RE: Lotus to celebrate 50 years at Le Mans
Wednesday 12th January 2005
Lotus to celebrate 50 years at Le Mans
French Lotus fans invite Brits back to their place
Lotus fans are wanted at this year's Le Mans. The Lotus Enthusiasts Club, SELOC, in conjunction with the organisers of the Classic British Welcome, the Grande Parade des Pilotes and Motoring Adventures, is renewing its invitation to SELOC members and the Lotus community as a whole -- wherever they may be -- to take part in this year’s celebrations in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Lotus at Le Mans.
SELOC says it is "proud to have been chosen by the organisers of Classic British Welcome and the Grande Parade des Pilotes to represent the Lotus marque. In addition, we are pleased to provide a series of events on the day of the race, courtesy of Motoring Adventures.
"We would also ask that all Lotus owners, of modern and classic marques, from SELOC and the Lotus community as a whole, from the UK, Europe and beyond, support the Classic British Welcome, the Parade des Pilotes and the Motoring Adventures’ events in 2005."
Events
- Classic British Welcome and Parade des Pilotes – Friday 17th June
- Clubs Parade, Classic Cavalcade & Le Mans Legends Race – Saturday 18th June
Details of each of the events taking place over the two days can be found at: forums.seloc.org/newsletter/2/cbw.pdf
Discussion
Personally, I think all Lotus owners should boycott this event.
Lotus was treated terribly by the organisers of Le Mans, culminating in the banning of the Lotus 23 on entirely spurious grounds because it would have wiped the floor with the French cars in the Index of Performance.
Colin Chapman vowed never to return to Le Mans after this, and never did.
I think it's a bit of a cheek, actually, to now seek to 'celebrate' Lotus involvement in the race!
Lotus was treated terribly by the organisers of Le Mans, culminating in the banning of the Lotus 23 on entirely spurious grounds because it would have wiped the floor with the French cars in the Index of Performance.
Colin Chapman vowed never to return to Le Mans after this, and never did.
I think it's a bit of a cheek, actually, to now seek to 'celebrate' Lotus involvement in the race!
Hence having the Lotus 9 that Chapman drove at Le Mans in 1955 as one of the stars of the show and a Lotus 23 (as a subtle dig for their non-inclusion in 1962) as part of the Classic Cavalcade, along with the 9 and an Elise GT1, representative of the 1996 car that competed.
Le Mans 9 was in effect a Lotus XI (of which a number are also taking part) prototype and the car that established Lotus as a successful sports car racing team leading onto grandpix success, the rest is history as they say...
>> Edited by felix7 on Thursday 13th January 01:27
>> Edited by felix7 on Thursday 13th January 01:28
Le Mans 9 was in effect a Lotus XI (of which a number are also taking part) prototype and the car that established Lotus as a successful sports car racing team leading onto grandpix success, the rest is history as they say...
Martin_S said:
Personally, I think all Lotus owners should boycott this event.
Lotus was treated terribly by the organisers of Le Mans, culminating in the banning of the Lotus 23 on entirely spurious grounds because it would have wiped the floor with the French cars in the Index of Performance.
Colin Chapman vowed never to return to Le Mans after this, and never did.
I think it's a bit of a cheek, actually, to now seek to 'celebrate' Lotus involvement in the race!
>> Edited by felix7 on Thursday 13th January 01:27
>> Edited by felix7 on Thursday 13th January 01:28
Martin_S said:
Personally, I think all Lotus owners should boycott this event.
Lotus was treated terribly by the organisers of Le Mans, culminating in the banning of the Lotus 23 on entirely spurious grounds because it would have wiped the floor with the French cars in the Index of Performance.
Colin Chapman vowed never to return to Le Mans after this, and never did.
I think it's a bit of a cheek, actually, to now seek to 'celebrate' Lotus involvement in the race!
I shall now go purely to turn my back and snub them
UPDATE
Please read the attached link with regard to events taking place at Le Mans that we would encourage the whole Lotus community to take part in. http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/2/cbw.pdf
The emphasis is on the Clubs Parade for Lotus cars built between 1955 and 1980 - a golden opportunity to drive over 3 laps on the full closed Le Mans circuit on the day of the race. http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/4/clubs_parade.pdf CLICK
The cars listed below are those that are taking part to date in the Lotus events across the Le Mans weekend.
LOTUS CARS TAKING PART IN THE
LE MANS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS 2005
Key Internal Exhibition Cars at the Classic British Welcome on 17th June (FULL)
Lotus model Year Owner
9/XI prototype 1955 Charles Levy, USA - Le Mans car XPE 6 - Chapman
XI 1956 Vic Thomas
XI 1956 David Cooke
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
23 1963 Andrew Hunt
Elite 1963 Jean-Louis Gillet - chassis 1106
Elite TBC French owner
Elan's various
Europa various
Elise GT1 1996 Graham Morris - sister car to the Elise GTP cars
+ another 10 cars representing Lotus over the years, final line up to be confirmed.
External exhibition of Lotus cars at the Classic British Welcome on 17th June (ALL WELCOME)
Just about every Lotus sports car there has been, from Elan 2+2's, 340R's to Esprit V8 350's and all the cars and reserve cars taking part in the Drivers Parade and Legends Race – THE EXTERNAL CBW EXHIBITION IS AN OPEN EVENT - the more Lotus cars the better. http://forums.seloc.org/showevent.php?eid=462, so that CBW can set aside reserved and free parking for Lotus cars - free to join SELOC in terms of registering for this part of the celebrations.
Drivers Parade Lotus Car taking part 17th June (FULL):
6 1955 Claude Serre, France
XI series 1 1957 Ken Newson replica
7 series 1 1958 Louis Lempereur, Belgium
Elite series 1 1959 Ron Welsh newly restored car
23 1963 Andrew Hunt
Elan Sprint 1965 Brian Kennedy
Europa 1970 Dave Garnett
Elan 100 1993 Alan Allison
Esprit S4S 1994 Christian Everly, Holland
Exige S1 1999 Mark Ellis
Elise S2 (49) 2002 Emma Bennett
Esprit GT1 1998 Mike Sekinger, Germany
Clubs Parade
For Lotus cars built from 1955 - 1980 - morning of the 18th June 25/30 spaces – SPACES LEFT - click the link http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/4/clubs_parade.pdf for further information:
Elite 1959
XI replica 1957 replica (Climax engine) based on series 2
XI replica 1957 replica (Triumph motorbike engine) based on series 2
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
Esprit Turbo 1980
Classic Cavalcade cars accepted by ACO 18th June (FULL)
9/XI prototype 1955 Charles Levy, USA - Le Mans car XPE 6 - Chapman
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
Elite 1963 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - chassis 1106, representing Elite's
Elise GT1 1996 Graham Morris - sister car to the Elise GTP cars
Legend Race Lotus entry subject to acceptance by the ACO 18th June (FULL)
9 1955 Malcolm Ricketts
9 1955 Richard Ashmead
9 1955 Pierre Pinelli (ex Sebring car)
Hope too see a few more of the older Elans down there.
Patrick Crew
SELOC Commercial Director
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:03
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:05
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:06
Please read the attached link with regard to events taking place at Le Mans that we would encourage the whole Lotus community to take part in. http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/2/cbw.pdf
The emphasis is on the Clubs Parade for Lotus cars built between 1955 and 1980 - a golden opportunity to drive over 3 laps on the full closed Le Mans circuit on the day of the race. http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/4/clubs_parade.pdf CLICK
The cars listed below are those that are taking part to date in the Lotus events across the Le Mans weekend.
LOTUS CARS TAKING PART IN THE
LE MANS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS 2005
Key Internal Exhibition Cars at the Classic British Welcome on 17th June (FULL)
Lotus model Year Owner
9/XI prototype 1955 Charles Levy, USA - Le Mans car XPE 6 - Chapman
XI 1956 Vic Thomas
XI 1956 David Cooke
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
23 1963 Andrew Hunt
Elite 1963 Jean-Louis Gillet - chassis 1106
Elite TBC French owner
Elan's various
Europa various
Elise GT1 1996 Graham Morris - sister car to the Elise GTP cars
+ another 10 cars representing Lotus over the years, final line up to be confirmed.
External exhibition of Lotus cars at the Classic British Welcome on 17th June (ALL WELCOME)
Just about every Lotus sports car there has been, from Elan 2+2's, 340R's to Esprit V8 350's and all the cars and reserve cars taking part in the Drivers Parade and Legends Race – THE EXTERNAL CBW EXHIBITION IS AN OPEN EVENT - the more Lotus cars the better. http://forums.seloc.org/showevent.php?eid=462, so that CBW can set aside reserved and free parking for Lotus cars - free to join SELOC in terms of registering for this part of the celebrations.
Drivers Parade Lotus Car taking part 17th June (FULL):
6 1955 Claude Serre, France
XI series 1 1957 Ken Newson replica
7 series 1 1958 Louis Lempereur, Belgium
Elite series 1 1959 Ron Welsh newly restored car
23 1963 Andrew Hunt
Elan Sprint 1965 Brian Kennedy
Europa 1970 Dave Garnett
Elan 100 1993 Alan Allison
Esprit S4S 1994 Christian Everly, Holland
Exige S1 1999 Mark Ellis
Elise S2 (49) 2002 Emma Bennett
Esprit GT1 1998 Mike Sekinger, Germany
Clubs Parade
For Lotus cars built from 1955 - 1980 - morning of the 18th June 25/30 spaces – SPACES LEFT - click the link http://forums.seloc.org/newsletter/4/clubs_parade.pdf for further information:
Elite 1959
XI replica 1957 replica (Climax engine) based on series 2
XI replica 1957 replica (Triumph motorbike engine) based on series 2
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
Esprit Turbo 1980
Classic Cavalcade cars accepted by ACO 18th June (FULL)
9/XI prototype 1955 Charles Levy, USA - Le Mans car XPE 6 - Chapman
XI 1956 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - Le Mans car - Fowey
Elite 1963 Jean-Louis Gillet, Belgium - chassis 1106, representing Elite's
Elise GT1 1996 Graham Morris - sister car to the Elise GTP cars
Legend Race Lotus entry subject to acceptance by the ACO 18th June (FULL)
9 1955 Malcolm Ricketts
9 1955 Richard Ashmead
9 1955 Pierre Pinelli (ex Sebring car)
Hope too see a few more of the older Elans down there.
Patrick Crew
SELOC Commercial Director
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:03
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:05
>> Edited by felix7 on Friday 25th February 09:06
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