Published by the Golden Gate Lotus Club www.gglotus.org January 2005

The Chapman Report

Happy Holidays, And Hello to ‘05 by jim mcclure, editor

Friday, January 21st, 7:30 pm

Host: Tom and Cherrie Carney

January Meeting

A new year, new club officers anda plethora of events are planned for‘05. It has been a very good year forthe club and local motoring events.The same can not be said for some ofthe tragic events that occured in theworld in ‘04. Asia and the MiddleEast, specifically, have had great lossesand turmoil. We can only hope that thenew year will bring a better life for allof the people of the world.

A return to the shores of LakeTahoe has already been confirmed, forJune 2nd through 5th. The following isa tentative calendar of events:

Thurs 6/2 WCLM Registration &Welcome dinnerFri 6/3 WCLM Tour or Track Day(optional) and WCLM Cocktail/DinnerSat 6/4 WCLM Autocross and WCLMBanquetSun 6/5 WCLM Concours & BBQ/Awards

The elections for the 2005 GGLCOfficers were held Friday evening,November 19th at the home of Kiyoshi& Laura. There were no controversiesof hanging chads or even a need for arecount. The winners were announcedat the end of the meeting. Congratula-tions go to:

2005 GGLC President - RoyNakamuraVice-President - Scott HogbenSecretary - Jon RosnerEvents Chairperson - John ZenderTreasurer - Laura HamaiMembership Chairman - DavidAndersonChapman Report Staff - JimMcClure, Editor; Tom & CherieCarney, DistributionAttendance Chairman - Faisal Khan

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January Monthly Meeting Host: Tom & Sherie Carney( w/ Xmas tree) Belmont

March 22 GGLC Track Day Thunderhill

April 23 GGLC Track Day Buttonwillow

June 3 - 5 Back to Tahoe ?? (tentative)

June 3 GGLC Track Day Reno - Fernley

Calendar

GGLC Holiday Dinner by Kiyoshi

Lotus BytesFrom Kiyoshi: “The 1st US Elise

delivered is going to be going up forsale shortly by the owner (in Georgia).The are is Ardent Red w/ Biscuitinterior, w/ a touring pack & stdsuspension. About 4 Kmiles. He’splanning on putting it on Ebay after the1st.”

I don’t think that the people thatreally want to own an Elise will have towait as long as was hinted at. Therewill be many on the list who are justspeculating on a possible profit. Also,some new owners will realise that theElise is not the car for them and willsell themafter little use. It is not a‘luxury’ cruiser. It’s not a PorscheBoxter, or a 350Z or an S2000. It’s aLotus. It’s going to demand that youdrive it and take care of it. Probablyeven require you to make reliabilityupgrades and modifications, as theLotuses of old. Do these things and itwill reward you with a great drivingexperience. The owners that justwanted the ‘latest cool car’ will soon bedisenchanted and on their way to thePorsche or BMW dealership for atrade. I think they should go to thenearest Buick or Pontiac dealer, as Idoubt they would really be aware of thedriving difference. Us ‘Lotus drivers’will remain a deviant minority in theautomotive community. Amen (ed)

The Holiday Dinner was a hit at the Macaroni Grill. Therestaurant did not have a separate room for us but it made nodifference, as our group was smaller than some previous years.They had not planned a special ‘set-price’ meal for us, so eachattendee was able to choose any entree from their menu. Norubber chicken this time! Faisal, as seen above was in goodspirits. Possible glad to hand over the stressful job of Presidentto Roy Nakamura, at far left.

The highlight of the ‘White Elephant’ gift exchange was theset of Elan smog crossover pipes, which have changed handsoften in previous years. Kiyoshi had turned them into a work ofart, a lamp. As seen on the right, the lamp was won by Hal buthighly coveted by Naomi Richen. Though the pipes have nowbecome a work of art, they may still be seen at the next dinner, Iexpect.

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Parts and Service for Lotus CarsSpecializing in Lotus Elans and EuropasQuality and Considerate ServiceTotal Ground Up Restorations toRoutine Maintenance

Huge Inventory of New and Used PartsMany Hard to Find Pieces

KAMPENA MOTORS

WWW.KAMPENA.COM

Infineon Raceway28935 Arnold Drive F-10

Sonoma, CA 95476 Phone # 707-933-8039

Production of the Elise reaches landmark figure, making itthe most popular Lotus ever. Desirability of the multi-awardwinning Elise is proving to be phenomenal, with Lotus’ produc-tion facilities working hard to satisfy demand for the mostsuccessful model in the marque’s history. The 20,000th LotusElise is a UK specification 111R in Saffron Yellow, which hasalready been delivered to the UK Lotus dealer network prior tobeing passed to the customer. The Elise was launched to greatcritical acclaim in September 1995 and has continued to evolvethroughout its life picking up awards with remarkable fre-quency. The uncompromising Lotus brand philosophy has giventhe Elise strong attributes: performance through lightweight, funto drive, great ride and handling, and innovation, all of whichhave made the Lotus Elise a winning formula.

The key Lotus philosophy is performance through light-weight. The Lotus Elise weighs roughly half that of a familysaloon car* which contributes to the phenomenal drivingexperience that has been honed over decades of road andracecar development. The Elise has been available in manyguises since its launch, from the 120 bhp base model to thelatest 111R. The 111R with a 189 bhp engine offers seriousperformance with a 4.9 seconds 0-60 mph time (0-100km/h in5.2 seconds) and a top speed of 150 mph (241km/h). As with allLotus cars, the Elise offers precision handling and beautifulbalance ensuring that the supercar performance can be exploitedto the full.

Throughout its history, Lotus has produced over70,000 cars and the Elise production contributes 20,000to this figure, illustrating the significance of the car to thebrand. Annual production at Lotus’ manufacturing facilityin Norfolk is running at 4,500 units and the Elise is soldin about 40 countries around the world. ProductionManager, Luke Bennett said, “Looking to the future,many more production landmarks are likely to beexceeded with the continued popularity of the Elise”.Manufacturing Director, Clive Dopson said “The handbuilt Elise has grown from strength to strength with ratesof production of the car increasing, coinciding withincreases in quality and efficiency. The advances inproduction are very pleasing and are due to themagnificent culture and modern facilities at Lotus”.Adding “credit for the achievements of the Elise has torest with the engineers and technicians in LotusEngineering and Manufacturing, their determination andhard work have made the Elise the success it is today”.

20,000th Elise Rolls Out

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Independent LOTUS Parts & Servicewww.jaeparts.com

Tel: 805-967-5767 Fax: 805-967-6183

Factory parts for the latest Esprits and M100 Elans toVintage racing and restoration parts for the classic Lotus.

Also, pain-free next-day drop shipservice for parts we may not have.

CALL NOCALL NOCALL NOCALL NOCALL NOW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICESW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICESW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICESW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICESW FOR COMPETITIVE PRICES,,,,,EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE AND SERAND SERAND SERAND SERAND SERVICE.VICE.VICE.VICE.VICE.

Toy Rallyby Jon Rosner

December 5th was day for briskbreezes, clear crispair and pale blue skies. The perfect dayfor the Annual Toy Rallye.>From the earliest days of the GoldenGate Lotus Club WashingtonTownship has invited car enthusiasts tojoin in on the fun.The price of admission is a toy valuedat over $15.00 that willbe given to a child in need.

The real fun was had by thevolunteers who ran the checkpointsand shared a great laugh with the thedrivers, spotters, passengersand friends who participated in theevent. Clues were earning points weremind-twisting and from first-timeparticipant to master rallyistno one passed a check-point quite surethat they had it just so.

Extra cookies were given toanyone who reached the secondcheckpoint,which all the twenty-three cars reached.Extra credit was given tothose who sang “you’re a green manmr. grinch.” And in spiteof some severely off-key renditions noone lost points for trying.

In the end extra pizza was a nicereward for the volunteers and allthose who completed the event, but thebigger prize is in knowing thata child who might not otherwise havereceived a gift this holiday seasonwill be getting a very nice one.

Above, a varied Lotus collection at the rally, most of the owners there to mancheckpoints as volunteers. Below, an Esprit enters checkpoint 2, manned by JimMcClure and Tom Carney.

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next page

Last GGLC 2004 TrackDay & LA AdventureBy Kiyoshi

The GGLC salutes John Zenderand Scott Hogben as the co-chairs forthe 2004 GGLC Track Day season. 6very successful events were held at 3different tracks. The last event wasOctober 18th at Buttonwillow Racewayin conjunction with the newly formedClub111.

I had been waiting for our car(Elise) to arrive from Atlanta, as thedays and weeks passed I became fairlycertain the car wouldn’t arrive in timefor the last GGLC Track Day. But, thenit was put on board a westbound truckon Friday October 8th and there was aglimmer of hope. It was the last carloaded that was EVEN better news; itwould be the first car off. I won’tcomment on the legal hours a truckdriver is supposed to operate, but thetruck made it from Atlanta mid-day onFriday and delivered the car to SiliconValley Auto Group on Tuesdayevening!

SVAG called me on Wednesday, Iasked them to do the 1,000 mile serviceand picked-up the car on Thursdayafternoon. Track Day was ON!!

GGLC / CLUB111 TRACK DAYI hooked up with Scott and John

Monday morning at the Days Inn justoff I5 at the Lost Hills exit. It wasraining, but the forecast said it wouldstart to break up by mid morning. Bythe time we got to Buttonwillow therewere quite a few cars, at least 4-5Mitsu Evo VIIIs and about 8 WRXssome of which were Sti’s.

Promptly at 9am the “A” Groupwent out. It had stopped raining but thetrack was still wet. Scott and I climbedup to the observation deck andwatched. Everyone seemed to bebehaving, lots of water splashing, butno offs.

I decided to go out with the slower“B” group while I was learning thecourse that was selected. Buttonwillowis designed to allow different layoutsand to be run in either direction. Johnand the Course Steward selected the

“Race 13” configuration to be run inthe counter-clockwise direction (seeattached map).

Some of the lessons learned in thisfirst outing in the Elise (with SportsPack):

1) When cold the YokohamaA048s have limited grip. I tested thison the first lap of my 2nd sessioncoming onto the front straight. I apexeda bit earlier and was running out oftrack on the exit. I lifted ever soslightly hoping to tighten my line, Therear rotated with lift throttle oversteer, Icaught it but the rear came around theother way, and then the other way andthen the other way! A tank slapper onmy first lap!

2) The Yoko A048s are quite.They don’t make a lot of noise as thebreakaway. Much like a race tire there’sno tire squeal.

3) The Sport Pack is very neutral,even in low speed corners with theright entry speed the Elise will turn-in.

4) The Sport Pack wheels andtires have a lot more grip than theStandard Yokohamas. Steering loads upin hard cornering and communicatesexactly how much grip is beinggenerated.

5) The brakes got better withheat.

6) Used 26/28 for tire pressures,

checked when cold. Only went up 2-4lbs when hot due to cold track andambient temps. There was no treadrollover even with hard steady statecornering. I may try dropping a couplepounds and got to 24/26 psi when hot.

I didn’t take any lap times, my goalwas to have some fun, learn the car andstay on the tarmac. From what I couldsee the Elise held its own against theWRXs and EVOs. John Zender in hisFlamer Europa passed me. I know I lefta TON of time on track because I wasbeing really conservative (stayedhooked up 100% of the time, andfeathered most of the straights). Callme a wimp if you like, but I reallydidn’t want to have to make a call toLaura to explain breaking the newLotus with only 1300 miles on it!BUTTONWILLOW TO LOSANGELES

I left the track around 3:30, Iwanted to get down to Torrance viasome backroads that I’ve heard about.So from the track I took I5 south to thenext exit and went through the town ofButtonwillow and then followed thesigns to Taft. I’d seen this area fromplanes before, but driving through theoil fields a stare contrast to the farm-land in the valley.

John Zender explains the rules and course information for track day.

page 6From Taft I got on Hwy 33 South,

which took me over a scenic pass withsweeping high-speed corners. Hwy 33turns left and separates from Hwy 166.The next 59 miles of Hwy 33 is MADEfor a Lotus. The first 25-30 miles aremost straight with a few sweepingturns, then the road climbs and getstighter. A lot of the corners are marked20 or 25 mph. I was finding I could do40+ through them in 3rd.

This entertaining drive lasted forabout 10 miles and then I got into somepretty serious rain and fog. A drop onone side and steep roadcuts on theother flank the road, the rain wascausing rocks, small and LARGE totopple off the roadcuts onto thepavement. I’d come around a blindcorner only to find sharp rocks andboulders. Needless to say I dropped mypace and finished the final miles intoOjai at sedate speed.

Hwy 33 joins Hwy 101 in Ventura,and another 50 miles or so to I405 andthen into Torrance. I arrived around7:30 pm at the hotel.

DINNER WITH ELISE GUYSTuesday night I hooked with some

guys with Club111 and EliseTalk.Shinoo from Sector111, Iva, Justin,Neil and Robert met with me at aBritish Pub called the Olde Ship inSanta Fe. We spent the next couple ofhours talking about cars, Lotus, theElise and stuff. Iva has had his Elise forabout a month and Shinoo and Robertshould be seeing theirs in a few weeks.

THE DRIVE HOMEWednesday afternoon Laura flew

into LAX where I picked her up and wedrove up to Pasadena to have dinnerwith Tamara (our youngest). Afterdinner it was a quick hour or so run upto Carpinteria (a few miles south ofSanta Barbara) and a stop at a HolidayInn.

The next morning we took a coupleback roads and stopped at MissionSanta Barbara for a couple photos andthen made our way to Hwy 154 andthen made another stop at Solvang topick up a couple of buckets of Olsen’sButter Cookies (YUM!!!). With the topin the boot, my briefcase and our bags

there was only enough room for asmall bag of artichokes for ourplanned stop in Castroville.

We rejoined Hwy 101 and ran upthrough Pismo and into San LuisObispo and jumped onto Hwy 1 andstopped in Cambria for lunch. I waswell into the afternoon by the time wegot to the sweet section of Hwy 1between San Simeon and Carmel.Good news, we saw only 2motorhomes, bad news… too manyfolks going 20-25 scared outta theirshorts about turning the steeringwheel. They wouldn’t be so bad ifthey just politely pulled over at one ofthe numerous turnouts, but I thinktheir mirrors were turned off. In theend we pulled off at some nice vistas,looked at the spectacular scenery,waited for the traffic to get well aheadand then enjoy the open stretch ofroad.

Let me say I wasn’t pushing theElise at all. Barely using the brakes,mostly using engine compression toslow using 4th and 5th gears and still Iwas easily going better than twice as

fast as the rest of the traffic. Passing inthe Elise is a breeze, a quick drop to 4th

or on a rare occasion to 3rd, push on thethrottle and off you go and hitting 90-100 mph before you realize how quicklyyou’re going.

Another stop in Carmel for a coffeebreak and then at one of favorite producestands in Castroville for some field freshartichokes – now the boot was FULL!

SUMMARYAbout 1100 miles in 5 days, aver-

aged about 30-32 mpg, including thetrack day, stop and go traffic in LA andhighway cruising at 75-85 mph. In thefirst 2100 miles with the Elise I’ve beento Barber Motorsport Park and the LotusOwners Gathering, the Great SmokeyMountains, driven the famous Tail of theDragon, a GGLC run and meeting, aGGLC Track Day, met with a bunch ofClub111 members, driven some scenictwisty roads in California that I’ve notdriven in years and had too numerous ofconversations about Lotus, the Elise andanswered the age old question, “What isit?”

end

The Chapman Report is published monthly by the Golden Gate Lotus Club, POBox 117303, Burlingame, CA 94011. The GGLC is a non-profit incorporated car cluband is not affiliated with Group Lotus, Team Lotus or Lotus Cars USA. The GGLC’sannual membership dues are $25.00.

Opinions expressed in the Chapman Report are those of the authors and do notrepresent those of the GGLC or its officers.

Submissions to the Chapman Report are accepted and encouraged. Please emailthem to chapmanreport@gglotus.org in MS Word, rtf or ASCII text. Submissions mayalso be mailed to Jim McClure, 11238 Bubb Road, Cupertino, CA 95014.

2003 GGLC Officers are: President: Faisal Khan, Vice President:Pete Richen,Treasurer: Laura Hamai, Event Coordinator: John Zender, Membership Chairman:David Anderson, Secretary: Jon Rosner

Chapma Report Staff: Editor: Jim McClure, Circulation Manager: Tom Carney,Advertising Manager: Mel Boss.

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KARDEN AUTOMOTIVE1400 CENTRAL RD. #6, WALNUT CREEK, CA 94596

LYN BARBERAuto Technician

(925) 939-6769LREDMANB@AOL.COM

EBay Watch: editor‘99 Elise For Sale in the U.K.: “I HAVE OWNED

THIS CAR FOR 2 MONTHS AND NOW MY GIRL-FRIEND HAS GONE AND GOT HERSELF PREG-NANT AND I AM VERY RELUCTANTLY FORCEDTO SELL (I AM UNDER ORDERS!!!). THE BODY-WORK IS IN ABSOLUTELY IMMACULATE CONDI-TION, NO STONE CHIPS AS FOUND ON MOSTELISES. INTERIOR IS ALSO IN TOP CONDITIONAND IT IS A GREAT DRIVE, EXCELLENT FUN. (ICOULD KILL THE MISSUS!!)” Well, he did buy a‘babe’ magnet! OOps, didn’t sell........

For Sale and asking almost $24K ? ”THIS IS A1973 LOTUS EUROPA TWIN CAM. IT HASUNERGONE A COMPLETE RESTORATION. WEHAVE OVER $30,000. IN RECIEPTS AND DOCU-MENTATION. 1.6 TWIN-CAM ENGINE WITH AFOUR SPEED TRANSMISSION. A SHOW WINNER”Restored, but not to exact original specs! Lots-o-Luck

A couple of Elises sold. A sliver one with Touringand Sports packs in Arizona went for over $47K. A greenone, with ‘biscuit’ interior and the Touring pack sold foronly $1K less. Possibly because the green really lookednice.

Someone actually bid on someone’s place in line forabout $3K, but thought they had bid on, and won, the realcar ?????????????????

More ClassifiedsFor Sale: Cobra (1) sport seat. Adaptor bracket fits

M100. Medium grey cloth. Like new. $200 OBO. Mel925-831-8834 or darmel@sbcglobal.net.

For Sale: 1974 Lotus Elite. Complete operating carand a small mountain of spare and maintenence parts.80k, needs paint. Best offer. Allen (408)354-7645 ordubberley1@verizon .net

For Sale: 1967 Europa Series 1aPerhaps the finest original example leftin existence. This two owner car wasused by Lotus for the 1967 Auto Showcircuit and was sold off the floor at theLA Auto Show that year. It has wonseveral awards and is in excellentcondition. At less than 1400lbs theSeries 1a is even more pure and light inthe Chapman tradition than the later,more common and heavier S2. The caris garaged in the Seattle area. For moreinformation go to: http://www.galos.net/mike/CarsForSale. (01/05)

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Classifieds(non-comercial ads are free to GGLC members and will run

for three issues before requiring renewal)

First Class Mail

For Sale: 1971 S-2 Europa. Verynice, original, unmodifed car. 60,000original miles. Weber DGV carb.Fresh motor, suspension, brakes,dash, master cylinder. Many, manynew parts. Bahama yellow/black.Don’t buy a project car, get thefinished product. Needs nothingexcpet radio. Call Mike for info (916)373-1557. $7,800. (8/04)

For sale: I am interested inselling my 1987 commemorativeLotus Esprit Turbo HC. I had a backinjury and it is very difficult for me todrive it. I have not had very good luckon my own and was wondering if youhad any suggestions. I am asking$23,000 OBO. More info if you knowof anyone. Please contact me at 650-270-7417. Bill Locke (10/04)

For Sale:

1991 Elan (M100) This car hasbeen an amazingly reliable dailydriver from the time I bought it untilmy Elise replaced it. It has less than39,000 miles and is in very goodshape. The car is in the Seattle areaand can be seen at: http://www.galos.net/mike/CarsForSale (01/05)

RICHARD L. KAMP

Authorized Dealer of Caterham Cars

Designed for Racing Built for Livingwww.goldengatesevens.com

G GOLDEN ATE EVENSSInfineon Raceway

28935 Arnold Drive F-10Sonoma, CA 95476

Phone # 707-933-8039

The Golden Gate Lotus ClubPO Box 117303, Burlingame, CA 94011

Wanted: Tandem brake mastercylinder (original style 0.70" bore) forLHD Series 4 Elan with ports on rightside. New or used with rebuildable core.

Alan Andrea Phone (847)433-7900days (847)234-2776 eves.aracer@msn.com

For Sale: S1 Europa linkage $50S2 Europa drive shafts $100TC Europa Ford 125E con rods(4) withARP bolts, exlt cond $200 TC Europaradiator, fan, screen $100 TC Europasteel gas tank (pass side) $50 all Europa:Corvair hubs, excellent cond $100 +

shipping. all located in Sunny San Jose,Ca Contact Joel via emailfarberjf@us.ibm.com (9/04)

For Sale: 1976 Eclat (Federal),custom Excel fenders by Barry spencer.Triple Black with Gold pinstripes,black/gold wheels. Custom black withgold leather interior. Euro cams, dualtwo barrel Dell’Ortos.Front/rear adjustable shocks, more. Ex-Barry spencer car. Must sell,best reasonable offer. Bob (650) 962-0451 (09/04)