Malvern Lotus Show and Festival

the83man wrote:

GrumpyBodger wrote:......... would love to see the rest of your Rant!
Maybe it will be part of "Mike's Musings"

Cheers
John

Sorry John, I'm just fed up with being told by government how to live my life, e.g what is a safe speed for the back road into Kineton??????. And most of the problems to do with volcanic ash have little to do with modern turbo fan engines but can be put down to the 'risk avoidance' culture carefully nurtured by 'no win - no fee' lawyers. Bast**rds. Proper risk MANAGEMENT is the way forward. Where do I stop...........

Now you see why I had to delete it! Far too messy for Chicance!

Guess we're singing from the same Hymn Sheet Mike & it's why I'm in such a quandry about returning to GB.
On the brighter side; I think something more apt than "the83man" is called for as a Forum Name
Miffed Mike, maybe?
Cheers
John

the83man wrote:Thanks to everyone who helped out at the show over the weekend and for keeping LDC firmly on the map.

To those who put their cars on the stand, to those who set it up and broke it down and to those that manned the desk for two days, thank you all. A special thank you to Colin Smith for towing the trailer down and to Chris Mayhew for following me back to the lock up to help me put it away.

Any thoughts on Malvern as a venue?

I was there on Saturday. I thought that the venue worked generally well but somehow it still seemed to lack real energy and interest, a bit too much of the same old thing. The weather helped, I believe the water runs straight through most of the tents if its wet so that would make it very different. Will be interesting to see what the numbers came out like compared with Donny. Personally I think the whole event needs a good shake-up and sorting. If I were Club Lotus I'd start by asking everyone who had a stand there to give detailed feed-back and suggestions etc.
Good LDC stand though, the position worked well and everyone seemed keen to talk to us and I believe a good number of new members were signed up.
Cheers,
Tim.

Yes well done all .
Did anybody find out why Lotus UK not at the show .

Eddie.

A7ESK wrote:Yes well done all .
Did anybody find out why Lotus UK not at the show .

Eddie.

Eddie,

They're only interested in selling new cars and there were franchised dealers there to do that for them.... They have no idea about heritage or supporting the larger Lotus community. The last time they engaged with the Lotus clubs was a thinly veiled attempt to sell club members more cars and, probably, to boost their mailing lists. It's not the fault of the individuals at Hethel, many of who recognise this fault, but a basic and fundamental flaw in their business strategy.

All IMHO, of course.

Mike wrote: "any thoughts on Malvern as a venue"?

We went on the Sunday.

This is a re-write as I found the first effort rambled on more like a Chicane article, so here are the bullet points.

Good points.

• Nice grass area to park all the attending Loti, could sit by car and eat lunch & chat better than Donny.
  
• Halls provide better light (especially the tented halls) than Donningtons artificial Sodium Lights, cars looked better in the flesh and you could take photos that gave good colour for a change.
  
• More room for displays because of more halls
  
• Carpets in the main hall very welcome, especially for those stuck on a stand for two days.
  
• Large show ground venue allowed other activities to be taking place on the day. Autojumble, classic car show etc.
  

The Bad

• Tented halls would have been very different if weather had been bad, I think it would be very very cold as there was no visible signs of heating.
  
• Show split into different halls detracted for overall feel of event. Main hall great but then as you go into another it was a bit of an anti climax. Show felt a bit disjointed.
  
• Malvern not as easy (Midlands 2 group who do a lot of it) to set up an LDC stand. But if others more local to to the show ground were to organise next years cars and helpers that would solve the problem.
  

Overall

• Sunday seemed quiet so not a true gauge of attendance as Donnington has been quiet on Sundays, was Saturday "buzzing"?
  
• Venue is Ok but on balance I think Stoneleigh is better. (Who knows how long Donnington will be closed for)
  

Shake Up
I saw Tims comments about it feeling like "the same old thing". I can understand where he is coming from but I think a lot of that stems from having attended the show year on year. Its the same clubs, the same traders but without them/us there would be no show. It was good to see a good number of Evoras in the car parks, about 10 at one point, if they are new to the show that were probably quite impressed. Does it need to alter? Did it make money for the organisers and traders? If the answer is yes bucket fulls, then perhaps it does not need to change, if the trend is downward then of course it does. More hands on exhibits would be good, skid car, Caterham driving experience, tech talks/demonstrations, dealer rides in new models and so on, it all takes organising, and increase the costs and risks if not a financial success.

Lotus Racing/Modified car Show?
I have often thought there is room for a Lotus Racing Show in the first quarter of the year before the racing season starts. A bit like race retro but for Lotus cars. It would be early enough to attract cars we don't normally see because they are out racing, it might bring in a different kind of trader and would appeal to a good number of Lotus enthusiasts, those that race now, the historic racers, the modified track car and of course the hordes and hordes of enthusiastic Elise drivers. Are there any standard elises out there, all the insurance quotes I do it seems they all have something even if its only an induction kit or non cat exhaust system.

Thony Thompson
Pat Thomas
Banks Europas Europa Engineering
Rickets Racing
CTL
Bookatrack
Historic racers
Hire me Elise race cars
Owner modified Lotus cars
Owner Lotus race cars
Owner Lotus rally cars, I have seen an old Europa rallying and a Mk1 Elise! and of corse Cotinas and Sunbeams by the shed load.
Talk on track set up
A rant by the "Grumpy Bodger" on Zetec powered Elans worth the entrance fee alone, but I'm sure he would find some excuse not to attend!

I think that there are loads of cars out there to make an exciting show and enough Lotus enthusiasts to make it work. If it was felt that the shows get a bit of the "same old" feel about them how about the themed racing cars show every other year and the road Lotus show as it is now, in between? Being and old member both in terms of membership and age, one of the show highlights is the presence of CTL in recent years. In contrast I went to watch my first Lotus on Track race on the Saturday and thought it was great so its not all about being stuck in the past its about exciting Lotus cars of all ages.

A show of this size is a massive undertaking and takes months and months of organising, so from me is still a big thank you to Club Lotus for putting on the whole event and also to the boys and girls of LDC who organise "our show". Well done and much appreciated.

Kim

A rant by the "Grumpy Bodger" on Zetec powered Elans
Oh yer gotta larf 'aint ya!
You know of me from the "other side" don't you Kim!!

Many well made points but I think that many of those well known "Traders" will not return which is a shame.
Richard Winter of Europa Engineering used to have a terrific stand I have missed him.
The trouble is, if these peoples order Books are full then the not inconsiderable expense of a Traders Stand becomes an intolerable burden.
(I've heard that from the Horses mouth)

Cheers
John

All very good points and well made. Kim...you certainly have put some thought into this as I knew you would. (I am reminded why we miss you on the LDC committee) !
Club Lotus would certainly do well to follow our comments here and take on board some of these points.
Good to see our forum works as it should - to give everyone a forum to air their thoughts.
(Would they need a health & safety warning if John was let loose on the public doing the Elan Zetec talk?...maybe)
Cheers, Tim.

Without going too far along this route, I like Kim's idea about having more of a competition theme to this show (without taking anything else away) and I did broach the subject with Alan Morgan a month or so ago. No promises but we might be able to do a bit more if we all help Alan.

Personally, Malvern simply doesn't work for me. People don't mind travelling but they usually want a bit more than a static and repetitive show at the end of it.

All of that said, this show is by far the most focused non-competitive Lotus show in the country and for that alone Club Lotus and the show deserve our support.

Following the theme of an earlier response the biggest missing element is any interest from the factory. Shame on them.

A rant by the "Grumpy Bodger" on Zetec powered Elans
Oh yer gotta larf 'aint ya!
You know of me from the "other side" don't you Kim!!

Yes John,
"The Dark Side" as I call it.

Atthelimit wrote:Mike wrote: "any thoughts on Malvern as a venue"?

We went on the Sunday.

This is a re-write as I found the first effort rambled on more like a Chicane article, so here are the bullet points.

Good points.

• Nice grass area to park all the attending Loti, could sit by car and eat lunch & chat better than Donny.
  
• Halls provide better light (especially the tented halls) than Donningtons artificial Sodium Lights, cars looked better in the flesh and you could take photos that gave good colour for a change.
  
• More room for displays because of more halls
  
• Carpets in the main hall very welcome, especially for those stuck on a stand for two days.
  
• Large show ground venue allowed other activities to be taking place on the day. Autojumble, classic car show etc.
  

The Bad

• Tented halls would have been very different if weather had been bad, I think it would be very very cold as there was no visible signs of heating.
  
• Show split into different halls detracted for overall feel of event. Main hall great but then as you go into another it was a bit of an anti climax. Show felt a bit disjointed.
  
• Malvern not as easy (Midlands 2 group who do a lot of it) to set up an LDC stand. But if others more local to to the show ground were to organise next years cars and helpers that would solve the problem.
  

Overall

• Sunday seemed quiet so not a true gauge of attendance as Donnington has been quiet on Sundays, was Saturday "buzzing"?
  
• Venue is Ok but on balance I think Stoneleigh is better. (Who knows how long Donnington will be closed for)
  

Shake Up
I saw Tims comments about it feeling like "the same old thing". I can understand where he is coming from but I think a lot of that stems from having attended the show year on year. Its the same clubs, the same traders but without them/us there would be no show. It was good to see a good number of Evoras in the car parks, about 10 at one point, if they are new to the show that were probably quite impressed. Does it need to alter? Did it make money for the organisers and traders? If the answer is yes bucket fulls, then perhaps it does not need to change, if the trend is downward then of course it does. More hands on exhibits would be good, skid car, Caterham driving experience, tech talks/demonstrations, dealer rides in new models and so on, it all takes organising, and increase the costs and risks if not a financial success.

Lotus Racing/Modified car Show?
I have often thought there is room for a Lotus Racing Show in the first quarter of the year before the racing season starts. A bit like race retro but for Lotus cars. It would be early enough to attract cars we don't normally see because they are out racing, it might bring in a different kind of trader and would appeal to a good number of Lotus enthusiasts, those that race now, the historic racers, the modified track car and of course the hordes and hordes of enthusiastic Elise drivers. Are there any standard elises out there, all the insurance quotes I do it seems they all have something even if its only an induction kit or non cat exhaust system.

Thony Thompson
Pat Thomas
Banks Europas Europa Engineering
Rickets Racing
CTL
Bookatrack
Historic racers
Hire me Elise race cars
Owner modified Lotus cars
Owner Lotus race cars
Owner Lotus rally cars, I have seen an old Europa rallying and a Mk1 Elise! and of corse Cotinas and Sunbeams by the shed load.
Talk on track set up
A rant by the "Grumpy Bodger" on Zetec powered Elans worth the entrance fee alone, but I'm sure he would find some excuse not to attend!

I think that there are loads of cars out there to make an exciting show and enough Lotus enthusiasts to make it work. If it was felt that the shows get a bit of the "same old" feel about them how about the themed racing cars show every other year and the road Lotus show as it is now, in between? Being and old member both in terms of membership and age, one of the show highlights is the presence of CTL in recent years. In contrast I went to watch my first Lotus on Track race on the Saturday and thought it was great so its not all about being stuck in the past its about exciting Lotus cars of all ages.

A show of this size is a massive undertaking and takes months and months of organising, so from me is still a big thank you to Club Lotus for putting on the whole event and also to the boys and girls of LDC who organise "our show". Well done and much appreciated.

Kim

Great idea's Kim,
Count me in.
Chris Mayhew

A good weekend for me, and great to put faces to names.

This was the third year for me but the first time I attended both days, previously I had only been on Saturdays and had assumed that Sunday would be busier but that seemed not to be the case.

For all three years I have found the amount of autojumble for the older cars disappointing but I suspect we have eBay to blame for that (why have the expense of travel when you can get crazy money for your knackered gearknob from the comfort of your chair! )

I thought the venue better than Donnington but the weather could be an influence, as others have said I think it would have been miserable in the rain.

The best bit for me though was the warm welcome I got from the people in the club, it makes a big difference to show up at the stand of the club to which you belong and feel part of that club rather than just someone who hands over money each year!

I've posted pictures in a different thread.

Cheers
Jon

DustyM wrote:A good weekend for me, and great to put faces to names.

This was the third year for me but the first time I attended both days, previously I had only been on Saturdays and had assumed that Sunday would be busier but that seemed not to be the case.

For all three years I have found the amount of autojumble for the older cars disappointing but I suspect we have eBay to blame for that (why have the expense of travel when you can get crazy money for your knackered gearknob from the comfort of your chair! )

I thought the venue better than Donnington but the weather could be an influence, as others have said I think it would have been miserable in the rain.

The best bit for me though was the warm welcome I got from the people in the club, it makes a big difference to show up at the stand of the club to which you belong and feel part of that club rather than just someone who hands over money each year!

I've posted pictures in a different thread.

Cheers
Jon

Yes good to see you at the show and yes we are the friendly lotus club as its mentioned in the Chicane Magazine.
All the best Eddie king.

Karen & I headed over on the Saturday along a very scenic route A422 I think.

Initial impressions were good probably due to the weather etc. After a leisurely amble around we realised that we had seen everything – highlight being the LDC stand. The displays, cars, description plaques, hospitality and Martins enthusiasm for all things Lotus were the most memorable part of the show. Well done to all involved.

When we were a lot younger, year after year, Karen & I attended all of the Mini Owners Shows around the country, helping out on the Min-its sale stand. Admittedly there were way more car in attendance than we will ever get at a Lotus show, but the following made the shows last all day;

Programme on entry detailing points of interest and the schedule for the day

Events such as auto tests, driving skill challenges

Concourse categories for all types / models of cars

Large number of sale stands – new and old parts

More than willing to help organise if called upon in the future

Harvey.

What a good start to the summer and a good first attempt at the new home of the show, at least for now. It is good to see so many comments on the event, good and bad, and hopefully it will be taken in and will only get better. I do think that the weather made a lot of the show a success but that is to be expected. Glad to see so many old and new members present on the stand and it made for a great weekend beside the show experience. Thanks to everyone involved and yes also to those who mocked me for polishing the car with a hangover come Sunday morning

Nice Photos but with that one close to the Morris Maria that was a close shave with falling Piano