Published by the Golden Gate Lotus Club www.gglotus.org April, 2003 President’s Message by Peter Richen years ago, I visited an assembly plant in wouldn’t be difficult to provide - the I was in Europe a couple of weeks Korea, and the Lotus plant, although Vauxhall does have an airbag), the main ago, and decided to visit the Lotus quite a bit smaller, is a lot cleaner and issue apparently is the engine. I hope factory and Classic Team Lotus, which less cluttered than the Korean facility. they get is sorted out soon. I would is located across the street from the There was only one robot (for cutting really like to have one. Mark stated that factory. holes in the body panels). The assem- the original target weight was 630 Kg, With Kiyoshi’s help, I got in touch bly of each chassis utilitzed a jig on and the original Elise was pretty close with Patrick Peal (some of you met him wheels that could rotate the body 360 to the target, however later versions at the West Coast Lotus Meet last degrees. The paint shop was state of have been getting heavier, as amenities year). He made some calls and obtained the art, and they also have a sophisti- are added. appointments for me at both facilities. cated test facility where they check out Next, I visited office and shop of My visit was on Friday, a day when the the mechanical components and drench Classic Team Lotus, a business run by factory normally doesn’t conduct tours, the car with water jets in order to check Colin Chapman’s son, Clive. The since they shut down for the weekend for leaks. business restores, maintains, and in the afternoon. Then, of course there is the 2 mile campaigns Lotus Open Wheel Race At the factory, I was met by Mark test track (actually two tracks) behind Cars. They also market lotus memora- Riches, manufacturing engineering the production facility (as most of you bilia via their website. Their shop is manager. He showed me the production know, the factory is on the site of a used by collectors because many of the facility for the Espirit, where they still WW2 airbase). mechanics that worked for the original make three to five cars per week, pretty Naturally, I asked Mark about when Lotus race team now work for Classic much by hand. Then we went over to the Elise is coming to the US. He was Team Lotus. On the day of my visit, the Elise production facility. They have sure that it was coming, but didn’t they were preparing to test run a Lotus two production lines, one for the Elise, know about the timing. The car has 49 that had crashed last year at the and the other for the Vauxhall 220VX a gone through the crash tests (the front Monte Carlo historic races. The shop sportscar that is manufactured for this of the car has an energy absorbing also had a 75, a 76, an 88, and 2 – 91’s. UK affiliate of General Motors. About 5 member, doesn’t have an airbag, but it Some of these vehicles were being prepared to run at a historic race at Goodwood the following week (Jackie Oliver was scheduled to drive the 49). April Meeting I would like to thank Kiyoshi, Patrick, Mark, and Clive for making my Friday, April 18th, 7:30 pm visit very enjoyable. end Host: Lox Thomson 2351 Louis Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 From Hwy 101 Exit Oregon Expessway (only goes southd) Turn right at Louis Road ( third light) Third house on the right. Pete with Clive Chapman and the 49 page 2 GGLC Calender SpeedChannel April 9 GGLC Track Day Laguna Seca Schedule April 18 Monthly Meeting Host: Lox Thomson by Bill France Freedom Palo Alto remember, it’s a channel now, April 27 Pacific Coast Half Moon Bay because the vision’s gone! Dream Machines Winston Cup Wednesday Practice: May 16 Monthly Meeting Host: James McClure Sure, it’s a long time before the race, but Cupertino gotta start settin up the carbs and tires. June 25 GGLC Track Day Thunderhill Man Behind The Wrench: And we don’t mean some foreign commie metric wrench, either. Good old American Winston Cup Mechanics tellin ya how it is in inches and pounds! Also shown was the upcoming Daytona 500 Preview: Lotus SUV ! replacement for the Esprit. The new Daytona 500 Practice: version looks much like the current Daytona 500 Qualifying Kinda by James McClure model but can accommodate up to four Daytona 500 Qualifying Really As had been previously mentioned, persons, with it’s new back seat. This Daytona 500 Practice Alot More a diesel powered Elise is being tested, is needed, as the ‘Baby-Boomer’ Daytona 191: Oops, OK, didn’t get according to the British motorcycle generation, which has been the to 500 miles! Ya know how dangerous it magazine, Ride. Now the true motiva- mainstay of Lotus customers for so is to drive fast in pourindown rain? tion for the utilization of a diesel is long, has aged considerably and now NASCAR Revisited: Replay of last known! have grandchildren. The ‘Boomers’ are year’s race The first viewing of the Lotus SUV now more interested in leg and ‘girth’ Totally NASCAR: More news, prototype has been unveiled in room, and need more ease at entry and analysis and interviews from the world Lincolnshire, England, taking place on exit of the vehicle. With these de- of NASCAR the same grounds used to test the mands, rear seating space has been Auto Racing: Busch Racing from world’s first British SUV, the tank. created by moving the motor back to southern North Carolina Bosco Labeled as the Cayenne Killer, the the front. As the chief engineer at Raceway just off Highway 132 spokesman for Lotus said: “The yet to Lotus said: “We’re putting the motor Auto Racing: USAR Hooters be officially named Lotus SUV will be back where it should be, it was a major ProCup Action (Ain’t makin this up) ‘hotter’ than the Porsche, closer to mistake to stick it in the back like that. cup sizes may vary Jalapeno than Cayenne. Considering We’re quite sorry about that!” The new Grand Am Racing: Last year’s its size, some of the engineers voted for model will be named the Excel NT, Winston Cup chassis with a sportycar ‘Blotus’ but this was quickly dis- apparently. body. Pretty ugly until completely filled missed.” As the new model will be with sponser stickers. primarily marketed in North America, NASCAR Classics: Replay of a some specifications will be imperative. race from two or three years ago!! Foremost is the requirement for large Two Guys Garage: How you can fix displacement V-8 power instead of the up your car with the same cool parts small diesel. This will help it meet the used by NASCAR new federal requirement for a maximum WRC Rallye of Sweden: Nope, not fuel mileage limit of 12 mpg. A six-speed this week; maybe next week, more manual transmission will be standard, Print Shop Ad important stuff to show ya. It’s still the though an automatic will be an option same even if it’ll be a week late! to accommodate those who must be on Besides, Little whinney engines buzzin their cell phone and sipping a latte away, and the passengers in thecars are while driving in heavy traffic. And yes, yellin and we can’t understand a word ample cup holders are built in to interior, they said. titanium/Kevlar composite being used. end, but we could go on and on with this one! page 3 gaining, and I’m not really loosing any I can before the event. As of this Europa Tails ground either. Perhaps it was the fact writing, I have one week to do it. that the 944 is my daily driver and I was Okay, that’s it for this month, time by Scott Hogben driving a little bit more conservatively for me to get back to work on the I can’t believe it’s April already because of it? Still the same, I was brakes. I’ll report more next month on and this is only the first article I’ve pushing it pretty hard and it couldn’t how things went and what the next written so far this year! As some of you seem to match the pace of the Europa. project is on the list. Hope to see you know, I [finally] bought a house last Upon returning to the pits after being at Laguna Seca! year, and it wasn’t until recently that I out with my Miata friend, I rolled up end managed to get myself set up to next to him to thank him for the fun actually do some work on cars in the during the session and his opinion said garage. I still need to do a lot of wiring it all – a grin and a wink: “The Europa is EBayWatch for lights, and plumbing for the com- definitely faster.” Pamela Sez...... pressor, among other things, but at So, while I still had fun with the least the garage is now adequate for Porsche, it inspired me to get back on More nice toys . A Lotus Mk 6, most wrenching needs. the rear disk conversion for the Europa 1955, English registration 187MML, Our New Year’s Eve track day at for the April 9th event at Laguna Seca.