Lotus West Coast Meet
The Golden Gate Lotus Club hosted the annual gathering of the Lotus
enthusiasts last weekend. I attended the opening seminars, the open track
day at Sears Point, and the first buffet.
It was amazing to pull into the parking lot at the host hotel and immediately
see eight pristine old style Elites! There were the usual Sevens, Elans,
Europas, new Esprits and Elans, and an occasional Eleven, Eclat, and Six.
My interest is obviously in Sevens and there were two of the brand new
Sevens. One was particularly noteworthy. The assembly and engineering
was perfect. It was a long wheel base model and had the rear de Dion
with disc brakes, the new upgraded front suspension, sixteen inch rims and
low profile tires, and an engine. This was not just any engine but a new
Ford twin cam engine out of a Sprint car. It was dynoUd at 220+ hp! I was
disappointed to learn he was going to be running in the novice class in the
track sessions as I wanted to see what this puppy could do.
There were some bastards there as well. An Esprit had a Buick V6. He
must have had heating problems because all sorts of fans were mounted
everywhere. There was even one pointing at the distributor to keep the GM
HEI cool! There was a Seven with a Mazda rotary engine, independent
rear, and transmission. It had no fenders and there was little left of the
original.
The track sessions were a blast! I was in the intermediate group. Upon
further examination, our instructor found that we were all experienced. He
did a lead and follow for the first session and then left us to ourselves,
unlimited speed and unlimited passing.
More Lotus showed up at the track. There were a series of Formula Fords,
Juniors, and even a couple of 24Us and 26Us. A couple of FerrariUs, 400 and
a 308 showed up and we had a bunch of the vintage racers sneak on the
track with us. I found myself dicing with a Devlin, an early Testarosa, and a
Cheetah. My little legs could not run fast enough but it was fun hearing
them blast by on the straights.
I am not that great a driver and my Seven is slightly down on power
compared to others. It was fun to humble some of the other cars. I
regularly ate the Esprits up and could easily take on the new Elans. The
team drivers for Lotus were circling the track demonstrating the latest Lotus
offerings. I could even keep up with them, to some degree. I had most
fun trying to keep up with the Skip Barber BMW!
The only sour note of the day happen on the last intermediate session. I was
coming out of the SUs and was trying to convince myself not to lift in the last
high speed turn prior to the slowest turn. I kept looking at the narrow
runoff and the tire wall that would be waiting for me. I felt vulnerable for
an instant, lifted and proceeded on. I immediately saw an Elan fly across
the track in a strange direction. The next time around I saw the Elan on its
side, front end destroyed, and the drive being helped to sit on the tires. It
was sad to see a nice car totaled! The driver was ok but the car is an
absolute mess.
The end of the day was held for Rrides and drivesS. There are not course
workers and we are supposed to keep the speeds down. We take out
passengers to let them tour the track, give course workers a ride as thanks,
and trade cars to see how they perform. I gave a Europa drive a ride and it
was satisfying to see him grab the side and hold on. I was going eight tenths
and he was still amazed at the grip. I tried to explain my A008RtuUs were
three seasons old and had been heat cycled numerable times.
The high light of the event was taking my wife for a ride. As I have tried to
explain many times, she is unusual. (WhoUs wife is not?) She supports all my
habits, including my cars. The steering rack kept coming lose and she
would lay down under the car and hold the nuts while I tried to tighten the
bolt from above. People were taking pictures of us working on the car in
the pits, hoping to convince their wives to help. She is also unusual in that
she allows me to drive fast. She will let me slide around corners with out a
word, drive fast as long as it is save, and generally go cruising with me. We
have had few opportunities since our second child was born. My two seater
autos require a baby sitter just to go for a drive!
She hops in, buckles up the five point harness and puts on her helmet. I
blast out and get stuck behind a person trying a new Esprit for the first time.
We circulate for three laps before they pull off. I get a couple of quick
corners by lagging back and then blasting the corner before catching them
up again. Finally we have open track and I start pushing it.
I was surprised at her reaction. She loves the corners. Sears Point has
extreme elevation changes and many blind apexes and track put points. She
could not get enough of it. I quickly started driving nine tenths and once in
a
while got to full out! The part she did not like was braking. I would go into
a corner and I could see her hand come up like she wanted to press the
brake with it. She had a death grip on the side of the car. As long as I
would brake early, she could have stayed out all day.
We had a blast in our little British Car...!
Michael
For Scott and others with kids, someone is selling a 5/8ths Super Seven
electric car for the kids. It is pretty faithful but costs $5900. A bit steep
as
a toy for the kids.
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