Marketing Manager
Yesterday, Molly and I had the pleasure of taking a small group on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Classic Team Lotus and the Lotus factory.
The day began with a cup of coffee at the main Lotus factory and a briefing from the Lotus team explaining what would happen throughout the day. We then made our way over the road to Classic Team Lotus.
Classic Team Lotus
Classic Team Lotus, founded by the legendary Colin Chapman, is where Lotus’s Formula 1 legacy is displayed. Here, the race cars that once dominated tracks worldwide are restored and maintained by a highly skilled team of technicians. Our guide, the extremely knowledgeable Nick Duckworth, led us through the impressive collection of classic Lotus F1 cars and told us the unique story of each one.
Highlights included seeing the Lotus 25, the car that Jim Clark drove to win the 1963 World Championship, and the Lotus 49, which was recently awarded ‘Race Car of the Century’. Nick shared the stories behind Colin Chapman’s innovative engineering principles and how they changed motor racing forever. The group had the rare opportunity to see these historic machines up close and it was certainly an experience we will all remember.
The Bird In Hand
At lunchtime, we headed over to The Bird in Hand pub. This turned out to be the perfect lunch stop with Lotus being well recognised throughout the pub. There were photos, room names, and lots more nods to the unique connection between the pub and the car manufacturer just 5 minutes down the road!
Lotus Factory
After lunch, we returned to the main Lotus factory. The contrast between the historic charm of Classic Team Lotus and the modern setup of the main factory was very noticeable! In the factory, we got to see what it takes to make a brand-new Lotus every 17 minutes! From automated machines to experienced hands, it was great to see humans and machines working together to produce some of the best-looking sports cars out there.
One of the highlights of the factory tour was our visit to Workshop 3, a part of the factory normally off-limits to visitors. Inside, we had the privilege of seeing the fastest road-legal car ever to complete a lap of the Nürburgring, the Lotus Evija, being made. There will only be about 130 of these cars made and, the ones we got to see up close were a limited run of less than 10 to be made with the recognisable JPS (John Player Special) Lotus F1 livery.
There’s a strict no photography policy throughout the factory so there aren’t any photos to show but, if you get the chance to go, you really need to see the incredible setup and how smoothly the process runs from start to finish.
The entire day was fantastic. The group of people who came with us were such great people and it was a lot of fun to spend the day with fellow car enthusiasts who all seemed to enjoy the tours as much as Molly and I did.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us and another big thank you to Nick and Scott at Lotus for giving us all an incredible day – we will definitely be back again!
Feedback
“Dear Rob and Molly
Just a very brief but heartfelt thanks to you both for a splendid day on Thursday.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, and found the whole enterprise most fascinating. Thanks very much for hosting us and I am looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Many thanks for the very interesting and enjoyable visit to Lotus yesterday. It was very well planned, I enjoyed it very much albeit a bit tiring.
I look forward to another.”
Future Events
We have lots more events like this coming up so if you want to join us on one of our future trips, keep an eye on our events calendar.
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