Treat Your Better Half to a Night at the Opera

If you’re looking for some culture to enjoy during the motorsport off season, one of our Club members is working to support a local opera production. Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ will be performed later this month, from January the 26th through to January the 29th at the wonderful Carriageworks venue.

The performances will be held at 7:30PM on Thursday the 26th, Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th and at 4PM on Sunday the 29th. The Saturday performance will coincide with the Carriageworks night markets, making for a wonderful double-header!

Ticket pricing and information is yet to be confirmed, but should be available on the Opera Projects Sydney website or Carriageworks website soon.

 

We’re Invited to the Concours d’Elegance Sydney this Australia Day

Concours d’Elegance Sydney is the latest iteration of the Australian Concours d’Elegance, which first ran back in 2010 at St. Patrick’s Estate in Manly. It will be held this year on the 26th of January at Darling Wharf in Pyrmont.

The event is one of 25 worldwide International Chief Judge Advisory Group concours events and will be judged against ICJAG criteria. Three ICJAG judges, each with experience judging the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, will head the judging team.

Concours d’Elegance Sydney is looking for classic cars 30 years old and older to take part in its Concours d’Elegance, which will feature both cars and bikes. If you’re interested in attending or entering your car, you can download an entry form, class listing and timeline of the event’s history from the following links:

2017 Concours d’Elegance Sydney Class Listing [PDF]

Concours d’Elegance Sydney History Timeline [PDF]

2017 Concours d’Elegance Sydney Entry Form [PDF]

CLA Build Stories: TUFT’s Eleven December 2016 – Hitting the Road

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 reach the end of the TUFT’s Eleven build story, and the beginning of its active life of motoring!

Read More

Classic Vehicle Scheme for Modified Vehicles is Now Live

The Council of Motor Clubs has announced that the Classic Vehicle Scheme for Modified Vehicles is now live and available.

The Classic Vehicle Scheme guidelines and documentation are now available on the Council of Motor Clubs website, and you can head directly to them by clicking this handy link. Please read the guidelines carefully before filling in and submitting the forms.

The main page on Conditional Registration can be found on the Roads and Maritime Services website here. Please refer to this resource for the most up-to-date information.

December 2016 Edition of Chunky’s Chatter Now Available for Download!

All British Day & Concours d'Elegance

The December 2016 edition of Chunky’s Chatter is now available to download from the members’ page. Grab a copy, and enjoy the final edition of the mag for 2016!

Features in this month’s mag include:

  • The Elan Plus 2 Turns 50
  • The Exige Sports 380 – the Best Lotus Yet?
  • Mike Basquil Reports on the Phillip Island 6-Hour
  • 2017 Calendar
  • Bumper news from South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia

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!

Lotus Photos: LOST Fraternity Run to Awaba

LOST Fraternity Awaba Run

This past Sunday, the 11th of December, the LOST Fraternity took off for their final run of 2016, to Awaba House.

They met on Main Road Boolaroo for a gentle cruise to breakfast at Awaba Restaurant. Jack McLaughlin has kindly shared a few photos from the run, which you can enjoy above and below!

Thanks to Jack McLaughlin

LOST Fraternity Awaba Run

The Club Lotus Australia 2017 Calendar is Now Available!

Club Lotus Australia 2017 Calendar

The Club Lotus Australia 2017 Calendar, very kindly created by Robert Costa, is now available!

We are sadly unable to give them away for free this year, but are heavily subsidising them. The cost is $15 including shipping, and the calendar is available on a first in, best dressed basis.

To order, transfer $15.00 per calendar into the Club Lotus Australia account with the description CALYourSurname. Then email Elliott with the address that you would like it sent to. We’ll do the rest!

See the latest Chunky’s for bank details, or get in touch with Elliott.

Ashton’s President’s Prattle: December 2016

President's Prattle

Happy Christmas everyone,

For those able to make the (most excellent!) Christmas Party last weekend, that’s a double up of my best wishes to you and your families as we head into the Christmas holidays. I hope you all have a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable time.

We wrapped up this year with our second visit to Bombini, and thank you to the 60 members and families who came along.

It was a lovely day, kicking off with a fun scoot up the Old Pacific Highway. Caroline was persuaded to join me in the Eleven, although she did point out there was no point in putting on perfume as she would just end up smelling of Eau d’Eleven – which is mostly petrol. We had a great showing of cars parked up at Bombini (see Seth’s lovely photos on the website for the evidence); we arrived at almost exactly the same time as the LOST fraternity, who joined us from the Newcastle area – always a great pleasure.

I think I’ve probably said enough about all the fun events we have had this year, so I won’t labour the point, except to say a big thank you to you all for coming along to them, whether that’s to the runs, the Tyre Kick and Coffee, the general meetings, or the motorsport – it has all been a gas, entirely because of you.

And next year kicks off in short order, so get your diary out, go to the website and make sure you get all the events in there. Better yet, buy one of the lovely glossy Club Lotus Australia calendars that Rob Costa has pulled together, in spite of a temporary and inconvenient visit to the hospital. It’s great to have you back and heading for fighting fit Rob! Details of how to purchase and pay are in the magazine.

While on the subject of committee members, many of you will be remembering that it is a year ago that we lost Maurice to the black dog; he continues to inspire and amuse me, every time I see a photo of him (which is surprisingly often). Anne, James and Jen are particularly in our hearts at this incredibly hard time of the year for them.

May I also thank the committee for another year of unstinting hard work in the pursuit of fun and happiness in the shape of a Lotus – without your Committee, this whole shamozzle would fall in a heap, so I for one am particularly grateful for you help guys and gals. I look forward to more fun in 2017.

Right, on that subject, two dates for your diary:

First up, a drive day (on a Saturday, unusually) to the Gerrigong Motor Fest on Saturday 18th February; more details to follow, but likely as not, a reasonably early start to get there in time for set up.

And secondly, the highlight of the motorsport calendar is the CLA CSCA sprint on Saturday 11th March – Mike will be sending out details a bit nearer the time, but get the date in the diary!

OK, that’s enough from me. All that remains is to wish you a fantastic Christmas break, and I very much look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

In the meantime, keep it safe, upright, and on the black stuff (and avoid the rozzers over the double-demerits-revenue-raising-scrooge period)

Pip pip,
Ashton

Stop Press: Lotus 2017 Registration to Close by End of Year

Lotus 2017 Bookings Now Open

Lotus 2017 preparations are well under way, and the event has received significant interest from the Lotus Community. In order to get things going in earnest, the registration process will close by  the end of the year. Read on for the official word from organisers.

STOP PRESS!

This important event, scheduled for the Anzac Day weekend next year, has attracted strong interest from Lotus enthusiasts around the country.

Logistical planning for the event is now underway in earnest.  Therefore we need to round off the registration process for those wishing to attend by the end of the year. We also need to set deadlines for the payment of registration fees.

For those of you who have registered or are intending to register would you please note the following arrangements:

Deadline for registration: 31 January 2017

Deposit required: (50% of registration fee)  when registering

Final payment of registration fee: by 28 February, 2017

You can register online on the Lotus 2017 website here. If you have any queries please contact the event coordinators.