Club Lotus

[pereirac]

Just been looking at the Silverstone Classics website and lot of events for the Ferrari F40, MGBs, E-Types and BMW Z cars. The BMW club has loads of events all around the country this year to celebrate 60 years and the MGOC club has a number of events celebrating 50 years of the MGB. The home page of Club Lotus just shows events in 2011!! I have been a member of Club Lotus since the 1980s but compared with other car clubs I have joined since, the club really does not appear to do very much apart from offer technical advice and hold one meeting a year (to sell parts). You might have though they would make a special effort for the Elans 50th birthday but it seems groups like this website are doing more or is there a big 50th birthday party somewhere like Hethel which I am missing?

Carl

[nebogipfel]

I'm not a member, but thought I'd have a look a couple of days ago and I was also a bit underwhelmed.

I'm not really a club kinda person but I think it's a shame there isn't an Elan/+2 club. I'd be much more inclined to join.

FWIW the LDC site is a bit more inspiring ....

[AlanM]

I accept our website has been a bit lacking of late - our webmaster has unfortunately had a number of personal problems - but anyone who is a Club Lotus member surely cannot have failed to read in our January Club magazine that we've instigated and are holding several major events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Elan.

Have you read your latest magazine Carl?

To start with we are hosting a major Elan display plus guest speakers plus an Elan track parade on Sunday at the Silverstone Classic in July. (Carl - have a look at the existing thread on this website ?Elan 50th Celebrations Silverstone Classic?). Note here that the special superb value ?Earlybird? ticket offer for Club members expires at the end of this month so if you want to go book now.

Next at the Brands Hatch Lotus Festival in August we are organising (in conjunction with the Classic Sports Car Club) the first ever all-Elan race. Entries are coming in fast from all over the world and we also have another Elan-only race scheduled at Donington Park on September 15/16. There is reserved parking for all Elans all weekend at Brands, a free Elan track parade on Saturday on the full GP circuit, historic demo laps by Classic Team Lotus and Lotus trade stands ? plus hopefully another fantastic feature we can?t mention just yet...

Also in August we?re joint organisers with Paul Matty of an Elan celebration at Shelsley Walsh hill climb. As well as a round of Paul?s well established Lotus Championship there is a special invitation class for important Lotus cars and there will undoubtedly be some very special Lotus cars in action and on display.

Tickets for all three of the above events are available to Club Lotus members at significant discounts. Contact Club HQ for more info ? or simply read the January issue of Club Lotus News (or the April one which is out in 4 weeks time).

Last year we formed a special Club Lotus Elan Section which is run by acknowledged experts including Brian Buckland and Tim Wilkes. Not only is this an unrivalled source of Elan knowledge and information but it?s shaping up to be the biggest source of Elan history and data in the world. Our technical advice is freely given to members and comes from experts who are professionals in their field ? unlike some of the frankly astonishingly inaccurate and occasionally dangerous rubbish that gets posted on some websites.

I?ve no problem with fair criticism but it would be nice if people made sure they get the facts straight before rushing into print. Or does everyone here nowadays only judge what?s going on by looking at websites?

By the way, despite many prompts there?s nothing planned to mark the 50th at Hethel ? you can decide for yourselves the reasons why.

Alan

[pereirac]

Hi Alan,

Glad to hear that Club Lotus is doing something to celebrate the Elans 50th birthday, I will go and dig out my Jan magazine and re-read it. I have a lot of respect for Tim Wilkes who has arranged some great Lotus Elan Sprint events in the past.
I would imagine that for a lot of people these days the web is the first place to look for up to date information about a car club and events and it's great to see that the Club Lotus website now has a list of 2012 events.

I will be at Silverstone with my Elan again this year on the Retrorun and would love to join the parade.. Do I email Tim for this?

[elansprint71]

Alan,
Good to see you posting on here. I've been a member of CL, on and off, since the days when it was run by the factory. I was sometimes a thorn in the side of Graham Arnold and do not envy the task you have undertaken; I really believe that CL is trying to be too many things for too many people, due to the way that the Lotus companies and their aspirations changed over the years.

imho one can cut Lotus (mainstream) products into four time slices: alluminium period: pre Elite products; plastic period: Elite, Elans, Europa; techy upmarket period: the wedges; modern period: Elsies and beyond. I don't see than one club can hope to cover all of these divergent interests- what other small-volume car manufacturer has produced such a diverse range of products?

What I think is wrong with the Lotus club scene: Historic Lotus Register (or their split-off alter-ego) should embrace the plastics and Cl should be more inclusive of the wedgies along with the moderns. Two clubs- sorted.

Norlog, Seloc, CLOG, etc. were all formed for pretty much the same reasons and cannot all be wrong, the establishment was ignoring them. LDC is regionally-based (+ about 3 folks in Scotland) and not exactly cutting -edge dynamic.

Oh well...

[nebogipfel]

....Historic Lotus Register (or their split-off alter-ego) should embrace the plastics.........

Agree 100% I was quite disappointed to see that they do not. Which (road) Lotus is more historic than the Elan?

I am just not into post Elan/Plus 2 Lotus and I suspect I'm not the only one and I certainly couldn't care less what's happening at the factory these days.

I suppose the answer is to form our own club .....but wait, we already have one here

[Coupe]

....Historic Lotus Register (or their split-off alter-ego) should embrace the plastics.........

Agree 100% I was quite disappointed to see that they do not. Which (road) Lotus is more historic than the Elan?

I am just not into post Elan/Plus 2 Lotus and I suspect I'm not the only one and I certainly couldn't care less what's happening at the factory these days.

I suppose the answer is to form our own club .....but wait, we already have one here

Have you ever driven an Elise ?
The Elise is by far the best car ever produced by Lotus. Owning an Elan and an Elise the Elise is always my first choice for a drive.

[Steve G]

The Elise is by far the best car ever produced by Lotus.

[gherlt]

>The Elise is by far the best car ever produced by Lotus.

I second that for Mk1. Cheap, light, agile, fun.
It might not be the best sports car (now comes the eternal "define sports car" discussion)
ever, but as a low budget sports car for extreme fun it is unbeaten.

[elansprint71]

....Historic Lotus Register (or their split-off alter-ego) should embrace the plastics.........

Agree 100% I was quite disappointed to see that they do not. Which (road) Lotus is more historic than the Elan?

I am just not into post Elan/Plus 2 Lotus and I suspect I'm not the only one and I certainly couldn't care less what's happening at the factory these days.

I suppose the answer is to form our own club .....but wait, we already have one here

Historic Lotus Register do accept the 26/R into their collective bosom; how's that for one-upmanship. If you have an Elan which was built before the 26/R and is therefore more historic by definition, you still can't be a member!

[nebogipfel]

Historic Lotus Register do accept the 26/R into their collective bosom; how's that for one-upmanship. If you have an Elan which was built before the 26/R and is therefore more historic by definition, you still can't be a member!

Yes pretty bonkers!

..... and it appears the Type 60 (plastic 7) is also welcome.....

[pereirac]

All we need are a few LotusElan.net stickers and we can have our own club? I belong to another 'online' club, Thealpinaregister.com, they arrange events and meetings on a occasional basis. No membership fees, no magazine, just a great website and forum (which we already have here) and a bunch of like minded owners (which we also have) always willing to help other owners and prospective owners. They also offer car stickers to advertise the website, club calendars (of members cars) and 'club' clothing ..
I would happily buy and display a sticker in my car for this website..

[Jason1]

Hi

Just thought I would throw my onions in. It has been awhile since I got involved in discussions like these due to the knockers but here it is.

I am a member of Club Lotus and have been since buying the +2; I also use this forum quite a lot.
To be honest I do not get the most out of my Club Lotus membership as I do not go to many events or meets at the pub (2 young kids). But I am happy to pay my membership for the mag; I like the 'for sale' section in the back and the articles. I also subscribe to Practical Classics Mag which is a lot dearer. I do however understand what you guys are saying, I also think Club Lotus are missing a trick. I am sure that their membership is getting younger and they expect a good website. I know Club Lotus promised an updated website and it sounds like they are having problems in that area so may be it is on it's way?

So do I recommend people that are new or thinking of buying a Lotus join? Yes I do; you get out what you put in. If you want to meet up with the local group once a month in the pub you can. If you want to attend all the events with discounted ticket price you can. Or if like me you just want an interesting mag and attend the odd event you can. Like most things in life; you get out what you put in.

I am also disappointed that Hethel is not doing anything but would have thought that was probably due to finances.

I will keep buying the mag and hopefully the website will improve soon. There is always this one.

Jason

[nebogipfel]

Just had another look at the HLR website and it looks so much more interesting and relevant to enthusiasts of Lotus up to and including the Elan.

Shame we're not welcome and as an additional bonus membership would be a bit cheaper

[pereirac]

Just had a lot at members cars on the HLC website, some of them are a lot newer than ours?