The Chapman Report Published by the Golden Gate Lotus Club www.gglotus.org February 2008 How Much for that Lotus in the Window? editor Are the prices of the used Lotus Elise dropping like Stockton real estate values? Well, no. Some owners appear to be in pure anxiety over some scenario like this, fearing they would have to sell their cars for pennies on the dollar. Well, some of us have through this before and want to say just relax. I shopped for my first Lotus, a used Elan, in 1965. I would stop by a Lotus dealership that was owned by a guy named Bob Challman about every day, as I lived in Re- dondo Beach and worked at LAX (LA Airport). I had been intro- Elan and Elise at the Laguna Track Day. duced to Lotus by the ads that were to give him anything on the Elan; created and paid for by Bob, and So what’s that Elan selling for didn’t want it. I told a friend in the placed in Car and Driver or Road today? About $15K, and that’s not SCCA about it and he bought it for and Track. His ads were the only even in perfect, restored condition less than $500. marketing for Lotus in the U.S., and for that price. PS: I tried to buy a So, that should have been about he was the car’s leading cheerlead- Seven from Bob Challman back the end of the Lotus Elan and Lotus er. He had to be, as Colin Chapman in ‘65. He said: “forget it, kid.” cars in general. had little concern for marketing at Smart man. any level. I could have gotten an Elan with low miles then for $3500 February Meeting from him, but my dad wouldn’t co-sign the loan. He also wouldn’t Friday, Feb 15th, 7:30 pm let me get the Porsche RSK Spider in Vasek Polak’s used car lot for Host: Tom and Cherie Carney $2600. He hadn’t heard of either of those car companies, so let me buy Burlingame, Ca 94010 a ‘58 Desoto. The early 70’s would come and you could pick up a Lotus for CHEAP. How cheap? I was in Las Vegas by then, and heard from a friend that someone had tried to trade in an Elan on a new Fiat Spyder. The dealership had refused page 2 2008 Lotus Meet David Anderson GGLC Founder John Ridley moved to southern Oregon a while ago and he's been the driving force behind the 2008 conven- tion and autocross. So put October 2 thru 5 2008 on your calendar and plan to drive (or trailer) your Lotus to Canyonville, Oregon! Event headquarters will be the Seven Feathers Casino and Resort. Plenty of easy park- ing and a great resort (your scribe is told). The autocross will be designed by Barry Spencer (past national autox champion)! There will be a Lotus car show and a town parade! For more info, watch the GGLC web More Europas at the Laguna Track Day. Do Europas site and this newsletter. Or call John Rid- breed? They sure don’t die. Nice car. ley at 541-825-3370. Calendar Feb 15th meeting. The Carneys, Burlingame. March 21st meeting. Jim McClure’s March 21st, Track Day, Thunder Hill March 29-30th, Goodguys, Pleasanton April 18th Meeting, The Richens, San Francisco April 20th, Autocross Clinic, Marina Airport KAMPENA MOTORS April 27th, Dream Machines, Half Moon Bay May 4th, Hillsborough Concours May 16 meeting. The Andersons, Hillsborough. Infineon Raceway For more and up to date information on these GGLC and 28935 Arnold Drive F-10 other events check the GGLC website at www.gglotus.org Sonoma, CA 95476 Phone # 707-933-8039 WWW.KAMPENA.COM Parts and Service for Lotus Cars Independent LOTUS Parts & Service Specializing in Lotus Elans and Europas www.jaeparts.com Quality and Considerate Service Tel: 805-967-5767 Total Ground Up Restorations to Fax: 805-967-6183 Routine Maintenance Factory parts for the latest Esprits and M100 Elans to Huge Inventory of New and Used Parts Vintage racing and restoration parts for the classic Many Hard to Find Pieces Lotus. Also, pain-free next-day drop ship service for parts we may not have. CALL NOW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICES, EXPERIENCE AND SERVICE. page 3 car will be getting what Tesla editor GGLC Track Day, Tesla Toast? calls an "interim" transmission.” From the San Jose Mercury OK, some may get their cars Laguna by David Anderson News: “The messy divorce be- but with bad trannys and maybe It was cold but dry all day at tween Tesla Motors' co-founder a few other problems. But, their Laguna Seca. It was hard to get and the Silicon Valley electric- service network will be able to tires up to good temperatures in car company continues. sort those issues in due time. the 40-50 degree F chill. Your Tesla has ousted several Wait, there is no service network reporter had stayed in Carmel senior executives and about a yet. They could also be doing Valley overnight and had to dozen other employees in recent quite well, on their own or as a scrape 1/8 inch of frost/ice off weeks. Darry Siry, the com- part of a larger car company by the tow car windows at 7AM... pany's vice president of sales, that time. Very unusual for Carmel. marketing and service, said the I would have loved for the We had a full slate of 75 moves were related to "per- Tesla to have succeded, but I entrants (the track limits to 25 on formance management." Ze'ev honestly can’t see this scenario track at once, a firm limitation). Drori, coming true. One or two entrants packed up The news of the firings - they P.S.: Since this article, there before lunch allowing lucky late aren't layoffs, Siry said, as the have been more positive press applicants to register and get on San Carlos company lists 39 job on Tesla, including the latest track in the afternoon. openings on its Web site - was Autoweek. It is reported that The entrants were split into announced on a new Web site by there is another transmission, 3 25 car groups. Each group Martin Eberhard, who founded one speed. The Chairman of the ran a 20 minute session so a the company along with Marc Board and major investor, Elon full set was once an hour: each Tarpenning. Musk, has received his car. He group could predict when to be On his www.teslafounders. stated that he had $50 million in ready to go on track. We kept to com late Thursday, Eberhard the company. There have yet to schedule very well all day. named 16 people who have left be any long term tests of the car, One Elise had engine trouble the company in recent days, and and, no financials are reported by (reportedly a camshaft had been he added more names Friday Tesla. As a privately held com- replaced and the replacement morning. He called it "a blood- pany, the are not required to tell failed). Otherwise there were no bath," and said Tesla's new us anything, and they don’t. incidents. management team has made cuts We had 6 Europas (!) and 2 among its top executives, many Lotus Bytes Elans and at least 10 Elise/Exige engineers, its service organiza- Dave Anderson on hand. We must not forget tion and its firmware team. Regional Autocrossing Dave Platt's very quick Esprit Eberhard was replaced by an Member Jesus Villareal has been of course: he skipped the last interim CEO in mid-2007, and campaigning his 73 Europa to couple of sessions as he cracked left the company entirely just good effect, winning X Prepared a brake disk and did not dare after Drori's arrival. at SCCA San Francisco Re- press on, he had to drive home! Originally scheduled for gion's event November 18 2007 Evil Twins Racing (Dan delivery early in 2007, the first at Castle Airfield, Atwater CA. and Sharon Wardman and Joel production Tesla roadster has yet The picture in the November Farber) brought 2 Europas and a to be built. Delays, most related issue of "North American Pylon" Zink Formula Ford: I sat (well, to the car's transmission, mean shows his beautiful paint job really laid down) in the Zink in the first customers won't get their and large rear wing and large the paddock and don't quite un- $100,000 cars for at least a few front splitter (what we used to derstand how one could actually more months, and even then the call an air-dam). drive such a cramped vehicle! Next one is at Thunderhilll. page 4 um tub and glassfibre composite Press Release Lotus News body. Kimberley won’t confirm New Lotuses On Horizon where the engine’s coming from, company, small enough that a but doesn’t argue with the logic Eagle Lands Next Year, Fol- ‘can do’ culture can flourish, as it lowed by Esprit Replacement of our guess at a Toyota unit, did in Colin’s (Chapman) day.’ most likely a 3.2-litre V6 with EVO - September 3, 2007 New 2+2 From the outside Lotus looks about 300bhp. Kimberley is clearly passion- When we interviewed Kim- to be in a precarious position. ate about Lotus’s forthcoming Owner Proton is subject to a berley in 2006, he had just re- models, starting with Project viewed progress with the Esprit takeover bid, and while the Eagle, a 2+2 designed to sit Malaysian company’s homeland and decided that it wasn’t ex- between the Elise/Exige/Europa treme enough.