NEWS Headlines

More images from this two-day Lotus extravaganza held at East Carleton Manor.

The Chapman Family were pleased to welcome guests to East Carleton Manor, for this, the second celebration of Hazel & Colin Heritage.

"What is the greatest racing car of the past 100 years?" Is a question as easy to ask, as the answer is hard to find. But in this, their 100th year, Motor Sport magazine have been trying to answer that very question.

A break in the qualifying sessions on Saturday at the Monaco Historique saw a tribute parade to Ayrton Senna, who passed away 30 years ago. Five iconic cars and Ayrton's Go-Kart were scheduled to complete 3-laps of the Principality with celebrity drivers that included Bruno Senna behind the wheel.

The Monaco F1 Grand Prix has always taken place at the end of May and, two weeks before this year’s Formula 1 race came another reminder of the glamour and excitement of the past, as the 14eme Grand Prix De Monaco Historique turned back the clock to the golden era of F1. The weekend is a tribute to, what some might say, is an age of smaller, louder, less sophisticated but more interesting machines, featuring plenty of legendary and championship-winning cars.

The weekend of March 29-31 saw Lotus Day 2024 at the Zhejiang circuit in China. Clive and his sister Jane were delighted to be invited along as guests of honour by Lotus Cars and to be part of this enjoyment of Lotus.

We are delighted to be announcing the 2024 Classic Team Lotus Garden Party. This splendid Celebration of Hazel & Colin Chapman Heritage will take place over the weekend of 15 & 16 June.

In 1948 Hazel & Colin Chapman constructed their first car which became the Lotus Mark I. To celebrate 75 years of Lotus, on the 16th of December 2023, Hazel & Colin’s daughter Jane, and son Clive completed a recreation of the first ever Lotus drive that took place early in the spring of 1948.

Ayrton Senna raced his Lotus Renault type 97T chassis number 2 to his first Grand Prix victory, at Estoril in the 1985 Portuguese GP. Earlier this year there was a chance this famous car was headed for the Brazilian GP at Interlagos for a very high profile demonstration run.

Sad news. Today we learnt of the passing of Colin Crombac who died yesterday at his home in Paris. Colin James Crombac was the son of Gérard "Jabby" Crombac and his wife Catherine and was named Colin James in honour of close friends Colin Chapman and Jim Clark.

Clive Green of CTL chooses his favourite ten (Lotus) photographs from the 2023 Goodwood Revival meeting

The 2023 Goodwood Revival was billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth" and, for many Lotus fans it quite possibly was. As part of this year’s 75th Anniversary celebrations of the brand, Lotus was the featured marque of what is now a full four-day extravaganza of all things automotive. Team Manager Chris Dinnage coordinated the 11 mechanics for the 11 customer race cars, realising the outstanding accomplishment of 10 race finishers. CTL were unquestionably the prime movers in showcasing the Lotus brand, including 10 additional cars that joined in the daily Lotus Parade. The now customary CTL Team Photo taken late on Saturday, featuring Marks 1, 2 and 3, and with almost everyone involved in the weekends efforts, was a big one!

The Silverstone Historic Festival in August was a pretty special moment for any Lotus fan. For the first time ever, the Lotus Mark I, Mark II and Mark III cars were seen together in the same place, at the same time. Quite an occasion for the history books.

Colin and Hazel Chapman constructed their first car together in 1948, which became the Lotus Mark I. Seventy-five years later their son, Clive, has realised a faithful recreation of the car that became the foundation of the Lotus marque. Fresh from trials on the Lotus test track at Hethel, Hazel and Colin’s daughter Jane, grand-daughter Alice and great grand-daughter Martha were all set to pilot the Mk I on its first public outing as part of the 75 years of Lotus Parade at the Goodwood Revival.

Classic Team Lotus is delighted to share with you this splendid film of the inaugural Garden Party, held at East Carleton Manor on 20th May. Film maker Donovan Jones was commissioned to capture the spirit of this happy occasion. Together with contributions by drone operator Matthew Farrow and stills photographer Stephanie Ewen we are pleased to announce that the resulting film is now available for your viewing pleasure.