This just in:

Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying the spring sunshine as much as I am – there is something joyful about the warmth finally replacing the damp, and I can at last start removing the mould from every leather surface in the cars, knowing it won’t be back until next winter. By the way, why is leather so attractive (actually, the dashboard material in the Elise appears quite furry too)?

It’s time to start blowing the cobwebs away, as we’re getting into the driving season. A good start to which would be Simply Sports Cars fantastic Lotus Week running in the High Country of Victoria at the end of this month. I believe there are a few places still available – get in touch with Richard Gibbs or Mark O’Connor at SSC if you’ve been wavering!

As a reminder, we have our two tyre kicks – this weekend at Carss Park and next weekend at Gough Whitlam – and then our inaugural fish and chip run to Berowra Waters on the 26th. And not forgetting that Round 6 of the CSCA series is next Sunday (19th) at SMSP – entry details are here.

There’s the possibility that a few of us might take off from Carrs Park for a bit of a drive, so please come along with ideas – nothing is set in stone yet!

And there is a certainty that we will have the joyful company of Eddie and Vicki Lankhorst from Lotus Club Victoria for the Gough Whitlam Tyre Kick. They are on a road trip up the east coast, and are staying in Sydney over the weekend, so we will be catching up with them. Please come along to say hello if you possibly can.

Before we know it, it’ll be November, so I need to get a bit organised for the AGM and Christmas Party on Saturday December 7th. If you’ve not got it in the diary as a placeholder, now is a good time to do so, and we will get the invitation out on Member Jungle shortly so you can register. Full details to follow with that, but it’s on at the Royal Automobile Club in Macquarie Street, and there will be food and great company!

Over at Hethel, all appears to have descended back into chaos! It’s always a bit harder to understand what’s going on in a fast moving situation when you aren’t on the ground, so most of what we are witnessing is possibly unintentional or even not based in fact, but it does appear that Lotus might have hit another of its sadly repetitive milestones of over-optimistic business case failing to materialise, and resulting in mass layoffs, radical cost cutting, and possible restructuring. I’m not optimistic that Geely has a grasp on how to manage a small volume sports car brand, but sadly I’m afraid only time will tell.

In happier news, we have had a very successful season of car meets so far this year, with a great showing at the All British Day last month, and my grateful thanks to all those who came along – there is something joyful and colourful about a bunch of Smartie-coloured cars parked up with their owners chatting away!

Right, better get this to Seth so we stand a chance of it getting to you this month, so take care, drive carefully and keep it upright and mainly on the blackstuff.

Pip pip,
Ashton

Catching up with our South Australian friends with thanks to Andrew Stevens // Father’s Day Gathering at Beaumont Rd

The South Australian group gets together on the first Sunday of each month, which means that every year our September get together coincides with Father’s Day. This often presents challenges, with cafés in the Adelaide Hills being booked up for family activities. 2025 saw a solid turnout at the Beaumont Rd meeting spot and by 9:00 am we had 10 cars lined up ready to roll. The weather was fine, but the bureau had predicted showers, so roofs on was the majority verdict.

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On Saturday August 16, 2025, we held our Club Lotus Australia-hosted CSCA round four at Sydney Motorsport Park for a healthy field of 76 drivers. Let’s catch up on the action and enjoy some photos from the day.

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