Friday 14th September 2007

Hethel Opens Its Doors

Open day celebrates 40 years of manufacturing at the Lotus HQ

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1966. A pretty good year for us Brits- not that we like to bang on about it. In addition to the footy, this year also saw the start of construction of the new Lotus factory at Hethel, and they didn't hang about. By early 1967 the first cars drove off the production line and it's continued to this day, not only for Lotus product but also for the Vauxhall VX which was built there in 2000 along with the Elise S2.

To mark 40 years of production Lotus has announced an open day on the 23rd September, opened by Hazel Chapman- the wife of founder Colin who build the first Lotus back in 1948.

Looking at the details of the day it certainly seems worth the visit for owners and fans alike. Examples of all the cars manufactured over the 40 years will be on show as well as owners club displays- you'll even get a Lotus goodie bag just for turning up.

All Lotus owners arriving in their cars will be able to park on site (Non Lotus parking is also available), you can get a passenger ride around the South Circuit, get behind the scenes of Lotus Engineering and get up close to the Lotus Formula 1 collection.

Tickets are £15 per car (up to four people) and can be purchased from www.lotuscarswebstore.co.uk

 

 

 

 

[Phil Dicky]

Would be well worth a visit for all car nuts, just a bit far for me.

[noodleman]

Can't wait.

[Lotusespritforum]

See ya there. We've got around 60/70 people in Esprits coming along to this and having seen the line up, looks like it's going to be a fun day

[marshalla]

www.lotusexcel.net will be present too. 3 cars on stand and another 10-15 in the car park - and everyone's promised NOT to start stripping Esprits for spares

[Gaffer]

I'll be there as well...god some good mates who work at Lotus

See you all next week - I'll be the one sticking out like a sore thumb in the TVR

Claire

[roosevelt]

Will be there too, if only to reminisce (and try and spot!) my old Elise.
Hope the weather's better this time!

[Kimbers34]

marshalla said:

www.lotusexcel.net will be present too. 3 cars on stand and another 10-15 in the car park - and everyone's promised NOT to start stripping Esprits for spares

Likewise....we'll try not to start stripping your engines! Though you have to be on watch for the Smurf, he even has his own tools on his trousers!....oh err.

[marshalla]

A wee follow-up. My Excel is one of the Beaujolais Run competitors in November this year and we're doing some fundraising at Hethel. Lotus Club International have generously donated some fantastic raffle prizes - including a pre-release promotional copy of the Colin McRae "Dirt" game featuring the Exige rally car for PS3.

Come and see us on Sunday!

[marshalla]

Some piccies : http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f322/marshalla99...

and a big public THANKYOU to Kimbers & Kimbers snr. for their support of our efforts.

[B'stard Child]

Re- pics

My pics from the day are linked to in the thread in the East Anglia section if anyone wants higher res copies by email let me know

If anyone has any pics of the big 80's 4 door saloon on the parade laps be happy to see em

[Kimbers34]

marshalla said:

Some piccies : http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f322/marshalla99...

and a big public THANKYOU to Kimbers & Kimbers snr. for their support of our efforts.

you are welcome. Always great to forge more relations with other clubs. Thats LEF, LEC and Excel in future then!!

Good stand. Did the old man win anything in the draw? Hope you made plenty for charity.

Oh dear. A couple of more likely suspects I've never known!

Edited by Kimbers34 on Tuesday 25th September 17:57

[marshalla]

Kimbers34 said:

Good stand. Did the old man win anything in the draw? Hope you made plenty for charity.

Oh dear. A couple of more likely suspects I've never known!

We've just finished the count and the total for the day was £378. Not bad considering how numbers through F8 died off during the afternoon. It's pushed us nicely through the £1100 barrier so we're about half-way to the target for each team of £2250.

There may have been a little "draw fixing" when it came to the limited edition Excel Forum stickers which seem to have gone to a Mr. M. Kimberley of Norfolk ;-)

See you at Stoneleigh ?

Edited by marshalla on Tuesday 25th September 18:38

[Harrygsi]

Anyone know why the Spitfire never appeared?

[B'stard Child]

Harrygsi said:

Anyone know why the Spitfire never appeared?

Cross winds on the runway preventing take off where it was (attending another show as I understood it)

[robcollingridge]

A few more pictures on my web site:
http://www.elises.co.uk/diary/2007/09/index.html

Rob
http://www.elises.co.uk

[andy_s]

Doesn't the 2-11 look v. cool in white...?!

[JeremyK]

Has anyone on here seen the pic in Autocar of the supposed new Espirit all covered up from the open day? Did anyone who went to Hethel see it?

[big-si]

the 40th day was fantastic, it was my first time there and i got to meet brian angus again and also my first meeting with mr kimberly. He took a look over the hard work the lef forum guys did to my car and was amazed at the detail and effort that went into it, he also liked the twin sprts exhust i had made for it.

Looking forward tot he next factory visit already!