LOG 25

[Feffman]

Thirty-one years on, Lotus Ltd. continues to grow as North America’s Largest Lotus Club. The annual Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG) has been a large part of the success and joy of membership in Lotus Ltd. LOG 24 in Birmingham, Alabama was no exception as LOG goers enjoyed a fine venue in The Wynfrey Hotel and Barber Motorsports Park and Museum.<br><br>Over the past twenty-four years, LOG has been to a variety of America’s finest cities including Atlanta GA, Buffalo NY, and Worcester MA to name but a few. The 2005 gathering will see Lotus Ltd. venture into new territory in “The Gateway to The West”, St. Louis Missouri August 26-29, 2005. Lotus Ltd. affiliate club the St. Louis Area Lotus Lovers (STALLS) will be on their best behavior to bring a world class LOG to all attendees. <br><br>At the convergence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, St. Louis is famous for The Gateway Arch, the world’s largest free standing memorial, Anheuser-Busch beer, The Muny Opera, America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre and Cardinal baseball. The Gateway To The West, as St. Louis was known to early western settlers, offers a central location for many Lotus Ltd. members. Nearby Gateway International Raceway will be put to good use by Lotus drivers for the LOG 25 track day and autocross. The rolling hills along the banks of the Mighty Missouri River through the Western Hemisphere’s first registered wine district offer a driving experience seemingly laid out with the Lotus enthusiast in mind. Colin would surely smile as his automotive creations bob and weave along these roads. <br><br>LOG 25 will feature open-wheel Formula race cars at the concourse and track day. We currently have approximately thirty confirmed Lotus race cars for LOG 25 including several F1 cars and the Lotus 62 Indy car. <br><br>Lotus Ltd. and the St. Louis Area Lotus Lovers cordially invite all Lotus enthusiasts, owner or otherwise, to “Meet Me In St. Louis” August 26-29, 2005. Mark your calendars now for the silver anniversary of LOG in The Gateway City. <br><br>Watch for more details on the Lotus Ltd. web site at www.LotusCarClub.org or contact LOG 25 chairman Mark Pfeffer at (314) 889-0572 or Feffman@Yahoo.com.<br><br><br><br>

[DeanG]

Claudia & I will be there with our M100.  Hopefully we can organize another M100 gathering such as the breakfast meeting at LOG 24.  This year we will have to do something special to beat back the Elise contingent.  <br><br>The only trouble will be that I have to get back home for a mandatory class at 4:30 the Tuesday after track day.<br>

[Feffman]

Dean:<br><br>Drive Fast!!!!!  CYA at LOG 25.<br><br>Mark

[Feffman]

Luke Bennett, the production manager at the Lotus factory in The UK and one of the people who worked on the M100 will be our guest speaker from the factory.<br><br>Should be great to pick his brain and hear stories.<br><br>CYA in August at LOG 25!<br><br>Mark (Feff) Pfeffer - Chairman LOG 25

[Mike]

Great news, Mark. I'll get Mr. Bennett to identify the three connectors that are un-connected in my car. I may even find more before then.<br><br>We'll have to get Mr. Bennett to join the M100 group for breakfast on Saturday like we did with our group last year. Dave Myers from Michigan can show him what the M100 could, or should have been, with the further development it deserved, per the documented and detailed work history we saw last year (plus what Dave has done recently). Then, let him have a go with Dave at autocross and/or track day. <br><br>It should be fun- thanks for giving us advance notice!<br>

[Feffman]

Hi All:<br><br>Spoke to Rob Sass (800) 325-4267 at FedEx (http://passport.fedex.com) Custon Critical (formerly Passport Transport) yesterday.  He noted if you can get everyone to load and unload in one spot for a full truck (about 6-7 Lotus) the savings would be around 25%-30% off standard shipping.<br><br>CYA in August!<br><br>Mark Pfeffer - Chairman LOG 25 <br>  http://www.lotuscarclub.org/LOG/LOG25/index.html

[Doug]

are you talking about a car carrier?  if so ask him about shipping a Lotus from Mid-USA to London and back . . .  ::)

[Fubar1764]

Just for fun, I looked up the pricing. It's approximately $850 from Houston to St. Louis (your results may vary). R/T would be $1700  :o ! That's an installed Quaife! Now this might be a bargain for a Europa  ;)

[lotos]

I think you'd be better off buying a small trailer if you're interested in getting your car to events across the country.

[Dave M]

Just back from LOG (I didn't stay for the track day unfortunately) and had a wonderful time as always. Mark and the St. Louis group did a bang-up job getting key Lotus people there, organizing the event, finding sponsors to take good care of us, and like last year, making some deal with the weather to get things in before a hurricane could come along and soak things!

The highlight of the weekend was talking to Clive Chapman and getting a few signatures from him (though I doubt I'll wear my Classic Team Lotus hat as much anymore ). Add to that an interesting group of open wheel cars, stories from team mechanics Bob Dance and Bob Sparshot (sp?) about their adventures, the unveiling of the US Exige (um, I want it...), and the usual great time hanging out with a bunch of Lotus friends.

Pics below include Mike Pearce and I and our fun over the weekend including the drive to, and casual concours (most of the pictures), as well as the Sunday "Route 66" drive (last few pics). Scooby did her best to hang with the 2 Esprits, Europa, and M100 in our tour group!

Next year is in Ft. Worth, TX - haven't heard a date yet, but it's getting closer to you West Coasters! Rumor has it that Denver gets the 2007 event...

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/themeyers ... /my_photos

Best wishes to Mike and his group from AL. Last I knew on Sunday afternoon they were debating leaving the track day early to try and beat hurricane Katrina back home. Hopefully they all have safe travels and find their homes safe and sound.

[Dave M]

One more from LOG:

Doug and Sy may need to talk with these folks about copyright laws...and there is an identical third behind these two that didn't get in the shot.

[Doug]

One more from LOG:

Doug and Sy may need to talk with these folks about copyright laws...and there is an identical third behind these two that didn't get in the shot.

Wow! let me go change my pants!


actually, Dave, that Type 49 Elise was my inspiration for my Stripey project. I got to see and touch one at Donington and they do look great in person.

[Dave M]

Yes, the Elise contingent was there in full force. Great to have a lot of new owners in the mix.

There were also at least 11 M100s there BTW.

[Fubar1764]

We're looking at two dates for LOG in Ft. Worth: the first weekend of October or the last weekend of September. I'm negotiating with the hotels right now. Should be fun!

[Doc Fizzix]

One more from LOG:

Doug and Sy may need to talk with these folks about copyright laws...and there is an identical third behind these two that didn't get in the shot.

I was not a big Elise fan but DAM, that green with yellow stripes looks great on the Elise.

[Doc Fizzix]

Pics below include Mike Pearce and I and our fun over the weekend including the drive to, and casual concours (most of the pictures), as well as the Sunday "Route 66" drive (last few pics). Scooby did her best to hang with the 2 Esprits, Europa, and M100 in our tour group!

Did they let anyone take out the 107B F1?

[Mike]

1) I rode shotgun with Dave in the Scoobie (235,000 miles +) while he blasted down Wildhorse Creek road in front of his Chicago friends. I had one hand on the roof and the other on the side of my seat to hold on as he attacked the curves. I can assure you he left the other cars waaaaay behind. Dave can toss his car with the best of 'em, proving once again driver skill often makes up for the capabilities of the car! I enjoyed looking behind us and seeing the Espirits no where to be found. Dave, it will be fun following you around the track in Texas next year. Unfortunately, in the afternoon drive on the same circuit an Espirit V-8 lost it and tore up the nose and right front suspension.
2) Lee Clark from the Barber Museum (owner of the ex-Mika Hakinnen 102B with a very ear-piercing Judd V-8) indeed did run her at track day. There is no way to describe hearing and seeing that car scream by 10 feet away from us on the straight at Gateway International. Bob Sparshot, former mechanic for Team Lotus was standing next to me and I thought he was going to cry when the 102 passed us by. "She's glorious, isn't she", he said.
3) Rather than wimping out in the face of a Category 4 hurricane heading our way 500 miles to the south, we could not resist and delayed our exit from St. Louis, went to the track and I ran two sessions in the morning-passing a couple of Espirit V-8's for a change (more their drivers than their car) and assorted others. But the Motorsport Elises and the Exiges were too much. I'll leave them for you next year, Dave. After lunch we left for home with me following two trailers into the teeth of the Hurricane-one had a Lotus 47 and the other the 102B and the Mark 1 (one of three replicas)- I felt like I was following royalty. We drove straight into the east side of Hurricane Katrina as we reached Tennessee from Kentucky at 10:00 pm (it made landfall that morning in New Orleans and shredded the Gulf coast). It was brutal. We must have been nuts to drive home in the storm. As the rain intensified, all I could think of was the photo from the Mark Hughes book where the Elan was run through a concrete trough with 3 feet of water for testing-surely she wouldn't freeze up like an MGB that hit a mud puddle- and she did not. The Elan was flawless in intense rains and 60-80 MPH winds (160+ at the eye-wall 75 miles to the west). Not a drop of leakage from the bonnet. Now, if the car sits still in rain- that's another story.

Once I can upload my pictures, I'll post them.

Mike

[Dave M]

Great to hear you are back safe, Mike! Hope your house escaped any damage as many weren't nearly as fortunate. Good to hear the track day went well. Thanks for keeping the M100's name burned in the thoughts of a few more Esprit drivers, too! I'm so bummed I missed it as the F1 car alone would have been worth seeing/hearing.

Can't wait to see your pics.