DONNINGTON: DISPLAY PARKING

[Mark Blanchard]

We had this discussion on the Yahoo forum last year and the year before.

I agree a summer event would be better, as would a better venue, but for me I

[Splodge s4]

Good weekend all in all.

Garry (Splodge) I didn't it was you I sold the kit to! I would have doubled it! LOL!

I've reminded Pete this morning to try and get your kit sorted.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spot on, as for the chip i've been reading LEWs fitting instructions & was there supposed to be a chip socket the chip goes into then into the ECU? I only have the chip it self...

Looking forward to getting the bits through, thanks for all your advice & help Dave.

& thats another prob with these meets no one know who they are talking to until after we start posting again!

Edited March 20, 2006 by Splodge s4

[esprit350]

Nick I had a similar veiw to yours a few years ago, now it has changed, I wrote and complained to Alan at CL after the stonleigh parking mess a couple of years ago. I got a very prompt reply and he addressd all my points, I have since met him and he has a very positive attitude to us " the esprit community" and I will echo what Paul C says in his post. Alan turned up at donington at 8am on sunday and the first person he came and spoke to was me. He was so helpful and was really concerned that we got our display sorted and helped us with cordon tape and acess to barriers. He had been liaising with Paul and I for the previous two weeks about the display.

I have changed my opinion of Club Lotus in the past year and it is due to the attitude of Alan Morgan, He redily admits things are not right with the web page and is taking steps to sort it. He also told me that he would like to get stonleigh at an earlier date in the year , these week ends are booked years in advance by some organisations. Give the man some credit he is trying to make things better, we should help and encourage.

Howard

Edited March 20, 2006 by esprit350

[Paul C]

The parts fair is still held in those nheated, semi open cowsheds at Stoneleigh in November. Where are the signs that things are changing for the better. Words mean nothing if they are not followed by action.

Right, you've upset me now.

Stoneleigh was a nightmare in 2004, it was supposed to be an Esprit special and we met in convoys all over the country to decend on the venue in some 40 car convoy - only to be split up in several different carparks, in the rain, parked alongside mondeos and the like, it was rubbish.

I sent the shittyest of Emails to Club Lotus, i'm not kidding Nick you would have loved it, ask Alan if you ever speak to the guy, it was very angry and very, very dismissive of club lotus and how they cater for the Esprit community.

However, i did say that if all they wanted was a hand to make it better then i would contact them the next year (2005) and help out, rather than just moan. I kept Alans polite reply in my Inbox for 10 months and then sent it back (along with my original mail). We talked (talking) about what could be done (doing things) to make things better. As it is a bad time of year, i asked if we could have some parking for Esprits only inside, this was fine, and i asked what i needed to do to make sure this was not the same fiasco as the year before. Alans volunteers (volunteers) were already going to have loads to do, so i went down to the show the day before.

It only took me a few hours to run marker tape around the 100 car hanger that we had been offered, i then moved about 40 oil drums to block the spaces between the columns just to be sure, then i cable tied the door shut and told alan to undo it at around 10 o'clock the following morning (about ten minutes before out convoy arrived). I then made a load of signs up and screwed them to the outside to show where our parking was. Alan supplied a security guy on the day to stand at the door and make sure only Esprits got in there (we had to laugh, he asked every car in the 40-50 car convoy 'are you an esprit', as Alan had stressed the importance of this to him).

So instead of being the same as the year before, as it would have been if i had just moaned and did nothing (nothing) about it, we had what Kato described as 'the best parking we have had at a Club Lotus Event'. This was partly down to myself, but equally down to Alan Morgan. I was so happy, i renewed my Club Lotus memebership after the show (i had let it lapse after the 2004 show).

So instead of all being split up in various rainy carparks we had this:

Where are the signs that things are changing for the better. Words mean nothing if they are not followed by action.

I'm left wondering if it's worth people bothering. If me or Alan could have had the hanging gardens of babylon to park the cars beneath then of course we would. Maybe he could up the (already moaned about) entrance fee so we all got nice little 'hang round your neck' entrance tags instead of a 'poxy sticky paper label', He could have one of those mobile hand carwash things at the gate, and a hog roast in our cowshed at a fiver a shot. You have no idea how busy that guy is at donnington and stoneleigh, i missed the guy yesterday, but i'm sure as hell he was not shut in some side room idle, counting his millions.

Give the guy a ring and offer to help Nick, please.

[nicksoldies]

I will see what reply I receive. I would obviously offer give any help I am able to if it would improve things from my point of view.

Personally, I cannot see how the car park at Donnington could ever be a suitable location for the main Club Lotus Weekend. It is hardly large enough to accomodate the numbers that arrive in poor conditions. IF the dates could be changed to a summer meet, more would likely arrive. There must be better facilities for a meet there. Somebody posted that the track is not included for use in the weekend, why not. There was a large tarmaced area that I drove through to reach the car park we use. It was far larger and much better surfaced. Why can't that be used? I would gladly pay

[Vicki]

How about Club Lotus pays Kato to run LEW and have it as the official website.

I would imagine that drivers of the other models might feel more than a bit left out if that happened. LEW is for Esprits and Club Lotus is for all Lotus models.

I think I'm right in saying that Kato already has a job. I'm amazed he can do that and run a website devoted to Esprits. The poor man wouldn't get any sleep if he had to devote the same effort into Europas, Elans, Elites, Elises, Exiges, Excels, Eclats, Carltons, Cortinas etc.

[esprit350]

can I ask Nick are you actually a member of Club Lotus?

you could have refused the A4 sheet to put in your window,

Alan has only been at the helm of CL for two years, if stoneleigh is booked for the next five in adavance on the week end he wants , how the hell can he change that? Move the event to the NEC,

Edited March 20, 2006 by esprit350

[superdavelotus]

Will get Pete to send chip holder, sorry!

Spot on, as for the chip i've been reading LEWs fitting instructions & was there supposed to be a chip socket the chip goes into then into the ECU? I only have the chip it self...

Looking forward to getting the bits through, thanks for all your advice & help Dave.

& thats another prob with these meets no one know who they are talking to until after we start posting again!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[oneshot]

I was grateful for those who attempted to improve things for the Esprit owners by organising parking, but to call a line of parked Esprits a display is part of the problem. How about every owner brings an A frame stand with any relevant photo's, a history of his car and that model. Then there would be a bit more to see than a line of different coloured cars with an A4 sheet stuck on the dash.

Given the time we had to organise the display we did what we could. Assuming that we will do the same next year then we can indeed provide details of each model. Any volunteers??

We have full time jobs and to provide those sheets would have taken a long time.

If you looked at my car you would have seen a full spec sheet detailing the cars performance and the limited run details.

There seems to be an expectation that we can just turn up and everything will be as we want it. Unfortunately the real world doesn't work like that. Howard and I were there at 8:00am to set up the barriers and tape. We still had people turning up after the show had started wanting to know why they couldn't get in the display!!

Alan at CL was extremely helpful and supportive providing us with what we wanted and support to ensure that we had the authority to stop anyone without an Esprit from parking in the display.

[nicksoldies]

can I ask Nick are you actually a member of Club Lotus?

you could have refused the A4 sheet to put in your window,

Alan has only been at the helm of CL for two years, if stoneleigh is booked for the next five in adavance on the week end he wants , how the hell can he change that? Move the event to the NEC,

[snuffy]

..  Can you condense it down a little as Iam sure it's an interesting read? My level of concentration is not great unless something catches my attention.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've give you a more condensed version of Nick's post : The show was toss.

[Jonathan]

I think we're all spoilt by the level of excellence in the Oxford / LEW meets - the one at the mansion last year was just unreal, the organisation might well have been sponsored by Rolex it ran that smooth (even the weather obeyed the orders).

I've done Donington and stoneleigh now and been fairly un-impressed (no offence to anyone who helps organise these things I know you work your pants off )

My recolection of Donington last time I was there was for the E-type anniversary by the Jaguar club...it was awesome, held inside the grounds and was held in conjunction with a classic race meet as well.

The best lotus meet I went to outside Hethel was the one at Brands Hatch, again this was inside the track and mixed in with the CSMA race meet.

Clubs on their own are probably not big enough to get gucci meets together under their own money, however piggying it onto another meet could fund better events imo. IIRC MG were at the Jaguar day as well, helping them to celebrate (as well as sell a few cars LOL).

A Jag / Lotus / Morgan / MG meet would be fantastic - with the combined funding renting a track for the day would be a reality. Another example is the wings and wheels events...everyone likes cars and planes ! I know companies who've rented Silverstone out and so forth.

Been trying to sort something out over the winter (fun days, last one was the skid pan) but at every turn I have been shot down in flames....love to help organise something but I dunno - you lose enthusiasm after a while. My idea was Brands Hatch which is 10 mins from me and would be nice for the southern lot since the long runs are pretty off putting esp when the end goal is sometimes disappointing.

[Jonathan]

I'm left wondering if it's worth people bothering.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, it is !!

I remember the letter you did for that and it was one of the best real life examples of "getting up off your ass and doing something about it" I'd seen. Must admit I regret not coming along to that meet (ok I didn't have my Esprit on the road at that time).

Oh another great lotus meet was the Classic Team lotus 50th aniversary at Hethel, pee'd down with rain ALL DAY but never under estimate what the British classic car enthusiast can put up with

[lrg_machine]

I did attempt to join in but it all seemed very 'clicky'. None of the small groups talking seemed very keen on welcoming an outsider so I went for a wander.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know where you get the idea that we're not keen on welcoming an "outsider"

The small groups you talk of are probably people that really only see each other at these meets, they're called friends, plus I've always found Esprit owners friendly and welcoming.

Introduce yourself, you have the starting point, "Hello That's my comemorative over there" I'm sure a few of us would be interested in having a look round it, after all that's why we're there isn't it.

I'm sorry you had a bad day, the weather was cold, the car park was poor, the displays were lacking, the entrance fee was high, the movies were too quiet, there was no barbecue and Paul C got all the creme eggs. But get yer head out yer bum, cheer up get involved and make the best of it.

[Jonathan]

LOL Jez.

Esprit owners are not clicky or un-welcoming !

Outsider ! nonononono...

I met loads of new and extremely polite and courteous people at Donington, as well as the usual rude and offensive ones haha only kidding

I actually made a point of seeking out all the people / friends I've made on here too....some poor bloke asked me about the GT3 while we were there and I litterally talked his ears off for about an hour hahahha (I think they ran off inside sorry if that was you).

Then we all slanted off to Lisa's house for a mini-meet, got lost (in true Lotus fashion) but had a blast.

I will agree if you missed the people the show probably didn't make up for it, really sorry to hear you had a bad day, just didn't click for you !

Big tip though - put a pic of your car on the garage...loads of people I managed to speak to I recognised when they were near their cars, same here as I was the only wolly stupid enough to turn up in an open top in the freezing cold

[terry]

Hi this was my first lotus show only not able to come in my old s2 as i need a crossgate cable anyway great show hope to join in some time soon

[Paul C]

I don't know where you get the idea that we're not keen on welcoming an "outsider"

The small groups you talk of are probably people that really only see each other at these meets, they're called friends, plus I've always found Esprit owners friendly and welcoming.

Introduce yourself, you have the starting point, "Hello That's my comemorative over there" I'm sure a few of us would be interested in having a look round it, after all that's why we're there isn't it.

I'm sorry you had a bad day, the weather was cold, the car park was poor, the displays were lacking, the entrance fee was high, the movies were too quiet, there was no barbecue and Paul C got all the creme eggs. But get yer head out yer bum, cheer up get involved and make the best of it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I make no apologies for making off with all the eggs

This thread has been running since March the 4th with Howard and David trying to

get different examples, it's a pity Nick did not join in until today as the fact howard

was unaware a comemorative was turning up, was why there was no sheet (see the

list way back on page one). Just joining in with 'i'm coming in my XYZ model Esprit'

would mean you met people saying here's matey in his 'XYZ' Esprit, and then the

Minute you roll up it's 'ah, this is Nick in the comemorative, here's his sheet'.

The donington threads started early feburary,

and in total members have made 228 posts,

And these posts have been viewed to date a

quite staggering 5189 times! Well done all!!!

In all that time Nick did not post once.

Until after the day, when he posted how

much he had not enjoyed it, how there

was no ticket for his car, and how the

line up could be better, what could be

done, who could do it etc..

Ok, it could have been better for you,

but remaining catatonic until after the

event really does not give anyone a

head start in helping you enjoy the day.

Maybe next year you can get involved with

us when we plan what we are doing? PLEASE

do! with enough time and notice, and with

another pair of hands to make the boards/

whatever, we can help and you enjoy it more,

if not completely. There won't be any bad

feeling, promise.

'ask not what Club Lotus can do for you...'

[Alan Paterson]

Chaps & Chapesses,

I won't offend Nick by asking if I can put him down as undecided, but I think every show you attend is what you make of it.

I personally enjoyed it because I made the effort to go and seek out people and speak to them.

I've been a member for about 5 years now and have come to know quite a few people in the Esprit community - and it's always a real pleasure to meet them again to find out how they're getting on.

The show provided a great focal point for us all to meet up.

I had a chat with Olaf Glassius, who owns the Etna concept car. Now, he's a real enthusiast - with 25 Lotus cars in his collection. I suspect his tax bracket to be different to mine, but we both share a love for the cars. He found some loose change in his pocket, so he bought the Elan M200 concept car at the show.

He happily agreed to be interviewed for the new film I'm making and I found it fascinating.

I also had a chat with Jeremy Walton, who's written a new book on the Esprit, on the Saturday. As it turned out, there were great similarities in our backgrounds and I found him really friendly. I think the title of his previous book (Esprit-the Complete Story) has been a thorn in his side for some time - and it transpires that the title was not his choice, but the Publishers.

I met up with the Tartan army (Del, Andrew & Co) and went out for a curry with them on the Saturday night. This helped recharge my accent, so I spent a good part of Sunday with people not understanding a word I said.

But it's all about meeting new folks and making new friends.

I was pleased to see Rob Carrier looking well, had a nice chat with SuperDave ( whose gearchange mod. training film is very useful) and met Dermot & Kato as well as Simon & Elaine Turner.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My feet were killing me by the end of Sunday and I wanted to give my camera away as it became heavy - but on reviewing the material, I'm delighted with it. I can see that I can edit a nice, interesting sequence together.

Maybe it's worth analysing what the shortcomings of the show were and not just griping about them, but to actively come up with suggestions of how it could be improved for the future.

I'm sure that if practical suggestions are put forward in a mature, professional manner, then Alan Morgan will pay heed to them.

He's an intelligent guy who's not against change.

Alan

(sorry for the'War & Peace' approach - but hey, some people like a good read)

[nicksoldies]

I make no apologies for making off with all the eggs 

This thread has been running since March the 4th with Howard and David trying to

get different examples, it's a pity Nick did not join in until today as the fact howard

was unaware a comemorative was turning up, was why there was no sheet (see the

list way back on page one). Just joining in with 'i'm coming in my XYZ model Esprit'

would mean you met people saying here's matey in his 'XYZ' Esprit, and then the

Minute you roll up it's 'ah, this is Nick in the comemorative, here's his sheet'.

The donington threads started early feburary,

and in total members have made 228 posts,

And these posts have been viewed to date a

quite staggering 5189 times! Well done all!!! 

In all that time Nick did not post once.

Until after the day, when he posted how

much he had not enjoyed it, how there

was no ticket for his car, and how the

line up could be better, what could be

done, who could do it etc..

Ok, it could have been better for you,

but remaining catatonic until after the

event really does not give anyone a

head start in helping you enjoy the day.

Maybe next year you can get involved with

us when we plan what we are doing? PLEASE

do! with enough time and notice, and with

another pair of hands to make the boards/

whatever, we can help and you enjoy it more,

if not completely. There won't be any bad

feeling, promise.

'ask not what Club Lotus can do for you...'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't post I was going because I honestly did not know if I would make the trip. To have done so and then not arrived would have been bad manners in my book. My Esprit does not see rain if I can help it, if it had been raining or worse on the day, I would not have set out.

For any future events I will make more effort to post in advance. Donnington will not be included.

I really do not understand your attitude re the club. 'ask not what they can do for us'. I'll tell you what they do, they take a yearly direct debit payment, claim to be THE club for Lotus enthusiasts and provide the poorest standard of service they can get away with. A bit like the government and public services. I ask what they intend to do for me and my money. I ask what they will do improve the image of a great car name. They obligate themselves by existing and by the claims they make. Holding the event I have just visited does nothing to enhance the standing of classic Lotus cars. It is not an enjoyable experience.

I do my bit by providing a shining example of the marque which can and does attend the meetings organised by them.

If I'm then expected to do the organising as well. I might as well keep the money they have. I don't pay a dog and bark myself. Helping once the details are in place is one thing, organising an event outside the club ourselves is OK, but doing work you have paid for is another thing. Expecting a well organised, enjoyable weekend in nice weather and an appealing setting is the least I would expect for Lotus cars and enthusiasts. Can you honestly imagine a Ferrari or Lamborghini or even Jaguar owner standing for what we have year after year. I suggest you go to a big event held by the clubs of any of those marques to see how it can and should be done.

[Loose Cannon]

See you all next year?  B)

Thats quite an ironic choice of smiley as the one thing I have never needed in 7 or 8 trips to the show in the last 15 years is sunglasses. EVERYBODY I have ever spoke to BAR NONE would rather there was a show in the summer where you can kick back and relax, not see how long you can stand before the effects of the last cup of pisswater tea wears off and hypothermia sets in. If the

[Loose Cannon]

Wow, this is a popular thread, 3 mega posts in the time it took to write mine! After reading Nicks last one about how Fez/Lambo owners and how they would organize things, I would say one thing the Ferrari Owners Club is NOT short of it's organisers! At "See Red" you should have seen all the jack-booted little Hitlers with their little badges on goose stepping around the place, taking glee in turning away Murcielagos from "their" parking area. Thrusting-business-types who can't leave the boardroom behind.

So I suppose the Lotus approach may not be so bad after all, maybe a little more "human"??

[Jonathan]

Ugh Mark = pished off too ?!

Managed not to find you at Donington, sad I couldn't track yus down, hope I wasn't one of the people who bumped in conversations accidently - I saw the other Mark at a distance and ran over to say hi so I hope that wasn't me.

Was that your car I photographed ?

[Guest purplerain]

Yeap I didnt go this year or last year, No convoys from Devon to join,Cold,Rain,5 hrs of driving just to look at a load of old rusty second hand Lotus parts.PNM excluded Dave. STILL LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE,CASTLE COOMBE TRACK DAY IN MAY,always a good Loti turnup and nice weather normally.Paul Purplerain.

I didn't post I was going because I honestly did not know if I would make the trip. To have done so and then not arrived would have been bad manners in my book. My Esprit does not see rain if I can help it, if it had been raining or worse on the day, I would not have set out.

For any future events I will make more effort to post in advance. Donnington will not be included.

I really do not understand your attitude re the club. 'ask not what they can do for us'. I'll tell you what they do, they take a yearly direct debit payment, claim to be THE club for Lotus enthusiasts and provide the poorest standard of service they can get away with. A bit like the government and public services. I ask what they intend to do for me and my money. I ask what they will do improve the image of a great car name. They obligate themselves by existing and by the claims they make. Holding the event I have just visited does nothing to enhance the standing of classic Lotus cars. It is not an enjoyable experience.

I do my bit by providing a shining example of the marque which can and does attend the meetings organised by them.

If I'm then expected to do the organising as well. I might as well keep the money they have. I don't pay a dog and bark myself. Helping once the details are in place is one thing, organising an event outside the club ourselves is OK, but doing work you have paid for is another thing. Expecting a well organised, enjoyable weekend in nice weather and an appealing setting is the least I would expect for Lotus cars and enthusiasts. Can you honestly imagine a Ferrari or Lamborghini or even Jaguar owner standing for what we have year after year. I suggest you go to a big event held by the clubs of any of those marques to see how it can and should be done.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Mark Blanchard]

Like many people I am fairly quiet and no good at barging into other people's conversations, as I absolutely hate people doing it to me. In fact I am so sick of striking up a chat only to have someone stride manfully over and talk loudly over the top of me that I hardly bother now. I got about 2 minutes with Mark Blanchard, and ooh, maybe 5 with Danny Kane before it happened.

Apologies Mark. Had been driving for 3 1/2 hours and was desperate for a slash!

[Splashout]

Wow i have just read my way through most of this and have to say I'm a little surprised at the fact that some people seem to not of known what is there!

I actually thought there was more to look at inside this year than either of the previous two times i have made it.

Knowing what is there I still make the effort to get up at 4am to get to one of the pre meets and get to donnington early (if you don't get lost), why you may ask? The answer is simple it is to see the people not the show. The show is an added extra.

The only thing that I can compare it to is the JAP meet JAE and this is held over a whole weekend and used to be at billing aquadrome.

There was entertainment in the form of fireworks and a mini club type thing on the saturday night and each car club had there own area. This meant you could easily spend a whole day just doing all the different cars etc.

So if i was to make a criticism it would be that it would be great if it could be geared to be a whole weekend event.

As a final point i think it is clear that a lot of people here would be able and willing to help make the main club lotus event a bigger and better occasion, so i suggest this why not organise a list of things "we" as the esprit community would like to see happen at a yearly club lotus main event and how we think we could help these happen.

We could then send this to club lotus and ask for their thoughts hell we have a whole year to help them improve it.

Oh and Paul i would happily pay

Edited March 21, 2006 by Splashout