jason

[Elanintheforest]

Great pictures Niall...did you take a liking to the orange Plus 2? ......looks FAB The green meanie's still looking great as well.
Mark

[stuartgb100]

Niall,

thanks for a flavour of what I missed !

Coincidentally, on Monday night, I met up with someone I'd bought an ebay item from (to save postage).

Turned out he was one of the Lotus track drivers on the day. He said the queues were horrendous !!!

Regards,
Stuart.