My Lotus Barn

[lotusforsale]

Kyle,

Have you, in the past, had your VI at Kevin McGovern's annual Lotus picnic? I know I've seen one there in the past.

[slaughtr]

That rocks, my man.

[WildCJ5]

I would just sit in this and make race car noises for hours. BRRRRRR BRRRRRMMMMM BRRRRMMMMMM

[lotus69f2]

Originally Posted by lotusforsale

Kyle,

Have you, in the past, had your VI at Kevin McGovern's annual Lotus picnic? I know I've seen one there in the past.

Yes, that was it

[gospeedv8]

Kyle,

this Thread made my day!!

The only words i can find are: genial, sprachlos, begeisternd, den allerhöchsten
Respekt zollend, anerkennend, inspirierend, etc.

German words that i can not translate free of mistakes

Your barn is SUPERB!!! Please continue with the other cars, kyle.

This is the kind of garage i always wanted, but because my building ground
is limited its not possible to do it the kind you did yours.

The new house will have place for 6 cars, plus a barn for another 6 cars.
But i will start a thread when the first hydraulic power dredge is on my
building ground.

Kyle, you have a wonderfull collection of Lotus cars and a also wonderfull
place to play with your cars.

I have never seen something that is more "GEIL" than your Collection and your barn.

RESPECT!!!


gospeedv8

[lotus69f2]

Originally Posted by gospeedv8

Kyle,

this Thread made my day!!

The only words i can find are: genial, sprachlos, begeisternd, den allerhöchsten
Respekt zollend, anerkennend, inspirierend, etc.

German words that i can not translate free of mistakes

Your barn is SUPERB!!! Please continue with the other cars, kyle.

This is the kind of garage i always wanted, but because my building ground
is limited its not possible to do it the kind you did yours.

The new house will have place for 6 cars, plus a barn for another 6 cars.
But i will start a thread when the first hydraulic power dredge is on my
building ground.

Kyle, you have a wonderfull collection of Lotus cars and a also wonderfull
place to play with your cars.

I have never seen something that is more "GEIL" than your Collection and your barn.

RESPECT!!!


gospeedv8

I am really looking forward to seeing your from the ground up documentation of your new place. Please include the new Wintergarden.

I do hope you are able to be inspired by and get some ideas from my Barn.

I am going to look up all those German words in my German-English dictionary when I get home from work tonight.

Respect to you also.

[khamai]

Originally Posted by lotus69f2

THe Six also leaks oil. So a word on drip trays. I first used plastic cafeteria trays which work very well, but are small. When I bought my lift I picked up a dozen or so trays from Greg Smith Equipment. Their trays are sized nicely, stack onto one another, fit into the lift, and were relatively inexpensive. You can see them stacked on top of the cabinet I use as my library.

LOL on the cafeteria tray... you'd better return to the hospital, they've been looking for it for 6 month!! The Cafeteria Tray Cops are already on their way!

Cheers,
Kiyoshi

[Certified Lotus]

WOW! That is one amazing personal collection! When do you find time to drive them all? I have three sports cars and have a tough time rotating thru them on a weekly basis.......makes my garage look rather whimpy.

Really, thanks for sharing! Wish I could come this weekend, unfortunately have a prior commitment that I must take care of.

[lotus69f2]

Items necessary to drive Six for more than 10 minutes:

Jim Clark Drivng Gloves

Davida Motorcycle Helmet

Aviation Goggles

And if it is cold, a leather jacket.

[lotus69f2]

Soon after I got into the whole Lotus thing I met another M100 owner who was a professional photographer, Dan Miller. He had done an automotive calendar and used his own M100 for one of the pages. I asked if he could print the M100 page out for me and he obliged, autograhing it in the process.
He told me he liked how the yellow scarf complimented the blue car, and that the model had small breasts so he made her put her arms closer together to create some cleavage. One of my favorite M100 images.

[lotus69f2]

Originally Posted by Certified Lotus

When do you find time to drive them all? I have three sports cars and have a tough time rotating thru them on a weekly basis....

Yes there are many cars, but keep in mind 3 of them are track only. Still having as many cars as I do, it is hard, as you suggest, to get them out frequenlty, and I must confess I do not drive them as much as I would like to - this includes the racing cars especially!

Whenever I have guests I ask them if they would like to go for a ride, this is especially popular with kids, which I don't mind as I'd like to spark some Lotus enthusiasm in the generation to come. I also actively participate in local club events. It is a wonderful way to make new friends of a similar mindset and is a great reason to break out the Lotus!

My goal, when I no longer have to work - which if I keep buying Lotus will never happen - is to, weather permitting, drive a Lotus everyday without putting more than a couple of thousand miles per year on an individual car.

[lotus69f2]

In the 60's Lotus distributership for the Western US was handed over to BobChallman's Ecurie Shirlee - named for his wife. He produced a series on now iconic ads featuring the artwork of graphic artist Jon Dahlstrom storyboard artist,award winning ilustrator, storyboards for advertising agencies . These ads had a black and white pen and ink style drawing on the top with a tag line directly underneath. Then there was text telling a prose story having to do with the drawing and tag line, followed by technical specifications of the featured car, contact info for Ecurie Shirlee, and a photo of a Lotus car.

When I saw this print on ebay I knew I had to have it and was prepared to pay whatever I needed to to get it. Turns out it didn't cost very much. It came with a card that reads:

Seasons Greetings

The original by Jon Dahlstrom made such a hit with us that we thought other Lotus enthusiasts might get a bang out of it.

This serigraph print is one of a limited edition for our special friends and customers, past, present, and future.

Best Wishes

Bob Challman
Ecurie Shirlee Corp. 2301 Sepulveda Blvd
Manhattan Beach Calif
FRontier 6- 8833

I sourced one of the ads whose tag line is A Quart of Oil Every 300 Miles

The Coventry Climax FWE engine in the original Elite had a propensity to use oil. This is becuase the tolerances of the original design as an emergency fire pump engine, as well as its predecessors application as a racing engine required such tolerances for quick start up and performance. The text od the ad goes on to explain this and to reassure the customer that the oil consumption was normal and a good thing.

I have never seen another of the serigraph.

[lotus69f2]

The acquisiton of the Six quelled my need for new Lotus for a while and knowledge of my lack of storage space also assisted in supressing the urge to add. However, after seeing an article in a cycling magazine that first reviewed the Lotus Sport 110 bicycle, and the did a tongue in cheek comparison to the Esprit that also listed retail price and the company that sold them in the US, the fire was lit again.

Here was a way that I could add a very unique Lotus to the collection for relatively little money (a lot for a bicycle, but much less than even the least expensive Lotus car) and not have to worry about storage. So I called the company - Nytro - and inquired. Yes they did have a few in stock, yes they had a frame in my size, yes they could sell me one at the price quoted in the magazine. So I bought one.

The Lotus Sport 110 is a development of the Type 108 veladrome bike first built for use by Brit Chris Boardman in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. That bike was a one off, several more were build to order. Boardman was very successful with the bike and won a Gold medal in Barcelona, and subsequently set a number of speed records on the bike.

The 110 was a result on inquiries to Lotus for a version for use on the road. It was production ized and sold to anyone who wanted one. It was primarily used by pros for timetrialing - Boardman won the prologue of the Tour de France using one - and Triathalon use.

Its innovative design led other manufacturers to develope many other unique and wierd designs some successful, some not. In true Lotus tradition, the UCF (bicyclings FIA) banned it and similar designs, and specified all competition bicycles need to have the classic diamond with center tube design.

[ms355]

Originally Posted by lotus69f2

My goal, when I no longer have to work - which if I keep buying Lotus will never happen - is to, weather permitting, drive a Lotus everyday without putting more than a couple of thousand miles per year on an individual car.

Kyle, I assume that you have some kind of winter season in Pennsylvania, probably with snow and salt on the roads. How do you handle that? I keep my Elise ready to go in these months, but I find only a very few days with clean roads.

[lotus69f2]

Many people look at the bike and knowing that it is carbon fiber assume that it is light. In fact it is heavy for a racing bicycle. Its primary design criteria was aerodynamics. Features of the design that highlight that goal are:

Routing of the cables through rather than on top of the frame (visible in pics from prior post).

Aerodynamic bladed fork.

Aerodynamic seatpost.

Bulbous aerodynamic nose and bottom (where the crank is mounted) simulating the hydrodynamic noses of boats and submarines

Z shaped chassis to get additional tubes out of airflow

Chassis shape purportedly generates forward propulsion in certain crosswind situations.

[lotus69f2]

The Lotus Sport 110 was designed by Lotus but production was given to Aerodyne a South African concern. Their logo can be seen on the side of the rear fork and on the nose.

Like most high level bike, the bike manufacturer makes the frame, then the rider specifies the other components, like seat, stem, handlebars, wheels, and shiftingmechanism/gearsets/derailuer. The Lotus specific components of the 110 are the frame, front fork, seatmount, and dropouts(the part the wheels clamp onto).

I had a professional bicycle racing mechanic set my bike up for me, primarily becuse the seat post is not adjustable as it is on just about every other bicycle. It had to be cut to fit the rider, and I didn't want to screw it up. After cutting, then holes are drilled into the post to mount the seatmount. The seating of my bike is custom to by body proportions.

I was not a cyclist at all when I bought my bike, but I got serious about it afterward and for a number of years I was quite the avid cyclist. I even did a few sprint trialalons, but gave that up since a hated and sucked at swimming.

I rode the bike so much it started to show signs of wear, so rather than destroying it completely I rtired it. I'll still ride it at something like a LOG, but it doesn't see the road much anymore.

[lotus69f2]

Promotional poster from Mavic, the wheel supplier to Boardman for the Barcelona Olympics.

Note difference in chassis between 108 (in poster) and 110. Also 108 does not have front and rear fork. They are monoblades with cantelevered axles. Track bike have one gear and you can't coast.

[lotus69f2]

Originally Posted by ms355

Kyle, I assume that you have some kind of winter season in Pennsylvania, probably with snow and salt on the roads. How do you handle that? I keep my Elise ready to go in these months, but I find only a very few days with clean roads.

In the Winter the cars stay in the heated Barn. I do not purposely take the cars out in bad weather (though for club events they have seen plenty of rain). Even when the weather is good in the Winter there is too much road salt and gravel on the road. I don't enjoy driving them during the cold days of Winter.

[...m...]

...fantastic chronicle - keep it coming!..

[fishtaco]

I can't wait to see all these magnificent machines in person on Saturday. Have some towels available please