Donington Historic Festival 2016

[blimeyme]

Anyone attending this event which is coming up on April 30th for (I think) 3 days?
This will be my very first event of this type so looking forward to it, especially if I an get on the Lotus track parade ( not sure how this works yet ) on the Saturday.
Hoping to see some other Elans there, meet some fellow owners and share the tales of the highs and lows of owning one of these amazing machines.

[blimeyme]

Looking like i must remember to say hello to myself there.
Was hoping to meet afew folk but guess there will be plenty of other venues in the future.

[muley]

Hi,

I'm not planning to go to Donington.

A couple of us are going to the Silverstone Classic, though.




Jim

[blimeyme]

Yeah ii looked at Silverstone but I'm away...is that one of the main events?

[Rambo]

Yeah ii looked at Silverstone but I'm away...is that one of the main events?

It is the event of the year as far as I am concerned

Best value for money racing anywhere

[blimeyme]

Date for next year's diary then.
Cheers

[rip]

Looking like i must remember to say hello to myself there.
Was hoping to meet a few folk but guess there will be plenty of other venues in the future.

Club Lotus used to arrange a festival at Donington in March/April every year & it was well attended (30-70 Elans in convoy from the services to the circuit). The venue was great, they organised a track day, they have the exhibition hall & a museum. They let us park all together in the overflow car park too.

but then F1 got involved with Donington with their plans which never stood a chance.

Donington was unavailable for a year while the track was ripped up before their funds dried up. The festival moved to Malvern one year then back to Donington the following August. This one was poorly attended (allegedly) so they moved it back to spring, but it was too late to do this the following year so we had a year break.
When it returned, we shared Donington with BTCC & even though we were told 'It will all work out well', traffic was queuing as far back as the M1 on Sunday.
The overflow car park where we all used to park in a line had become a holding park for a plant machinery auction company, so parking was limited.
The best part of this particular festival was the convoy out to around Melton Mowbray which I believe was organised by Dapinky & Enright.

The festival itself never changed so many of us felt it got a little stale.

If it seemed strange that there was a lack of enthusiasm for Donington then that is why.

Some folk on here have tried to arrange an LEC event but there does not seem to be enough interest to make it happen.

[blimeyme]

Thanks for the background on Donington...it's quite sad really that what once was a looked forward too event morphs into something like you describe. I get the lack of interest following that.
That said I am new to the joys of élan ownership and, weather permitting, will go along to this event and take it as I find, .hopefully things will have improved since those negative experiences...I will let you know.
Thanks for the background, always good to know and I shall defo try and get to Silverstone next year.
Next event for me after this is the Serpentine event and im really looking forward to that one.
Thanksagain

[Rambo]

As Ian (Rip) describes.........

A great pity really as it was definitely the LEC highlight of the year. Its where you got to put a face to a name, enjoyed beers, curries,banter, camararderie and where longterm friendships were made

[maz_r]

Shame it lost it's way; putting faces to names on here was the best bit, imho.

[muley]

Yes, it was a shame and the LECers made it a very special event.

Heck, we even had our own stand FFS.

Where else would youe see an M100 convoy of 80+ cars sorted by colour.



Jim

[Fredjohn]

Real shame. I used to attend Donington regularly for quite a few years with my old S4 Elan before the final catastrophe in the M100 with the BTCC weekend. Even remember going to 3 Counties in Malvern and one at Stoneleigh too.

But as everyone has said above, you meet people, put faces to names and become real rather than virtual friends. Hence the banter on here is not as cutting as it may seem at first glance (although sometimes it is: in step the moderators)

[rip]

Stoneleigh was the Autumn parts fair but still well attended. The last one was in 2007.

I think Rambo & Fred summed it up nicely. Meetings such as Donington turn virtual friends into real ones. The spring meets were usually cold but we didn't really care.

& I enjoyed the rolling convoy along the M1 too. This was for us southerners who met up on the way. Seeing 10+ Elans pass me on the M1 as I drove slowly waiting for them to catch up at my 'joining on' point was one of my favourite memories.

[Rob P]

I managed to make it to the Last Donington and agree that the best part was the trip out and the wander around Melton Mowbray, even picking up the obligatory Pork Pie along the way. I had only had the car a short time and was good to see a shed load of M100 on a service station car park in the sunshine, although it was a tad chilly.

The Venue itself was something of a shambles with dust being blown everywhere, the area laid off for the Plant Machinery would have been ideal to keep the cars all together.

A real shame really as there should be more in the way of Lotus gatherings, even trying to drum up local gatherings proves difficult for this marque, not sure why as I have met some wonderful people since joining the Lotus fraternity.

[John_W]

... I enjoyed the rolling convoy along the M1 too. This was for us southerners who met up on the way. Seeing 10+ Elans pass me on the M1 as I drove slowly waiting for them to catch up at my 'joining on' point was one of my favourite memories.

We always had fun driving from the north too, although picking up people at the various meeting points en route was a bit like herding cats at times.
We used to leave Aberdeen/Inverness about 8am and pick up people at various stops, arriving at Donington hotels around 5 or 6 with about eight or ten cars.

And yes, the best bit was putting faces to forum names and finding out they were all a great bunch to have a curry and pint with, and would freely help with any problems or questions about the cars.


Seeing upwards of 70 or 80 Elans driving into the Donington exhibition ground was also a sight to remember.

John

[Enright]

I think we managed to crack the 100 mark eventually John, and playing with colours was fun!

[blimeyme]

I may not see anyone at Donington but at least this thread has provided the chance for some to remember the past events good times....wish I could have been part of one of those convoys would have been fab.