edition july 2016 - club lotus nz 61.pdf · 1 - edition no. 61 — july 2016 edition edition no. 61...

1 - EDITION No. 61 — JULY 2016

EDITION

EDITION No. 61

LOTUS NEWS .

NZ’s MOST FAMOUS LOTUS 18 .

HETHEL THE SECOND TIME .

LOTUS at McLAREN . THE LEGO CATERHAM .

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF CLUB LOTUS NZ Inc. and

THE CLASSIC TRIAL REGISTER

JULY 2016


EDITION

The Official Magazine of Club

Lotus NZ Inc. and the

Classic Trial Register

Front Cover picture

Dave Gowenlock’s recent trip around the South Island. Dave’s Exige photographed here on Arthurs Pass. Back Cover picture

Back page from the December 1960 Motor Racing magazine.

Club Lotus NZ Inc. PO Box 100 869,

North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland 0745

Web - www.clublotus.org.nz Facebook - Club Lotus NZ

You Tube— Club Lotus New Zealand Forum—www.thelotusforums.com

President David Crandall—[email protected]

Secretary/Editor Rex Oddy—[email protected]

Treasurer Kevin Newton—[email protected]

Membership David White -

[email protected] Motorsport Liaison

Terry Riding—[email protected] Social Media

Rich Miles—[email protected] General Committee

Robin Stevenson, Nigel Brock, Geoff Sparkes Bay of Plenty Coordinator

John Mallard—[email protected] Wellington Coordinator

Mark Gregory—[email protected]

Club Lotus NZ is a MotorSport New Zealand affiliated club

Classic Trial Register 2004 Hunua Road, RD3,

Papakura, Auckland 2583

Web - www.clublotus.org.nz/classictrial

Classic Trial Director Ross Vaughan—

[email protected] Treasurer

David Tolhurst General Committee

John Miller, Syd Davis, Terry Riding

Bronwynne Leech, Peugeot 205 GT1i 4 has won the 2016 PPG Classic Trial Ladies Championship ahead of Robyn Riding and three times winner Sheridan Broadbent. Bronwynne and Sheridan (Valiant Pacer) are pictured here at the 2016 Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs.

This is my first issue as a proper Editor and now after nearly two years at the helm I can now rant on about issues. Anything I write of course is my opinion and not that of Club Lotus NZ or the Classic Trial Regis-ter. I have recently been reading the Editorial in the Autumn edition of Bespoke, The Thoroughbred and Classic Car Owners Club’s (TACCOC) magazine. The Editorial sadly reports on the recent proliferation of electronic newsletters published by car clubs and addresses the merits and demer-its there of. Listed were a number of car clubs in New Zealand that have recently given up print-ed newsletters in favour of electronic me-dia. Club Lotus is one of the clubs listed. There were two prime reasons why this option is not favoured by TACCOC. The first is the abysmal quality of proof reading that appears in electronic media. TACCOC is not quite sure why this is worse in electronic media, but on this point I apologise for what has gone before, what is stuffed up in this issue and for what you no doubt will

receive in the future. The second prime reason was a prefer-ence to hold something in your hand. TAC-COC quote the magazine published by the combined Lotus clubs in Australia, a maga-zine concept on which EDITION is based, and the Aussies issues with electronic and printed media. Of the three Lotus Clubs that make up the Lotus in Australia. Victoria issues both printed and electronic versions of the mag-azine. Queensland polled their members and found 70% were happy to pay extra to receive a printed copy. We know the NSW based Club Lotus Australia has given up on printed magazines all together so no con-sistency there. While I acknowledge the advantages of a hand held publication I do own an iPad and I tend to do my reading using such. I also tend to be a bit of a magazine collecting anorak, the only problem is that I cant find the article I want. The future—electronic media but with an index.

Cheers Rex

EDITIORIAL


PRESIDENTS REPORT

Hello Welcome to Edition 61. I hope that you enjoy the content of this issue. There has been quite a bit happening with Club Lotus New Zealand over the past few months. The new committee is now up and running. There have been some changes in roles, as well as some new committee members. Wel-come to Kevin Newton (treasurer), and David White (membership). Geoff Sparkes has also re-joined the committee – bringing a wealth of experience as a past president. I have taken over from Rex Oddy (who is now secretary & continues as editor of Edition). Certainly big boots to fill. However the team is full of energy & enthusiastic, so the momentum will carry on. New Zealand is again without an official Lotus dealer. Simply Sport-Cars in Sydney are the Australasian master agent and are looking to appoint someone over here, however it will be a case of wait and see. The strengthening of the New Zealand dollar against the pound since Brexit will certainly allow cars to be quite a bit more afforda-ble. Hopefully something develops here. If you check out the club website you will see that there are plenty of events leading right through to 2017. In addition to these Wednesday Wanders are organised each month, and there is always a good showing of members at the Caffeine and Classics event at Smales Farm in Auckland each month. Well worth checking out if you have not been along before. Also, if you haven’t already done so don’t forget to look at the club facebook page. There is also now a dedicated forum for New Zealand owners on the Lotus Forums. As a final note, it looks like this years Twighlight track evening will be morphing into a Saturday event at Pukekohe. This will again be run by Playday on Track, and should prove to be an enormous amount of fun again. Best regards

David

DIRECTORS REPORT

Greetings With the summer season now over most of the Classic Trial cars are garaged awaiting the 2016/17 PPG Classic Trial Championship that commences with the Historic Racing Club Icebreaker meeting on the weekend of 10 – 11 September at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. As with most of the 2-day race meetings we have the Classic Trials on the Saturday – practice and 3 trials over 2 days means a lot of sitting around and the 1-day out appeals to most of the driv-ers. Our entry tickets will get us into the circuit on the Sunday if we wish to watch more racing. Due to low entry numbers at last years HRC Brass Monkey meeting, this years meeting, usually held in mid-July, was cancelled. The Classic Trial Register used this event for its Winter Championship. Just when we thought it was going to be a no go Winter Champion-ship, the Commodore Car Club invited us to boost the numbers at their August meeting at Pukekohe Raceway. If any readers are in-terested in trialing their car in this event it’s not too late to enter. Not being a Sanctioned Series, a MSNZ Log Book is not needed. If you are interested, entries are now open on the Auckland Car Club website. Any new drivers to Classic Trial would need to check their cars eligibility with me first. ([email protected]) The Register is holding its annual Luncheon and Prize Giving at the Horse and Trap, 3 Enfield St, Mt Eden on 21 August from 11am. This year we will be having an AGM prior to the luncheon. For the first time we will hold an election for Officers and discuss where the CT Register is heading. Terry Riding, a Register member and MSNZ Steward, will go over his discussions with MSNZ involving a possible North Island MSNZ recognised Championship. All interested parties are welcome to attend the AGM and luncheon. (email numbers to me) With the rising cost of circuit hire we may find that in the future there will be more meetings at Pukekohe Park Raceway and Bruce McLaren Raceway at Taupo. While the new extension at Hampton Downs Raceway is now completed, it appears it will only be used for International meetings and for the use of Tony Quinn’s GT Club members. Two Register cars, Paul Couper’s Westfield 11 (2min 00) and my Alfa (2min 26) have been round this new track. Paul, a GT Club member, at the wheel of both cars! I had the privilege of being the passenger in the Alfa for the few laps and I can tell it was an amazing ride with some tricky bends (especially with someone else driving your car on road tyres!) I suppose we can only hope there might be a relaxation of this decision and we get a chance to drive on this great track. The corporate boxes above the existing garages are now completed and there is a viewing platform at the end over-looking turn 5 and the main straight. This position truly offers the best vantage point of the circuit. The Register is always on the lookout for new drivers and anyone with a suitable car would be welcome to join us at any of the new seasons meetings. Cheers

Ross

Left—The new turn 5 viewing area at Hampton Downs Left above—Paul Couper in his Westfield Eleven at Hampton Downs. Not a corner that comes to mind

mailto:[email protected]


LOTUS NEWS

HETHEL EDITION EVORA 400 DRIVES 50TH ANNIVERSARY HOME Limited edition Evora 400, celebrating 50 years of Hethel factory

Exclusive heritage colours

0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds; maximum speed of 186 mph

A significant anniversary requires a significant car and, Lotus is mark-ing 50 years since the founding of its famous factory with a limited Hethel Edition of its benchmark Evora 400. Available in three exclusive colours, with matching trim options and

a special commemorative build plate, the Hethel Edition Evora 400 combines high performance with Lotus’ legendary chassis develop-ment. Winning the praise of customers and the motoring press since its launch, the Evora 400 weighs in at just 1,395 kg and epitomises

Lotus’ approach to efficient engineering. The Hethel Edition Evora 400 is the first in a series of special products and events marking this important mile-stone in the company’s history, when, in 1966, founder Colin Chapman moved Lotus to the purpose-built facility in Hethel,Norfolk. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, “The Evora 400 is the latest in a long line of world-beating sports and racing cars to have all been hand built in Hethel over the last 50 years. We are immensely proud to be part of the community and it is entirely fitting that this limited edition be dedicated to our home. We’re looking forward to celebrating our connections to Norfolk throughout 2016, and more Lotus Hethel Anniversary news will be announced soon”. As well as marking 50 years in Norfolk, the Hethel Edition allows Lotus fans to enjoy some of the company’s iconic colour schemes. Buyers can choose between Essex Blue,


Motorsport Black, and Racing Green when ordering the Hethel Edition 400, with either black or red leather or Alcantara interior trim availa-ble depending on bodywork colour. Every Hethel Edition 400 comes with lightweight silver forged aluminium wheels, and contrasting brake callipers, while bespoke graphics complete the car’s distinctive look. The Hethel Edition 400 perfectly illustrates how customers can per-sonalise their vehicle through the Lotus Exclusive programme. Devel-oped by the Lotus Design team, the programme combines traditional British craftsmanship with modern design. It has been conceived to inspire customers, allowing them to tailor vehicles to their personal taste. With a comprehensive array of options, it provides an alluring alternative to an off-the-peg sports car.

About the Evora 400 Representing a significant development over the previous model, the Evora 400 has established itself one of the most significant Lotus mod-els for a generation. Developed through Lotus’ Lightweight Laboratory concept, the car is 42 kg lighter than its predecessor, thanks to a host of weight-saving measures. As a result, the limited edition Evora 400 accelerates from 0-60 mph in just 4.1 seconds (0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds) and deliv-ers a maximum speed of 186 mph (300 km/h). The Evora 400 is ca-pable of lapping theNorfolk site’s challenging test track in 1 minute 31 seconds. Over two thirds of the Lotus Evora 400 has been revised, including its supercharged and charge-cooled, mid-mounted, 3.5-litre V6 engine, which produces 400 hp and 410 Nm of torque. This complements a revised aluminium chassis, which offers increased torsional rigidity and reduced weight. However, the Evora 400 doesn’t just rely on its lightweight engineer-ing to deliver remarkable performance. The car’s efficient composite body, flat-floor, sizable rear diffuser and three-element rear wing have all boosted airflow management, drastically improving aerody-namics and effectively doubling downforce. The Lotus Evora 400 enjoys a high specification as standard, includ-ing 370 mm composite two-piece brake discs from AP Racing, a Lim-ited Slip Differential (LSD), automatic air-conditioning and infotain-ment system with satellite navigation. Cost options include auto-matic transmission and cruise control. A number of manual gearbox enhancements have greatly improved shift quality, delivering swift and precise gear changes. The Torsen-type LSD is fitted as standard with the manual, to give better traction when exiting fast corners. The automatic option has also been im-proved, with a reprogrammed gearbox ECU for faster changes, while gear selection is via lightweight aluminium paddles mounted to the steering wheel. The car also features Lotus’ Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) which, selected via a dashboard switch, provides ‘Sport’ and ‘Race’ settings. Proportionally increasing throttle response, lowering traction slip thresholds and removing understeer recognition, it allows a greater degree of driver indulgence before the system intervenes. The Evora 400 features a revised interior, fusing elegance and func-tionality. As befitting a hand-built car, the cabin uses the highest quality materials, including Alcantra and leather, while the driver orientated layout provides ergonomically optimised controls. Pas-senger space is improved, with greater legroom and wider rear seats, and the chassis revisions have increased the size of the door aperture, making it easy to enter and exit the Evora.

LOTUS NEWS

50TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION EVORA 400

6 — EDITION No. 61 — JULY 2016


Allan Walton details the competition history of a famous Formula Junior single-seater – a car once raced by the legendary Jim Clark. 1960 Lotus 18 Formula Junior Words by Allan Walton Photos by Quinn Hamill Although the Formula Junior racing class, formed by Count ‘Johnny’ Lurani in 1958, was fast becoming very popular as a nursery for nov-ice single-seat drivers, Lotus founder Colin Chapman initially showed little interest. Chapman, along with John Cooper, actually attended a FIA sub-committee meeting at Monza in September 1958 to discuss the proposed Formula Junior series. While Cooper was enthusiastic, Chapman was unmoved – he had had little interest in designing a Lotus FJ car. However, Chapman’s mind was changed when, at the 1959 UK Motor Show, he discovered that many other small British firms were getting in on the FJ act. At that time Lotus was already pondering a new design for its F1 cars, and the sudden flood of enthusiasm for Formula Junior persuad-ed Chapman to take the opportunity to build a simpler lighter and easier to maintain single-seater that could do double duty as both a Formula Junior and Formula One car.

The result was the Lotus 18, easily one of the most advanced racing car designs up to that time. Although it has to be said, while the Lotus 18 – in Formula Junior form – would dominate that race series in 1960, the F1 version was less successful, at least for the Lotus works team, although that was more about lack of engine power than the car itself. Designing the Lotus 18 The key to Chapman’s design for the 18 was simplicity. To achieve this, Lotus looked to reduce power loss by keeping the car’s frontal area to an absolute minimum, and to ensure that the centre of gravi-ty was low. Due to the formula’s imposed weight limit there would be

little advantage gained from a very advanced engine and, with only production-based engines allowed, tuning would be restricted. In order to fulfil all these requirements, Chapman quickly realised he would have to follow Cooper’s lead by mounting the engine in the rear of the new car. However, unlike Cooper’s relatively straight-forward approach to race car building (chalk-marks on the workshop floor) and set to work on a carefully conceived, multitubular space-frame chassis – pouring all the race-car experience he had into the car’s design. In Formula Junior form, the Lotus 18 was powered by Cosworth’s rendition of the Ford Anglia 105E engine which was guaranteed by

Cosworth to produce at least 56kW (75hp). The Cosworth engine was bolted onto a Renault gearbox via a pur-pose-built Lotus bell-housing, the ’box being inverted to allow the pinions to revolve in their normal direction. Both four and five-speed ’boxes were available: the four-speeder as used in the Renault Gor-dini/ Floride; and the five-speed from the Redele. Generally, though,

The Lotus 18 was easily one of the most advanced racing car designs up to that time.

NEW ZEALAND’S MOST FAMOUS LOTUS 18—The History


Anatomy of a Race Car 1960 Lotus 18 Formula Junior

Printed with permission of New Zealand Classic Car Magazine



the five-speed unit was used with fifth blanked off – this allowed for closer ratios – but the fourspeed box was a more reliable unit. The gear change was a standard ‘H’ pattern, with the gear lever being mounted to the left of the driver. The brakes were finned aluminium drums all-around. For Formula One racing, the 18 retained all the FJ’s features, but added in a much more powerful 2495cc Coventry-Climax FPF deliver-ing around 177kW (237bhp) and, of course, better brakes to hold back that additional power. Girling disc brakes were used, with 269mm Girling units mounted outboard at the front, while the rear 244mm Girling brakes were mounted inboard. In F1 form, the Lotus 18 would record the first ever F1 victory for Lotus when Stirling Moss, racing for Rob Walker’s privateer team, trounced ostensibly much more powerful rivals to win the 1960 Mon-aco GP – a feat he would repeat in 1961. Formula Junior Debut The prototype 18FJ – which had gone from drawing board to run-ning example in only five weeks – was finished just in time for official practice at the Brands Hatch BRSCC Boxing Day race meeting. Lotus had not even had time to paint the car, and it appeared with a bare aluminium body. The 18 presented an unusual sight for those used to the more usual sleek Lotus lines, with many onlookers pronouncing the car to be ugly. However, as far as Chapman was concerned the body did what he had intended to achieve – it clothed the chassis and presented the smallest frontal area to the wind as possible. As well, those present could not have failed to notice that this was the first Lotus to be fitted with a rear-engine. For that Boxing Day meeting, the 18 should have been fitted with one of the new Cosworth MkII engines, but Cosworth was having difficulties getting its first production engine fully sorted. Because of this, the prototype had been fitted with a standard engine equipped with twin Webers and a full-race manifold. The correct springs had also failed to arrive in time for the race, the only ones available being too soft. However, as practice got under way the flywheel in Graham Warn-er’s Gemini broke and, very gracefully, the Gemini team donated its racing Ford engine to Lotus. Rolling up their shirt sleeves, Colin Chap-man and Mike Costin quickly fitted the engine into the 18 – having also to replace a damaged crankshaft with a standard unit. Alan Stacey drove the 18, starting from fourth on the grid. His fast-est lap time in the Lotus was only slightly slower than that of Chris Threlfall’s winning Elva, but lack of correct springs and an ‘off’ into a bank meant the best Stacey could achieve was seventh. Coincidental-ly, this race would also see Jim Clark’s single-seater racing debut in a Gemini FJ. Into Production The production version of the Lotus 18FJ – now fitted with a painted fibreglass body – made its debut at the BRSCC Racing Car Show. Lotus took a dozen orders during the course of the show, a good indication of the upsurge in interest for the FJ series. In order to keep sales de-mand strong, Lotus fielded a three-car team for the 1960 race sea-son. The drivers were Jim Clark, Trevor Taylor and Mike McKee (later rep laced by Peter Arundell), all of whom showed immense talent behind the wheel of a racing car. At that time Chapman very clearly had Clark marked for an F1 drive, however, Clark was already signed to Aston Martin, which was devel-oping an F1 car. In the event, when this car arrived it was too late and uncompetitive. As a result, Clark would get his first F1 drive in a Lotus in June, 1960 at Zandvoort. Clark’s position in Team Lotus also proved

to a bone of contention for its current F1 driver, Innes Ireland, and Lotus 18FJ driver Mike McKee recalls that Ireland was furious when Clark was brought into the Lotus F1 team. Ireland’s future was on the line and, 18 months later, he was gone. In any event, the 1960 FJ season was virtually a whitewash for the Lotus 18, and virtually every single FJ race in the UK was won by an 18. Down in the clubman ranks, those who wished to do well rapidly realised they needed a Lotus 18 and, indeed, the tiny Cosworth powered Lotus absolutely dominated Formula Junior racing. As a result the older front-engine FJ cars were simply blown away and, by the end of the 1960 season, rear-engined FJ racers were on the draw-ing boards of every potential Lotus rival. As ever in racing, to stand still is to lose ground and, for the 1961 season, Lotus replaced the 18 with the 20; a logical development of the earlier car. Although the works team swapped over to the 20 for 1960, Lotus 18 drivers would continue to be successful throughout


Top—Jim Clark Middle—Peter Arundell’s Lotus 18FJ chases down Mike McKee’s similar Lotus at Silverstone (Photo courtesy of Mike McKee) Bottom—Jim Palmer



the short life of the Formula Junior series. And, of course, today Lotus 18s still compete in national clubman and classic car racing. The F1-version of the 18, initially powered by the Coventry-Climax V8, received 1.5-litre engines in 1961 when Formula One was down-graded to F2 specifications – making the Lotus 18 quite possibly the only single-seat racer ever to have successfully spanned three sepa-rate racing formulae. Lotus 18FJ #703: History Number 703’s first competition outing was the opening FJ race of the season, the BARC Formula Junior Championship race at Goodwood on March 19, with Jim Clark behind the wheel. Clark romped home in first place ahead of John Surtees’ Cooper T52 and Trevor Taylor’s Lotus 18. This was the first ever victory for a Lotus rear-engined single-seater. In fact, it was only the second ever win for a Lotus single-seater – the first being an Ivor Bueb win at a small F2 race meeting in a Lotus 12. The Lotus18s also set a new FJ lap record. Lotus’ FJ testing programme had begun very slowly – which led to Clark racing #703, an early example – probably because the factory was concentrating on building the Formula One version of the 18, which Innes Ireland was down to race in Argentina. Mike McKee from the Jim Russell Driving School at Goodwood han-dled much of the Lotus 18 Formula Junior testing programme. It was McKee who wrote off one of the development cars at Snetterton – with both Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth in attendance – when someone temporarily put a split pin, rather than a bolt, half way down the steering column when McKee was driving the car as a semi-works entry. Today McKee, now close to 72, runs an art gallery in Monaco – Mon-aco Fine Arts, opposite the Casino – and, in recalling the Snetterton incident many years later, in 2005, he said the Lotus’ steering went “wooshy” through the esses before he suddenly ended up on his back, jammed under the car against a sand bank. “Not funny,” he recalled! After serving Jim Clark well, #703 was taken over by McKee, who made his first appearance in the car at the Oulton Park Cup race in 1960. Although ostensibly part of the Lotus works team, McKee and

#703 had switched to the Jim Russell Racing team by the time of the Chichester Cup race at Goodwood in 1960 – #703, having been pur-chased off Colin Chapman by Jim Russell, with McKee providing £400 towards the purchase price. McKee drove the car for the rest of the 1960 season in the UK and in Europe. At the end of the year #703 was sold, and even today, McKee swears he is still owed the £400 he had supplied for the car’s original purchase. Jim Palmer and the 18 Number 703 was then shipped to New Zealand, and Jim Palmer raced the car over here during 1961, debuting the Lotus at Ardmore for the NZIGP. Alas, the small capacity 997cc engine in the Lotus did not pro-vide sufficient power for the long, open Ardmore circuit, and he was unable to qualify for the NZIGP. He did, however, win the supporting FJ race. Palmer was far more successful with the car on smaller circuits, winning his heats at Levin and taking out wins at the Renwick 50 and the Ivon Parton Memorial Trophy. Palmer also raced the Lotus 18 at Wigram, Dunedin and the Waimate 50 – retiring from each race. However, he scored sixth place at the fourth Teretonga International meeting. Ross Greenville bought the car in July 1961, his first event being the Otorohanga Sprint where he set second fastest time of the day. Greenville replaced the original 105E-based Cosworth engine with a 1340cc Ford 190E motor and scored 12th place at the NZIGP in Janu-ary 1962. He then went on to become first Kiwi home at the rain-swept Levin International – apparently after receiving a spot of coaching from Stirling Moss. At Wigram, Greenville tussled with Bill Thomasen and the Lotus shed a wheel. A damaged crankshaft forced Greenville to revert to the original 997cc engine. Later, he would qualify second fastest at Dunedin but didn’t finish the race; he also recorded a DNF at Ohakea and finished sixth in the Waimate 50. Greenville, preparing to race a Gemini in the UK (where he would lose a leg after a serious race accident), sold the Lotus to Peter Slo-cumbe who would race the car from 1963 to 1965, with occasional



10 — EDITION No. 61— JULY 2016

drives by John Swann. After that #703 passed to Vic Blackburn and, during his ownership, several drivers – such as Martyn England, Peter Leversedge and Peter Knight – raced the car. Roger McLoughlin then owned the car, fitting a 1475cc Ford engine. Other owners of #703 included Derek Hall, Frank Coutts and Greg Harris. Paul Tavan eventually acquired the Lotus as a collection of parts, then sold the lot to veteran single-seat racer, Kenny Smith. The car, sold again, then travelled across the Tasman to Australia. The Lotus was initially restored in Adelaide by Rob Butcher on behalf of the new owner. However, the car’s original panels were lost during a typical Aussie bush fire around 1983 – at that time the Lotus was in storage at Butcher’s house and, with the fire encroaching on his property, he took the decision to move the body panels to the driveway as he feared his garage would catch fire. As it happened, the garage sur-vived the bush fire, but a burning tree fell over the driveway and damaged the Lotus’ body. Birthday Lotus Little of its subsequent history in Australia is known but, finally, #703 returned to New Zealand in 2003 – having been purchased by Keith Abbott’s son (Craig) and his wife. The car was presented to Keith as a 60th birthday present – with none other than Jim Palmer driving it for the presentation. It was a moving experience for Keith, who admits that he became a Formula Junior, Jim Clark and Lotus 18 fan all the way back in 1960. In fact, Keith had bicycled out to Ardmore for the 1961 NZIGP to watch Palmer race the Lotus – little did he know that he would one day own the same car. Today, the Lotus 18 has been fully restored back to the form in which Palmer raced it at Ardmore including Palmer’s race number; 60.


Mike McKee on the Lotus 18FJ “I did not race too many times against Jimmy Clark in the Lotus 18 but I do remember the first time was at Goodwood. Jimmy, Trevor Taylor and I were on the front of the grid [see page 11—Ed]. I got a good start and led for the first few laps with Jimmy sitting in my rear view mir-rors. He then passed me and we continued this ding-dong battle, which he won. I did not realise the significance at the time. I still have the Autosport cutting – Clark v McKee – and the brief description of this tussle. “Jimmy was a very quick driver as we all know, but was also very determined to win. I can still remember coming up inside him and touching wheels and he never gave way.” “Trevor and Pete Arundell were rather more gentlemanly. We did not fight too much on the track because we were so much faster that the other marques. I do remember being happy if I went to a meeting without with the other team drivers, life was much easier. “The only incident I can remember having with #703 was at the hairpin bend at Snetterton, when one of the rear wheels came off whilst braking for this corner. The wheel actually passed me but went straight on and over the grandstand. It landed on the roof of someone’s car, which modified the car’s shape somewhat! I managed to control the Lotus with three wheels. It was a faulty design in the hub that broke. The same thing happened to Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor in the Lotus FI on the same weekend, but somewhere on the continent.” [The Belgian GP at Spa was the location. Moss loss a wheel at 140 mph and was severely injured. Mike Taylor’s accident also at Belgium, was caused by a steering failure. Mike successfully sued Lotus over the incident—Ed] “The next day the owner of car damaged at Snetterton kindly returned the wheel to the garage which looked after the car, and demanded compensation for his damaged car. I referred him to the owner of the circuit who pointed out that on the back of all entry tickets, and in the car parks, the notice said that ‘motor racing is dangerous – you attend or park at your own risk’, so I heard no more.”

Mike McKee in #703 tackles a wet circuit— note the nose cone stripes. These were still on the car when Jim Palmer raced it at the 1961 NZIGP at Ardmore. (Photo courtesy of Mike McKee)

Lotus 18 Snippets

Some significant facts about the Lotus 18: The Lotus 18 was the first and perhaps only multi-Formula car – covering three formulas: FJ, F2 and F1. Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor dominated Formula Junior racing in 1960 and, in F1 form, the Lotus 18 also gave Stirling Moss his first Lotus victory – and Lotus’s first F1 victory. The arrival of the Lotus 18 killed the Italian small single-seater race industry almost overnight – firms like Stanguellini, Volpini, Tara-schi and others were simply outclassed. UK front-engine FJ builders such as Lola, Gemini and Elva had to quickly rethink their technology after the Lotus 18’s arrival, all these firms soon switching to rear-engined cars.


Above—Chassis #703 is being driven by Mike McKee Left—Car number 22 on the left is chassis #703 being driven to victory by Jim Clark on the 19th March 1960. It was Jim Clarks first ever race in a Lotus. This was the second ever Lotus single seater victory and the first ever victory by a rear engine single seater Lotus and the first ever victory by a Ford powered single seater Lotus.




#703’s Current Ownership Chassis #703 is now owned by Chris Atkinson and John Kohuri. Chris is the lucky man who gets to race the car but that is another story. Look out for the Chris’s report on the car in a later issue of EDITION. History of Formula Junior Formula Junior (FJ), as a racing class, began in October 1958. Started by Count ‘Johnny’ Lurani, FJ was founded to allow young drivers to learn their race-craft in an inexpensive single-seater. The original FJ regulations called for cars to be powered by a pro-duction-based 1000cc engine and an all-up weight of less than 1746kg (792lb). If the car weighed 1940kg (880lb), an 1100cc engine could be used. Transmissions also had to come from a production car. Single or twin overhead camshafts and limited-slip differentials were disallowed but, significantly, there were no rules as to where the engine was located. During the first year of FJ racing, the Italianmade Volpini, Taraschi and Stanguellini (all looking like miniature Maserati 250Fs) ruled the roost – Swiss driver, Michael May, winning the first International Championship for Formula Juniors in 1959 driving a Stanguellini. Italian manufacturers favoured a front-mounted 1100cc Millicento Fiat motor. There were few production-based engines that could accommodate the strict rules. Germany produced DKW-powered FJ cars, the French using Peugeot and DB engines. In the UK, the Elva 100 was the first FJ car to start in a British race, and that was soon joined by FJs from Gemini and Lola. Cooper also entered in FJ racing, utilising the chassis from its current F1 car fitted with a BMC A-series engine. The Cooper FJ was, of course, rear-engined. When Lotus chose to enter FJ racing, it changed everything. The 18 was a much more so-phisticated racer than the Cooper, and it also took advantage of Cos-worth’s new for 1959, Anglia-based engines. With its rear-mounted engine, low frontal area and light weight, the Lotus 18 effectively drove the old-style FJ cars off the track. In 1963, Lotus had revolution-ised FJ racing with the monocoque Lotus 27. By that time, there were more than 500 manufacturers worldwide building FJ cars, and this hothouse racing environment was responsible for advancing technol-ogy and car design quite considerably – benefits which would even bleed off into grand prix cars of the era. However, this rapid

advancement and popularity proved to be FJ’s downfall – the cars had been meant to provide an inexpensive way for young drivers to experience single-seater racing, but with greater technology came greater expense. With costs escalating, the FJ racing series finally finished at the end of the 1963 season, its place taken by the equally short-lived Formula 3. Formula V and Formula Ford would eventually provide the cheap motor sport originally intended for FJ. Today, Formula Juniors can still be seen performing in classic racing—not surprising, as so many cars were produced between 1969—1963. Alan Walton and NZ Classic Car Magazine acknowledges Keith Ab-bott, Craig Abbott and the late Mike McKee for their invaluable assis-tance in preparing this article.


Lotus 18 Snippets

Mike McKee, who had driven a number of Cooper T45 and T51s, said the handling of the Lotus 18 was a quantum step forward from the Coopers, rendering them redundant. Such was the speed of the first Lotus 18 F1 car driven by Innes Ireland in Argentina, that Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren spent the whole of the flight back to the UK conceiving the Cooper T53 Lowline. At Monaco in 1960 for the Formula Junior race, Jim Clark put his Lotus 18 FJ with a 997cc Ford engine on pole at 1.45s – just one second slower than Fangio’s time four years earlier in the Lancia-Ferrari D50. Also at Monaco in 1960, Stirling Moss was asked to test the Scarab F1 car. Driving flat-out in the F1 car, Moss could not even match Jim Clark’s Lotus 18FJ pole position time


HETHEL—THE SECOND TIME

About 4 years ago on a trip to the UK we took the guided tour around the Lotus factory in Hethel and Classic Team Lotus based just down the road from the main factory. At that time Lotus did not know its future, deep in the throws of what appears to be a regular parent take-over. Needless to say production was minimal, workers were standing around in groups and as much as our guide tried to talk it up there was a feeling of doom and despondency about the place. A couple of guys on the tour were over from Germany just to visit the factory to see if they could find the new car they had ordered and paid a deposit on. That was 2012. So in April this year when I went over to the UK my pal in Suffolk sug-gested we go back again and have another look. Why not!!!! The security at the gate hadn't changed. Lotus seems to do that well. We weren't allowed in until pretty well all the visitors were forming a line outside and strangely enough there was a good sprinkling of Por-sches'. We are then sent up to the old air force control tower for tea and bickies and given a relaxed introduction by the guide Ben to the Lotus History. Legend has it that Chapman fell out with the Town

Council in Cheshunt among other things, so set a criteria for a new location. Within 100 miles of London, have its own runway for the "company plane" and test track for the cars, so it had to be away from large towns. And so it still is. Ben said “Please stay within the yellow walkways and do not enter any area that says KEEP OUT”. Yeah yeah been here before, done that. “Production is in full swing” the man said, “producing about 100 cars a week. No cameras, no phones taking photos, or out!!” Crossing the apron from the control tower to the factories we didn't see too many cars standing about ready for collection, but then per-

haps they are in another building. The complex consists of the main build factory, another doing the paint on all body parts, they were busy, a hanger purporting to have been used by Colin and the famous track and control tower. The other part of the paint shop housed the gift shop and a very large definite “no go” area. Bodies and body parts brought in and are then prepared and painted by hand on special wheeled sledges to each specified order. When dry they are then taken across the main driveway to the main assem-bly line. There they meet up with their respective chassis. Body shells and aluminium chassis are built off site. Now when I did my apprenticeship in the British Leyland AEC factory the flowline moved at a set rate and was electrically powered. At Lotus the production lines move by manpower and when they want it to. There are basi-cally 2 lines, 1 for the Elise (Small Chassis) and the other for the Exige and the Evora. Seats are manufactured and covered in the factory but strangely enough none of the cars on the line at any point had seats in them. We weren’t allowed into the upholstery part so per-haps there was a problem.

Sticking within the yellow lines by halfway round had been forgotten about as we stopped and asked many of the guys working there ques-tions. Ben seemed to involved with chatting to other people as well as telling us about certain aspects of the building process and really didn’t seem that bothered. Alan who I went with found a notice board with the weeks production figures on it. “Nil-Monday”, “Nil-Tuesday” and it was Wednesday afternoon so there was going to have to be some intense work if they were to reach 100 for that week. Or per-haps the seats get fitted on Fridays. After all the components are fitted the now painted body is attached and all the other painted parts. There is only one robot and that is now used for accurately fitting doors. Having had to refit doors on my Elise I can under-stand why. In now time they were on and all with perfect shut lines. An amazing amount of time is spent in the finishing shop just ensuring that the finish is perfect. In there one of the

guys came over and asked if he had seen me before. It turns out that we had a chat the last time I went round. He had been with the com-pany over 25 years and obviously seen many changes with the takeo-vers. In each one, the staff had lost perks but they still got their pay and their pension was safe so he thought that it was just a sign of the times. Probably very true the world over. It’s a great visit to see everything in pieces and to ask the questions that you have always wanted the answers to. This year I believe they will complete the 100,000 production car (I stand to be corrected), I hope it will have seats, but it will still be a Lotus, it will still have that wonderful shape, it will still be basically a “kit” and if you wanted a new car would you buy a Lotus or a Porsche. I never will have that choice.

Andrew Denton writes about his second trip to Hethel

Above—This is the last photo you can take of the control tower and the hanger Colin used for “his” plane before you are asked to shut them off and leave them behind.


Then it’s down the road to Classic Team Lotus. No yellow lines, go where you want, talk to whoever you want, touch whatever you want, photograph everything and breathe in total nostal-gia. Classic is not part of the factory trip and has to be booked separately and it is worth every penny. No two trips inside will be the same as it depends on what cars they are working on at the time. Jim Clark’s mechanic is still there defying age and doing an immaculate job at a speed he wants. The job will al-ways be the best.

On our first trip Clive Chapman was there to have a chat and show us around. He opened plan drawers and let me actual-ly handle the original Lotus Eleven drawings done by Colin that I had only seen as copies in the Ortenburger book when I built mine. There were little bits of history there like the device they hastily made to protect their lap charts at Spa in the rain complete with the original chart. No Clive this time around but there are two staff in a front office organising trips away, booking ferries etc. and giving advice. Things are definitely on the way up for Classic Team Lotus.

Andrew

HETHEL - THE SECOND TIME


A wind tunnel mould

Above—The weather protected lap charts from Spa. Right—A list of all the work to be carried out on a type 76 that was in the shop be-fore it went to Monaco.


HETHEL—THE SECOND TIME


More photos from Classic Team Lotus


LOTUS RECEIVES A WARM WELCOME AT McLAREN

Tony Bagnall a member of Club Lotus in the UK reports on his trip to McLaren

The afternoon of 28 October 2015 witnessed my new wife Debbie sitting next to me in queuing traffic, in the rain, with little move-ment for the previous twenty minutes or so – welcome to the M4/M25 interchange. Having travelled from Cardiff we faced the pro-spect of another twenty-five miles to Woking at walking speed! Marginally faster than a brisk walk and well over an hour later we arrived at our destination the Wheatsheaf Ember Inn, Woking. It was dark, still raining and I needed to reverse my Esprit V8GT (with its excellent rear view) in a reserved parking place little wider than the car. Moreover, Peter Russell’s immaculate Evora was perilously close to my manoeuvrings. How did I find myself in this enviable position – yes, enviable position? Well, we were lucky enough to win the star prize at the Club Lotus Welsh Weekend in Portmeirion that was celebrating its 25th anniversary earlier this year. Our prize was a visit to the McLaren Technology Centre and lunch with Mike Flewitt, CEO McLaren Automotive Limited. I was in a Lotus about to visit McLaren - everything was well in my world! Particularly, as my last success at any raffle prior to winning this star prize was in 1974 – a 1lb bag of sugar – a rare commodity during those days of severe sugar shortages! We met with fellow Club Lotus friends, Elaine Avison-Spiers, Keith Dewar-Avison, Peter and Sharon Russell for dinner. Conversation flowed easily as we caught up with events since Portmeirion and

eagerly discussed the prospect of the following day’s visit to McLaren. Full of anticipation we enjoyed a wonderful night of good pub food, excellent Lotus chatter and some light liquid refreshment before retiring for the evening. Breakfast was a nimble affair given our arrival dinner and the prospect of a three course lunch with Mike. Luggage loaded, a short journey to the McLaren Technology Centre took all but ten minutes through light traffic – our Lotus convoy may have been small but it was beautifully formed - Lotus had arrived at McLaren! We were directed to our allocated parking whereupon we man-aged to park two Esprits and an Evora in the space reserved for one McLaren 570S – well nearly! Parking was rapidly characterising this venture (at least for me). Photo opportunities were at a premi-um given the no photography policy once we entered the McLaren Technology Centre. After negotiating the “McLaren Stepping


Stones” we were met by Amanda McLaren, daughter of Bruce McLar-en, on entry to the Centre. Her smile, accent and warm welcome set the tone for our visit in a remarkable and exceptional manner. Aman-da led the way to the hospitality suite where, over light refreshment, she explained the proposed outline of our visit; a two hour tour of the Centre followed by lunch with Mike, departure at 14:00hrs. In the

suite we were presented with our first opportunity to sit in McLaren’s latest 650S Spyder, in tarocco orange, which had recently returned from press duties. Amanda retains an encyclopaedic knowledge of McLaren. She shared her knowledge and personal family insight into McLaren’s history in a most generous and courteous manner. I can-not recall a question she did not answer in full – her past, current and future knowledge of McLaren is impressively delivered in her soft Kiwi accent. Meeting Amanda is an aspect of our visit that I will retain as a treasured memory. It was a joy to meet her; a sentiment also shared by my Club Lotus friends. McLaren Technology Group incorporates the F1 team and Advanced Technologies that Ron Dennis heads as CEO. The McLaren Technology Centre is a stunning, award winning building bursting with innovation – a wonderful work place! I am fortunate to have visited and worked in some of the most exceptional working environments - worldwide. The unique mix of location, people and ambience places McLaren amongst the very best I have experienced. Fronting the Centre is an amazing, naturally lit area referred to as the “Boulevard”. Iconic vehicles adorn the Boulevard floor-plan - most of which I have only read about, seen in photographs or at a distance at one or more Grands Prix. Driver names adorning the race cars read as an exemplar lexicon recording the very best in Formula 1 and Can-Am racing: the list includes Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, John Watson, James Hunt and the current World Champion Lewis Hamilton; an astonishing array of talent. The Boulevard also displays McLarens road cars, special “soap-box” project and racing bicycles. The first production McLaren P1 resides alongside a trio of priceless McLaren F1 road cars in various guises. Later in the tour, we also saw the last production P1 (chassis number 375) in the Production Centre. Column space does not permit a full account of all the Boulevard cars on display. A few that caught my eye are included below: CAN-AM McLaren M6A (1967) – Amanda explained that this car rep-resented a major turning point in McLaren’s fortunes, the M6A was the most successful car Robin Herd designed for the team in 1967. Amanda noted this was considered as one of the finest handling

machines of its time, the M6A helped Bruce McLaren and Denny Hul-me dominate the 1967 Can-Am series – the only team to win 100% of all the series races. The M6A was also the first McLaren to be painted in the team’s trademark Papaya Orange. McLaren MP4/1 (1981) - Arguably the most significant car in McLaren’s long history, the John Barnard designed MP4/1 was the

first carbon composite Formula 1 car. At the time use of carbon fibre was not universally accepted (particularly by our own Colin Chapman). However, when Watson crashed the MP4/1 doing 140mph at Monza, the controversy surrounding carbon fibre’s safety was concluded. The car split in half, the engine and gearbox separated, but the carbon monocoque structure remained intact. John Watson walked away uninjured. McLaren MP4/4 (1988) – The MP4/4 won 15 out of 16 races. Senna winning eight races to become World Champion. Senna and Prost also took first and second place an astonishing 10 times. However, this did not secure McLaren to 100% win record that the Team se-curedunder the Can-Am series. This record still eludes the Team to this day. McLaren M2B (1966) - McLaren made its Formula 1 debut in 1966 at the Monaco Grand Prix with a delightfully formed “mallite" mono-coque car – the M2B. Mallite is a true composite material – it is a laminate construct of aluminium and balsa wood. This car was a visi-tor to the Boulevard with its Indy Ford 4-cam V8 reduced from its Speedway-standard 4.2 litres capacity to the contemporary Formula 1 limit of 3 litres. Over lunch Mike told us that he had driven the car at the Goodwood Festival earlier in the year. In Formula 1 modified form the Ford engine was noted for being over-ported delivering some 300 HP over a very narrow rev-band – Amanda advised us that her Dad was disappointed in the car’s performance - Mike considered it plenty fast enough to scare him. The plethora of McLaren automotive history had us spoilt for choice and challenged if pressed to select a favourite. The only car on dis-play that was not a McLaren was also my favourite car! It was a red Austin Ulster (circa 1929). The car was bought in bits by Les McLaren(Bruce’s father) who had originally intended to restore and sell it. However, the then thirteen year-old Bruce convinced him that they could turn it into a race car. Together father and son rebuilt the car. The car was readied for competition by Les McLaren but raced by Bruce after his father was unable to race because of a recurring gall-stone condition. Now fifteen, an opportunity presented to Bruce to enter his first race at the Muriwai Beach hill climb came with a





fatherly imposed caveat – race it, if you damage it you’ll not race it again! Bruce recorded the fastest time, in the 750 class, winning the race. He subsequently went on to modify the little Austin improving its performance by 25% - a legend in the making, the story touchingly told to us by his daughter Amanda! Closer observation of the car revealed rear tyre scuff marks on the body work. Whilst stationary, I could place three fingers between the body and the tyre indicating the degree of chassis flex in the little Austin. Over lunch, Later Mike would regale us with his view of Bruce McLaren “Bruce measured life in achievement. A Grand Prix winning racing driver, pioneering race car designer and the founder of the most successful Formula 1 team in history, he achieved an astonishing amount in his tragically short thirty-two years”. The McLaren Production Centre was launched by McLaren Automo-tive and has undergone a period of considerable expansion. Our tour included a visit to the new Production Centre connected to the Tech-nology Centre by a tunnel. True to form the tunnel exuded the same attention to detail intrinsic to McLaren cars – the slate floor design to the aluminium extrusion adorning the walls – finished to the same exacting standards as the McLaren product portfolio. The Production Centre is a two story building of which a single story is visible above ground-level. Sub-components are assembled on the lower-level and vehicle assembly on the upper-level. This is a true mix of McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive operating side-by-side. On entry, our elevated view of the Production Centre was inspiring – better still Amanda informed us she had permission to take us onto the Production floor-plate – a privilege accentuated by our promise not to touch anything – we dutifully complied. Frank Stephenson is the Design Director at McLaren Automotive. Amanda explained that Frank was Design Director at Ferrari and Ma-serati where he was responsible for the Ferrari 430, Ferrari 612, Ma-serati MC12 and Quattroporte. His design cues originate from nature, particularly animals noted for speed and agility such as the cheetah. Those cues are evident in the array of road cars in various stages of completion in the Production Centre. Next time you see a McLaren 675LT or a 650S look at the headlights you will note the McLaren logo designed into the illuminated nacelle. We paused at the final inspec-tion bay where a 650S Coupe and a 675LT await final quality checks before customer despatch – in the bay a striking mantis green 570S is under final inspection scrutiny. All three exam-

ples exude the “shrink-rapped” body signatures in archetypical form. Three of McLaren’s astonishing premier road cars reside in touching distance – but we remember our promise - hands remain firmly posi-tioned! Lunch with Mike Flewitt – CEO, McLaren Automotive Amanda guided our small group from the Production Centre to the Technology Centre to meet with Mike for lunch. Mike greeted us with the same smile and warmth as that extended by Amanda upon arri-val. We made our introductions and were seated for lunch. Despite his astute professional business demeanour, Mike is quite a shy and private person. From the onset our conversation streamed effortless-ly – Mike was amongst Lotus friends. Corporate loyalties aside, Mike is a true Lotus enthusiast of some standing owning and restoring a brace of two early Elans; he and his wife competitively race one of them. He has added to his Lotus stable with the recent acquisition of a Lotus Elite. Clearly, Mike shares the same passion for Lotus as that held by our-selves. Having spent over thirty-five years in the automotive sector, his view of Lotus was both candid and insightful. Clearly, he would be delighted to see Lotus achieve the same level of success as that en-joyed by McLaren. Both companies share similar historical heritage but they are also a world apart! Mike has yet to visit Hethel – given his role as CEO of McLaren Automotive we mused at the incongruity of a potential visit to Lotus! That would certainly get the press pages turning as fast as a McLaren P1 GTR! He would be delighted to visit Lotus purely as an enthusiast but it is highly unlikely under the cir-cumstances. Would he like to be the CEO of Lotus Cars?Momentarily looking upwards with a thoughtful and smiling hmmmm...... said it all! Collectively, we thought he would! Lunch provided a fabulous insight into McLaren Automotive from the CEO’s standpoint. Mike is justifiably proud of his company and its flagship model - the McLaren P1. The car is a hybrid. It is capable of gliding quietly through town solely on electric power as well as blasting from 0 to 62mph in less than three seconds! It will also reach its theoretical top speed of 217mph (from Amanda’s knowledge re-pository earlier on the tour). He is keen to stress that the P1 does not attract London emission charges from Boris and is the only supercar to reside under the “gas guzzler” threshold across the Atlantic. An efficient power train that is cleaner and greener underpins the core of the McLaren Automotive product range.



Mike maintains “McLaren is a technology company as much as it is a car manufacturer”. Late last year, McLaren opened four new showrooms in China, its biggest growth market where the average age of a P1 purchaser is just twenty-seven! Success in China is predicated on the P1 – Mike is keen to extol the virtues of the McLaren F1 that he considers rede-fined the very concept of the supercar when it was launched in 1993. He believes its spiritual successor, the McLaren P1, would do the same some twenty years later. Peter had expressed a real interest in the three seat layout of the F1 cabin. We asked Mike if the company had plans to produce a future car in this configuration. McLaren cus-tomers had also posed the same question – the company had re-searched the option. Whilst the proposition was interesting, Mike considered that target market legislation would presently preclude

such development – but it was still an open option. Departure Clearly, Mike Flewitt is a busy man. Our planned departure was scheduled for 14:00hrs which coincided with a teleconference in Mike’s diary. At Mike’s request, we left our lunch table in time for Mike to see our cars. En route he serviced two telephone calls inquir-ing of his whereabouts but he still made time to see our cars. Obliga-tory photographs safely ensconced in our cameras a quick discussion ensued whereupon we made our farewell to Mike and thanked him for his kind hospitality. Amanda McLaren also accompanied us to our cars. She bid us goodbye with the same engaging smile and courteous manner that greeted us upon arrival. I imagine an independent as-sessment of McLaren would register Amanda as ranking close to the top of McLaren’s assets. She is a respected ambassador for McLaren. Of course we were in the company of our own respected ambassador for Lotus – Elaine Avison-Spiers! As we left, standing in the rain, cam-era to hand the customary hand signals from Elaine issued directions for us to drive into the covered entrance of the Centre. Pausing under her direction, Elaine took several photographs of our departure. We bestow our ambassador with the same esteem and adoration as that enjoyed by Amanda at McLaren. With the sound of a Lotus V8 reverberating around the Centre’s amphitheatre-like entrance we waved cheerio to a now soaking wet Elaine! As we slowly negotiated the Centre’s causeway I noticed the distinctive Norfolk Yellow image of my car dancing across the curved glass facade that delineates the Boulevard’s internal profile; yet an-other memory of the day. As we crossed the lake we reflected on the

aesthetic functionality of this impressive building. Nothing is simply for show. The lake serves as the cooling source for the 4gW wind tunnel. The water then heats or cools the building at a constant 22o Celsius. McLaren is independently appraised as a carbon neutral com-pany. The building profile and topography of the locale brings the causeway and the staff restaurant closer together. We saw the staff enjoying their break. In fact, so close that we saw hundreds of eyes looking in our direction watching our departure. To my mind, there is no doubt that these good folk are extremely fortunate to work at McLaren. Unequivocally, I consider that our good fortune exceeded theirs – after all, we were driving home in a Lotus! Article: Tony Bagnall Pictures: Elaine Avison-Spiers

Article printed with permission of Club Lotus News


The announcement that a LEGO Caterham kit is to go into pro-duction was greeted with great enthusiasm. It turns out that no one is more excited than the kit’s designer Carl Geatrix. We caught up with him soon after he had returned from a visit to LEGO HQ in Billund, Denmark to discuss the kit going into pro-duction. “I don’t think I’ve been this excited since I was seven years old!” Carl told us. “I simply cannot wait for it to hit the shelves. It’s been a huge achievement to get to this point, and at times the project pretty much took over my life. We got to 10,000 votes within just six of the 12 months allowed and I want to thank everyone who got behind the project, including so many Lotus Seven Club members. During this time, I got used to promoting the project on a daily basis - phone interviews, email interviews, co-ordinating media pushes, and constantly revising the models to meet LEGO's set standards. It was the enforced down-time once we’d hit the target that hit me hardest though. There was a three month wait before it entered the review process, fol-lowed by four months waiting for the result. There was nothing further I could do. I had to try to forget all about it, which after being so active previously, proved quite difficult. However, the wait was well worth it. Seeing the official video announcement from LEGO made it feel very real and I have to confess that I jumped out of my chair, punching the air, shouting ‘YES, we did it!’ Not very cool for a forty seven year old. I’d known there was something special about my Caterham kit design from the first time I showed it at the ‘Brick’ show in 2014. So many people there told me that they loved it, and asked where they could get it. I am really happy that we will be able

CATERHAM LEGO IS GO

Lowflying, the UK’s Lotus Seven Club’s Magazine reports on LEGO’s

must have new set

The moment a mocked up box was put into my hand was one

that I will never forget

Carl Geatrix with a prototype


More Miscellaneous

Non competitive Track Days

BRUCE McLAREN MOTORSPORT PARK—TAUPO

CARS PLAYDAY TAUPO Saturday 9thJULY $150 PLAYDAY TAUPO PRESTIGE Saturday 9th JULY $270 Road cars only, slicks are not permitted. Qualifies for track day insurance cover but check with your insurance company well in advance. Maximum of 10 cars only for this group. PLAYDAY TAUPO Sunday 31st JULY $150 This day we are running 2 groups of cars and 2 groups of bikes. PLAYDAY TAUPO ` Friday 19th August $150 This day we are running 2 groups of cars and 2 groups of bikes. PLAYDAY TAUPO Friday 16th September $150 PLAYDAY TAUPO PRESTIGE Friday 16th September $270 Road cars only, slicks are not permitted. Qualifies for track day insurance cover but check with your insurance company well in advance. Maximum of 10 cars only for this group.

BIKES PLAYDAY TAUPO Sunday 31st JULY $150 This day we are running 2 groups of cars and 2 groups of bikes. PLAYDAY TAUPO Friday 19th August $150 This day we are running 2 groups of cars and 2 groups of bikes. MOTO TT TAUPO Friday 2nd September $150 Four speed groups, from novice to expert. MOTO TT TAUPO Friday 30th September $150 Four speed groups, from novice to expert.

MANFEILD

CARS FLATNATS (Subaru only) Saturday 10th September Almost sold out but get in touch if you have a Subaru More Manfield dates to come To secure a place at an event please make payment as detailed below. Option 1 Please put your email address in Event Finda so we can email you details of when to be there on the day etc Option 2 and save a couple of dollars Pay by direct credit to PLAYDAY, 03 0698 0485598-00 giving your name as the reference or if you don’t have internet banking deposit the money at any Westpac and use your cell ph number as the reference. Please drop us a quick email once you have made the payment just to ensure we have matched the payment correctly. [email protected] We will email you as soon as your payment appears in our account, to confirm your place at the event. Please DO NOT phone or text the confirmation of your payment. About 3 to 4 days before the event we will send an email to everybody who has paid, with further details of the day. 03 0698 0485598-00 Playday on Track Ltd Phone Gary anytime 021 133 0111

PACKARD & PIONEER MUSEUM

to make their wish a reality. Without this interest, I would never have thought about putting the design forward through ‘LEGO Ideas’, so I'm happy for everyone who supported me, and obviously pretty proud of myself too! It took a few days to sink in just what a hum-bling achievement it was. My model design will be an official LEGO set, available in practically every LEGO retail shop around the world - it really is every LEGO modeller’s ultimate dream. I’ve just returned from LEGO HQ in Denmark where I had a series of meetings about the project. Many of the details have to be kept confidential at this stage, but what I can say is that I have seen LEGO's updated version of my designs, and was absolutely blown away. I’d expected they would have to make some compromises for design and strength, and was worried I might have been unhappy with the outcome. However, the actual results far exceeded my expectations; The model looks absolutely awesome. I want one now, but I can’t have it yet! One thing I did learn is that every Ideas-approved model based on a product where approval needs to be sought from the company own-ing the intellectual property (such as Caterham), has to be vetted by one of LEGO's highest ranking designers before it is passed to the designer responsible for bringing it to market. Photos of my model were given to top designer Jamie Berard for inspection, who appar-ently said “If Carl has designed this, I do not need to look at it, as it will be as close to the original as it is possible to be". I was told to feel very proud of myself for having that kind of reputation within

the LEGO company… The designer who was assigned to my kit absolutely shares my pas-sion for it. He's one of LEGO'S senior designers, who specialises in vehicles and who has been with the company for something like thirty years. Having been being blown by the updated model, I moved on to a meeting about the box art. The moment a mocked up box was put into my hand was one that I will never forget; I went very quiet, to the point they had to check I was OK. I was just taking the moment in – I had a LEGO box in my hand, with images of my model on it. It was the moment when everything finally hit home - a life’s dream come true. It will be great to go back and tell people that the kit will be available to purchase Everyone of course wants details on pricing, release date, colour, part count, etc. but I am currently bound by confidentiality agree-ments. All I can say is that these details will come out nearer the time, and it’ll be worth the wait! Until then, I’m going to enjoy the ride of promoting this future release. I am attending Caterham’s showroom open day in Crawley on Easter Monday; I was there last year pushing for votes and it will be great to now go back and tell people that the kit will be available to purchase in future. Caterham have also offered to lend me one of their cars for the weekend later in the year, something that I am very much looking forward to.”

CATERHAM LEGO IS GO

mailto:[email protected]


MISCELLANEOUS

Before heading off overseas Dave Gowenlock couldn’t go without a trip around the South Island. Why wouldn’t you.


More Miscellaneous

Some fairly serious history with these cars. They belong to Denise Ganley. The seven is a well known car it is regularly raced by Denise’s husband Steve Sharp and has appeared before in EDITION. The Seven was also part of the Club Lotus display at this years Ellerslie Concours. The other two cars currently being rebuilt are the Six and the Elan. As far as we can tell the Six is first ever Lotus to come to New Zealand and is one of the first twenty Lotus Six’s produced. The car was originally imported into New Zealand by Jack Hobson in 1955. The Elan is thought to be the oldest in New Zealand and possibly one of the oldest still in existence. It comes with a chassis number of 42.

More LEGO. Above—Lotus Exige. Don’t hold your breath on this one. Below—More prototypes for the Caterham Seven. Watch this space.


Classic Miscellaneous

Next EDITION

This page is copied from the British Motor Racing magazine that also appears on page 11. It details a little piece of Kiwi motor racing history. Your Ed still hasn’t quite forgotten the vision or the sound of the Dino racing at Ardmore in January 1961.

Inset photo—Ed’s photo of the car at Silverstone in 2000. Time marches on and after conversion to a sports car and back to a Dino 246 it now seems to be a slightly different shape having gone from short and dumpy to long and slim. This would have to be an improvement.


Classic Miscellaneous

Calendar Time

Club Lotus NZ and the Southern Lotus Regis-ter are currently selecting photo’s for the combined club 2017 calendar. Suitable pho-tos, A4 landscape, large file format need to be emailed to [email protected] before the end of August 2016.

This press release announcing Caterham in New Zealand comes to EDITION from Martin Phipps. Martin is the archivist for Caterham Cars in the UK and is a regular contributor to the Lotus Seven Club’s magazine Lowflying.

EDITION talks to Bryan King about the Alfriston Jaguar Special

Next EDITION

edition july 2016 - club lotus nz 61.pdf · 1 - edition no. 61 — july 2016 edition edition no. 61...

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