Our own John Culvenor has taken over the back page of Tasmania’s ‘The Examiner’ newspaper, after a great run in this year’s Targa Tasmania.
John and co-driver Barrie Fitchett finished 9th overall in their 1997 Lotus Elise competing in the Targa Tasmania Budget TSD Trophy. The pair features prominently in ‘The Examiner’s’ coverage of the second leg of the event, with a full-page photo enticing readers into coverage from the day.
Club Lotus Australia is full of interesting people who are up to interesting things with interesting cars. We think that’s wonderful, so we’re going to share their stories with you here!
If you’d like to share your story on the club website, just send Seth a quick email at [email protected]
In this post, we rejoin Geoff Winder as he fabricates a flywheel and finds a clutch for his Lotus Esprit VQ project.
The 2017 Lotus Elite Diamond Jubilee is already set to be the biggest birthday party that the Club has ever held, and it’s now gotten even bigger with the addition of a Lotus-Only Track Day on Monday the 14th of August.
The track day, held by Simply Sports Cars at Wakefield Park, will see the full variety of Lotus descend on the countryside circuit for a day of fun and friendly motorsport. Registration is open now on the Simply Sports Cars website, and you can get there by clicking this link.
Lotus-Only Track Days are designed to be safe, fun, friendly and inclusive. They offer drive, sprint and race sessions to cater to all skill levels and inclinations. As always, experienced drivers will be available to offer assistance and the Simply Sports Cars Lotus team will be on board to answer questions and provide advice relating to your car.
Simply Sports Cars have a great post up explaining the days, and you can find that right here.
The 2017 Lotus Elite Diamond Jubilee will be held over the weekend beforehand, the 12th & 13th of August, 2017, at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The event will feature a CSCA sprint meeting on Saturday as well as the big celebratory dinner on Saturday evening, bringing together luminaries of the era from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Sunday’s celebrations coincide with the Shannons Sydney Classic and will feature an unparalleled gathering of Lotuses in a specially-designated LOTUS LAND as well as a photo opportunity, parade laps and picnic lunch.
Put the dates in your diary, get involved and we’ll see you in August!
Registration for the August 14th Lotus-Only Track Day is open on the Simply Sports Cars website here.
Gino Valdes has kindly reached out with a brilliant set of photos from the recent Lotus 2017 and Simply Sports Cars’ Winton Raceway Lotus-Only Track Day.
The LOST Fraternity gathered this past Sunday, the 7th of May, for a run to the MG Car Club Hunter Region’s Euro Motorfest 2017.
They met in New Lambton for a run down to the event, which sounds like a brilliant day.
“What a satisfying way to spend a Sunday morning! It was wonderful to be a part of such a distinguished Lotus congregation, and seeing LOST windscreen sashes on our Porsches & Clubmans was icing on the cake.” – Jack McLaughlin
Jack has kindly shared some photos for the website, which you can enjoy below!
‘The Preserve’ is the newsletter of the Council of Motor Clubs. It’s made available to members of CMC-affiliated clubs, and that means you!
The April 2017 edition of the newsletter has been sent out to members, and is now available for download on our members’ page here.
The magazine gets up to date on Shannons Sydney Classic news before recapping the Festival of Steam in Thirlmere, looking forward to upcoming events and more.
Club Lotus Australia members can head to the members page here to download your copy. If you’re not a member of the club head here, and take a browse around the website to see why you should be!
We are saddened to share the news of the passing of Sir John Whitmore. One of sportscar racing’s greats, Sir John passed away last Friday, the 28th of April, at the age of 79.
Brian Caldersmith has written a lovely vale, which he has kindly offered to share with the Club.
Thanks to Brian Caldersmith
John was one of the great drivers of the 1960s, winning many titles in Mini Coopers, Lotus Cortinas, Shelby Cobras and GT40s. He co-drove with Jim Clark at Le Mans in a Lotus Elite.
John was a friend who spent some time at our home during his Australian visits and he shared my Elite at a Tasman Revival meeting. There was one Sunday when we were preparing to watch the Australian Grand Prix when Frank Gardner turned up – “I heard Whitmore was in residence!” They both shared development work on the Ford GT40s. It was a funny afternoon.
Sadly both are now gone.
I am pleased now that on my last visit to the UK I was able to organise a reunion with John and Chris Barber. They had not seen each other for 30-odd years. The photo above was taken at the pub in Potters Bar, with myself and Warren King sitting opposite them. (Read more about this reunion here – Ed.)
This colour pencil portrait is my tribute to John. One of the good ones.
Brian
Image: Lotus Cars
Tom Devitt and his contributors have completed yet another edition of the magnificent Chunky’s Chatter, and it’s now on its way to members and available for download from the members’ page. Grab a copy, and enjoy!
Features in this month’s mag include:
And much more! Enjoy Chunky’s lighthearted and sometimes irreverent monthly look at the world of Lotus.
Head to the members’ page to download your copy. And if you’re not a member already, have a browse around the site and hit up our membership page here to find out why you should be!
The W.A. crew take the roads less travelled on the Tour de Edmondson in the latest story by Vicky Rowe.
Eddie and Vicky tackle a brilliant low speed event – the Minson Motorkhana – in this report by Eddie Lankhorst.