FROM THE EDITOR OF CLUB LOTUS AUSTRALIA
NEWSLETTER
Tom
Devitt
Welcome to the February newsletter and the first one
for 2013. This year marks a significant chapter in the history of Lotus. It was
50 years ago that Jim Clark won his first world championship and Lotus won its
first constructors championship. It was also 50 years ago that the Lotus Cortina
has homologated. It was 40 years ago that Club Lotus Australia was formed and
importantly it is the year that CLA hosts the Australia wide gathering of Lotus
clubs in Canberra.
To mark the historic milestones, there will be celebrations
around the world and at Race Retro, the annual historic motorsport show at
Stonleigh Park Coventry there will be 2 significant Jim Clark Lotus 25's on
show. Our own John Bowers will be taking the R4 car whilst Englishman Nick
Fennell will take the R5 car. Also at the show, we are told will be Murray
Walker who is said to be celebrating 65 years of Motor Racing commentary.
Towards the end of last year, CLA Member Marc Schagen released
his book 'Lotus, the historic sports and racing cars of Australia'. This is
quite simply a masterpiece of the Lotus competition car in Australia and one
which I cannot recommend highly enough. What started for me as a simple read
through became a total immersment in the book. Marc states at the beginning that
he is not a writer, and in many ways this helps because rather than waffle on
about the heat haze rising off the Mulsanne straight, he presents only the
facts. And what facts they are, I defy anybody who has owned one of the cars in
this book (And if you have owned a Lotus that has competed it WILL be in this
book) to know all the facts about their vehicle!! You find yourself muttering
"So that's how he came to have it" "So that's where it went".... "Good lord, I
had forgotten about that car" "And all the time he said it has dual cam chains
a-la Alfa Romeo" Grab a copy while you can at just $50.00 plus &15.00
postage it represents extraordinary value for such an immense source of
information.
