Sunday 16 September 2007

Happy Birthday Lotus

Lotus fans from all around the world have been invited to celebrate the Ruby Milestone of 40 years of manufacturing at the Lotus Headquarters at Hethel, Norfolk next Sunday (23rd September).

Much of the Lotus factory will be open including the assembly halls, where all the award winning Lotus cars are built, special areas of Lotus Engineering’s world class high technology facilities, and of course the test track where there will be exciting driving activities. The Open Day will be opened by Hazel Chapman (the wife of the founder Colin Chapman who built the first Lotus car in 1948). Lotus is also delighted that Classic Team Lotus, run by Colin and Hazel’s son, Clive, will also be providing invaluable support to the event.

There will also be a display of examples of all the cars manufactured at Hethel over the last 40 years, fun activities for children, including a fun fair, retail stores for local produce as well as opportunities to purchase official Lotus and Classic Team Lotus merchandise. Several Lotus clubs will have their own stands and exhibits of clubs owners’ cherished Lotus cars.

All visitors will get a free Lotus “Goodie-Bag” which includes an exclusive 40th pin badge.

The tight and twisty South Circuit will be open for visitors to have high speed rides in current Lotus sportscars.

Lotus Engineering is the world leading, high technology consultancy division of Group Lotus, and is very rarely open the public. Visitors have the opportunity to have a behind the scenes look at the world class research, design and engineering facilities where future Lotus Cars and indeed cars of Lotus Engineering’s many customers around the world are designed, developed and tested.

Other Activities include:

A collection of classic Lotus road cars such as the 1960s legends, the Elan and Europa, the iconic 1970s Elite and Esprit, the 1980s Excel and Elan (M100) and from the 1990s the Esprit V8 and the Elise S1 derivatives.

Classic Team Lotus will also display some of its collection of Lotus Formula One racing cars such as the Type 32B, the world championship winning Types 49B and 72 and from the Ayrton Senna era the Lotus Types 97T and 99T.

There will also be a “Wheel Changing” competition, the latest range of Lotus Merchandise, a funfair with Laser Tagging competition, children’s’treasure hunt & face painting, Formula One and Racing Simulators, a farmers market, jazz band and full refreshments.

Gates Open at 10am and finishes at 5pm. Admission Price: £15 per car (up to 4 adults, £5 per additional adult) and admission for children under 16 is free.

Tickets must be purchased in advance via http://www.lotuscarswebstore.co.uk/ or by contacting the Lotus Open Day Hotline on: 01953 608190, 608626, 608461 or 608348.

Our Dream Machines Lotus Exige will, of course, be there, to show itself off to the huge number of Lotus afficionados and VIPs who are expected to descend upon the village of Hethel.

Continuing to impress

The Sussex Police Dream Machines Lotus has been flying the county's flag in some rather far-off places of late! In fact the car has just returned from some missionary work in Llanelli in South Wales where it was the star attraction at a Road Safety Display targeting young drivers.

The car has also been in Brighton over the last couple of weeks on Marine Parade and, in partiulcar. at the Brighton Festival of Speed.

Last week it joined once again with the Fire Brigade for an event in Brighton, where a group of youths from the Whitehawk estate in Brighton were presented with certificates of achievemnt in relation to motorcycle projects. This weekend the car has been at the Shoreham Airshow.

Next week our very special Lotus Exige sets off for another out of county appearance. This one really is is rather special though as the Exige will be returning to the Lotus factory in Norfolk to show off it's livery.

But the car isn't just booked for special apprances - in fact, keep your eyes peeled this week because you never know where it will turn up! The car will be driving through many different locations in the county - so if you do see the car, make sure you say 'hello'!

Tuesday 11 September 2007

More photos from on the road

Our Dream Machines Lotus continues its journey around Sussex helping to promote its road safety and 'Speed Kills' message.

Keep an eye out for the car at an event close to you.