George Row from Queensland is responsible for this excellent report on the Elevens’ gathering at Racefest, which goes into interesting detail of the history of the six cars present. Enjoy!

By George Row

At June’s Sydney Retro Racefest, six Lotus Elevens celebrated their milestone 60th birthday.

Ashton Roskill brought his Series 1, which he is assembling from a kit that has been through five hands in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. This kit has, for various reasons, never been built, so after six decades the car is set to turn a wheel for the first time in the very near future!

The car is a true time warp and it is very interesting to see the original fine detail of construction. Unfortunately the front bonnet section was left to the elements in Devon but a replacement is being restored.

Another project car was the nearly-completed Series 2 of Tony Galletly. This car has a long racing history in UK, USA and Spain and demonstrates the amount of dedication needed to restore an Eleven faithfully.

Ed Holly’s car is an outstanding example of how these race-winning cars can still be used regularly on the road and more than adequately keep up with modern traffic. It looks as good as new and attracts a lot of attention.

One of only two twin cam Climax Elevens has been beautifully restored by Richard Harris. It features the oil cooler along the side and full dry sump lubrication and is finished in the original livery of Scuderia Ecurie Ecosse as raced by Ron Flockhart and Roy Salvadori.

Gerry Lawson’s car still regularly competes and while it is very neat, it also features the lovely patina of racing. It was entered for the regularity events and the Climax sounded beautiful on full song down the straight.

One of the first Lotus cars of any model to be seen on the famous circuits of Europe is George Row’s very early Series 1. It has a long history and was raced in England by Frank Gardner before being imported into Australia in 1960.

The cars were contrasted with the latest Lotus Evora displayed by Simply Sports Cars of Sydney.

They have recently been appointed importers of the marque and are keen to promote both the new and historic Lotus. We would like to thank them for providing the marquee in a very prominent position.

It is a fitting tribute to Collin Chapman to see the interest generated in both young and old by these sexagenarian cars.