LOTUS 70th Feedback

[chipp 99]

Lotus have mentioned that they would like to hear peoples feedback from the 70th Party bearing in mind they may have an annual event.

Use this thread as a one stop post for Lotus to collect your views from the day.

Everything from tickets to logistics, displays, CTL, talks, catering, parking anything you can think of that would give Lotus food for thought.

 

chipp

Edited October 6, 2018 by chipp

[clivef38 155]

The loos were great. I do a few classic car shows a year and they were much better than any where else including the Goodwood revival. I had to use the park and ride as i was late getting tickets.but it worked well from Snetterton.The food and drink at sensible prices as well..How well the grandstand would have worked if it had rained i don't know.They did start calling park and ride bus people well before 4.30 which put us under pressure to get one as the record attempt was still under way. All in all a well organised event. The weather could have changed the whole day as shelter could have been a problem when wanting to eat. Still a fantastic day.

Clive

[kunstenaar 60 1 Vehicles]

Positives:

Price!  at £0 for entry was great. Food costs were reasonable as were the event merchandise. On track activities were great and the sheer number of vehicles to see was amazing. Also access to quite a few of the factory buildings was impressive. Portaloos were the best I've ever seen.

 

Negatives:

As per earlier posts, if it had rained, the day would have been MUCH less enjoyable. More rain cover would be essential everywhere. Also, there wasn't enough places to sit down. My legs were pretty tired by end of day on foot.

Though would be fun as an annual event, I'm not sure it would be quite as special. Perhaps focus each year on a specific topic - Models (Elise, Esprit etc), Race Cars, Cars by Decade...  I imagine they would be smaller events but might work?

 

 

 

[TAR 322]

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable day out.

Getting tickets if you didn't have a Lotus to arrive in, was a little uncertain. I didn't have confirmation of allocation until a few days before the event which mean't I wasn't able to commit to staying over anywhere.

The park and ride from Snetterton was great and the transfer was easy. 

The toilets were clean and tidy and there was a good selection of catering but the queues were really long and it took me around 30 minutes to get food. More outlets would help.

I thought the running commentary was really good but at times it was easy to miss what was being said. The big screens were also a nice touch.

Loved the displays and being able to look around parts of the factory however as the signage was easliy missed, I didn't see one of the open areas.

The car displays were great and I especially enjoyed seeing the Classic Team Lotus cars.

More seating would have been helpful and possibly the use of a couple of large marquees should the weather be less favorable.

Having a free event was good but maybe they could have a small entry charge which is then donated to charity.

It's really good to see the Lotus (Geely) so engaged with its customers and enthusiasts, understanding the heritage of this important Bristish success story.

 

[CocoPops 822]

I’d happily pay a few quid, especially if it included food? Maybe a £20 ticket, that includes a £10 food voucher and a drink? Would save faffing with cash.

would definitely attend year on year.

[chipp 99]

Great event and wouldn't want to fault it in anyway but maybe if the event was publicized earlier giving people more time to plan travel, accommodation, time off work etc.

If it did become an annual event and the numbers attending was kept to a limit again it probably wouldn't effect the popularity as there was so many people who were not able to attend, so the demand would probably still be high for exclusive tickets.

Getting cars and pedestrians in seemed to work well bar the 'no right turn' at the end of Potash Lane, don't know how to overcome that one without adding a second entrance.

A few more displays (static and moving) with emphasis on anniversaries and these would vary every year keeping things a fresh.

Its good to hear ex and current employees being interviewed over the pa and possibly talking a little bit about key projects.

And definitely a guest ex F1 driver getting the VIP treatment starting with the resident Mr Donnelly.

 

chipp

 

[RODOLPHESPRIT 67 2 Vehicles]

for us, all was perfect ( exept may be the eyes of bibs)

[Julius Jodelė 27 1 Vehicles]

Confirmation of tickets for those of us that had Lotuses, but don’t at the moment, was a real headache! I didn’t book any reservations until I had tickets in hand. At that point all was booked up. As it turned out, I got the place I wanted to stay at but had to cancel my other reservations.

Lines at the store were massive... there were only two tills!!! It would have been nice had everything in the store had x% discount for the event.

Why was the motorsports building closed? The only real presence of motorsports was Clive... Lotuses are probably the most tracked car (percentage-wise) of any other brand...and no motorsports representation!

[trw999 32]

I enjoyed the day. It was well run, there was a good deal to see and do. Well done Geely for backing the day and appearing so enthusiastic. Well done Lotus at Hethel and Bibs for getting it all organised in such a short time. Quite a change from the 60th. However, there were some key points that I feel need to be addressed for the next meeting, whenever it is:

1. Adequate notice of the event - For a 70th celebration, planning should have been taking place at least 12 months out and publicity at least nine months out.

2. Ticketing - If the idea was to keep numbers down to a manageable quantity on the ground, this should have been made clearer. In addition to there being more time to apply for the tickets, their allocation needs looking at. There is considerable resentment in some Lotus quarters about the fact that tickets were 'on sale' first on this site and sold out so rapidly, mostly apparently to folk on here. If that was not the case, then some PR work needs to be done, because that is the perception. (And this is not a dig at TLF, Bibs or anyone else on here; I am attempting to be an inclusive Lotus enthusiast and reporting what others elsewhere are saying.)

3. Representation of Types - Related to point 2 above, it was noticeable that there were a very small number of cars from the Hornsey/Cheshunt era. As an example of where this tripped up, I know that the Historic Lotus Register had no correspondence from Lotus or any organisation about the 70th. There were precious few Twin Cam engine era cars either, Elans, Europas. I counted few 907 engine cars. The overriding mass of cars were Elite, Exige and Evora; nothing wrong with that and I know that many more of those have been produced by Lotus than the previously mentioned Types.

4. Identity - It was never clear to me, or others elsewhere, I suspect, whether the 70th was a Lotus organised day, or an alternate Bibs TLF Festival organised day, or a joint effort, or what? I quite understand that for most on here it might be clear that it was a combined effort, but my point is that greater clarity would have been helpful.

5. Club Divisiveness - This is more of a general observation, but one I hope that may give some food for thought. Over the years Lotus enthusiasts have spawned a large number of separate clubs. Some are general, like Club Lotus, others Type specific. However, there is no single cohesive umbrella organisation which any Lotus enthusiast can belong to. Contrast this with say, Porsche Club of GB or the Bugatti Owners Club. I know that folk are generally less 'clubable' these days and for many forums such as this are a better way to meet and chat with like-minded enthusiasts. Nothing wrong with that, but again, there are many such Lotus oriented forums so again a lack of an umbrella organisation is felt. Such an organisation would help in being inclusive to all Lotus enthusiasts, aid communication and act as a conduit for the factory to reach out to all its brand ambassadors.

Suggestions - I would like there to be more notice for a future event, without ticketing and the celebration open to all. I'd like to see each event focus on say two race car Types and two road car Types, so that enthusiasts for those particular Types would be drawn to attending.

Tim

[Bibs 8,428 4 Vehicles]

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

There is considerable resentment in some Lotus quarters about the fact that tickets were 'on sale' first on this site

I'm not sure where anyone got this impression from. Tickets were never on sale via TLF, they were all ordered on lotus70.com - admittedly a website I created (but no-one really knew that, there's no special reference to me of TLF on it) but the 'on sale' announcement was made by Lotus via their social channels. TLF made the same announcement on here and via our not inconsiderable social channels but at that time any other club could have (and many did) make the same announcement. TLF member did not get any lead time on the announcement at all. I could have, but that would have been unfair and taking advantage of my position in helping with the event. 

If there is resentment, then it's ill-founded and based on incorrect information. 

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

4. Identity - It was never clear to me, or others elsewhere, I suspect, whether the 70th was a Lotus organised day, or an alternate Bibs TLF Festival organised day, or a joint effort, or what? I quite understand that for most on here it might be clear that it was a combined effort, but my point is that greater clarity would have been helpful.

It was a Lotus organised event, at my suggestion (over 9 months) and I helped with the organisation of certain aspects. I'm not sure that makes any difference to anyone who attended anyway? What difference could it make who organised it, does it really matter?

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

without ticketing

The reason numbers were limited was due to the huge traffic problems Lotus have had in the past when events are a free for all. I was insistent that memories of this event would not be the Police turning people around on the A11 and sending them home, as happened at the 60th. The access to the factory is not great and cannot accommodate thousands of cars and as far as I'm aware the max waiting time for this event was 45 mins, the average was under 30 mins. We got all cars on site with 7 mins spare, I thought that was pretty spot on in terms of numbers and of course this could only have been achieved through limiting the numbers. 

[trw999 32]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

If there is resentment, then it's ill-founded and based on incorrect information. 

Thank you for the response, Bibs.

I was wrong about 'this site'; I should have said that the 'perception' is that the live sale of tickets on the Lotus 70th site appeared to others to have been notified here first. You have clarified that that perception was wrong, for which many thanks.

I know of one chap who is selling his Lotus, he says, as a result of the difficulty in obtaining a ticket. Perhaps in future Lotus could recognise that not every marque enthusiast is multi-media savvy and therefore, should they wish to be all-inclusive, it might be a good idea to use traditional communication channels as well.

3 hours ago, Bibs said:

It was a Lotus organised event, at my suggestion (over 9 months) and I helped with the organisation of certain aspects. I'm not sure that makes any difference to anyone who attended anyway? What difference could it make who organised it, does it really matter?

Thanks for the clarification. No, not a huge difference to those who attended. However, co-ordinated feedback has been asked for by OP chipp above to pass on to Lotus. If Lotus are to organise these events at Hethel in the future, where does that leave the excellent Festival?

3 hours ago, Bibs said:

The reason numbers were limited was due to the huge traffic problems Lotus have had in the past when events are a free for all. I was insistent that memories of this event would not be the Police turning people around on the A11 and sending them home, as happened at the 60th.

The trafficking was much better than the 60th, for sure. I guess the point I was making was that, if the traffic problems can be negated, by off-site parking and buses, by making car entry only open to Lotus cars and other measures, then it would be more inclusive to allow all who wish to attend to be able to do so.

Bibs, I intend no criticism of you or anyone else. I merely wish to point out areas where it may be possible for a future event at Hethel to be even better than the excellent 70th was last month.

Tim

[Bibs 8,428 4 Vehicles]

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

Perhaps in future Lotus could recognise that not every marque enthusiast is multi-media savvy and therefore, should they wish to be all-inclusive, it might be a good idea to use traditional communication channels as well.

From their perspective, the event sold out in 5.5 hours. From a logistics point of view, it would be hard to convince them to use other methods as this was was clearly very successful I'd imagine. Bear in mind also that 14 other clubs were all given a healthy allocation of tickets, are were 90 dealerships. There were a few methods of getting tickets once the website had sold out which were open even up to the day before the event. 

15 minutes ago, trw999 said:

I know of one chap who is selling his Lotus, he says, as a result of the difficulty in obtaining a ticke

Regarding the chap selling his car because he couldn't get a ticket. I'm dumbfounded. Sorry but when he bought the car was his intention to go to factory events (of which there haven't been any for ten years) and he's that disappointed he couldn't attend he's willing to dismiss every other aspect of owning a Lotus? That's just nuts in my opinion. As above, if he really wanted to go that much, he could have contacted a club or a dealer. 

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

The trafficking was much better than the 60th, for sure. I guess the point I was making was that, if the traffic problems can be negated, by off-site parking and buses, by making car entry only open to Lotus cars and other measures, then it would be more inclusive to allow all who wish to attend to be able to do so.

That's exactly what we did, and exactly the case at the 60th, although this time by limiting number we negated the traffic issue. There were around 1700-1800 cars on site, they took almost 3 hours to get in with reasonable waiting times. Any more and the roads just can't cope. While we did have some people before the event question why in this case the event was at Hethel, well I'm sure the answer to that is obvious. 

14 minutes ago, trw999 said:

where does that leave the excellent Festival?

I'm currently in discussion with the factory regarding this. Watch this space. 

 

 

[johnpwalsh 1,241 4 Vehicles]

Bib's, your a maestro in answering.

I think given the short time between the announcement and the date of the event, it went very, very well. I can speak from experience of having organised a fair few events in my time and not all car associated. Also, considering the fact the factory was shut down, the cars organised, the dealers in place, the classics organised and public liability insurance in place, not forgetting the 5 star toilet blocks. How much time and effort do some people think this all takes to plan and execute. We had issues with tickets for other reasons and even on the morning of the event, we were being offered seats in cars and tickets to get in via guys off the forum.

You cant please 100% of the people 100% of the time, but I recon in this case 99.7% of the 1800 were more than happy.

As previously mentioned. Hats off to all involved. Well done.

[Bibs 8,428 4 Vehicles]

56 minutes ago, johnpwalsh said:

1800

1,800 cars, 8,000 people! 

[LF1 561]

57 minutes ago, Bibs said:

1,800 cars, 8,000 people! 

Must have been a lot of 7 seaters in then

[Bibs 8,428 4 Vehicles]

There were about 20 full size coaches doing shuttle runs all day!

[Timjgor90 16]

6 hours ago, johnpwalsh said:

Bib's, your a maestro in answering.

I think given the short time between the announcement and the date of the event, it went very, very well. I can speak from experience of having organised a fair few events in my time and not all car associated. Also, considering the fact the factory was shut down, the cars organised, the dealers in place, the classics organised and public liability insurance in place, not forgetting the 5 star toilet blocks. How much time and effort do some people think this all takes to plan and execute. We had issues with tickets for other reasons and even on the morning of the event, we were being offered seats in cars and tickets to get in via guys off the forum.

You cant please 100% of the people 100% of the time, but I recon in this case 99.7% of the 1800 were more than happy.

As previously mentioned. Hats off to all involved. Well done.

100% agree John was a great, very well organised event, I hope they decide to make it an annual event. 

[Frickin_idiot 83 2 Vehicles]

It was a fantastic event and one which completely exceeded all expectations.only improvements would be:

More seating around food area.

A few more food / drink outlets.

A fully stocked Lotus store.

Potential to make better use of the opportunity to exhibit the range.

 

All in all a great event.

[NR2k 74]

A fabulous event and we were lucky enough to live locally. Had this not been so local i could see that the short notice, and uncertainty about tickets would have made booking travel and accommodation a headache. I am sure that the next event will be planned and announced well in advance. Considering the upheaval at the factory the organisation of such a well run event at short notice must have taken a monumental effort. Hats off to the individuals concerned.

The best bits of the day were the f1 demos, lots and lots of loti and enthusiastic owners, loti hooning on track (Gavin and team), the on screen interviews, also merchandise and food were reasonable prices.

I felt access could have been better arranged with 2 lanes of cars running right into the parking areas from the site entrance. Maybe more vehicles could be accommodated if this area was given thought.

Things to add could be more experts talking about the history, driving, or restoration of the cars. Maybe some practical demos of work in the factory or restorations. The factory areas were interesting but felt very static.

Happy to pay to get in too. 

Please, please can we do it all again next year.

 

[dapinky 14]

I'm very late to make my comment on this, for no great reason except that i forgot to write earlier!

First, great thanks to @Bibs for the event (whether it was a 'Lotus' event or otherwise, I know who did the legwork both before and on the day).

There have been questions/opinions/suggestions from others, all of which have been answered, so no need to reiterate them unnecessarily. The fact remains that Hethel is the current home of Lotus, and it has geographic issues which constrain access, and it was done as best as could have hoped. The only suggestion in relation to this is to perhaps stagger arrival times on the tickets (but there would still be a queue, so probably no advantage) - or even allow entry on the Friday afternoon for 'club' displays.... but the drivers still have to get there on the next day, so again, possibly no advantage.

Can't comment on the food as I was limited to biscuits and doughnuts in the carpark whilst repairing cars!

Coffee was excellent (even though I had to brew it myself).

I know that there was a bit of ill-feeling about ticket allocation, but with a limit of 1800 cars, it wouldn't have been possible to serve everyone..... and for those who object to the fact that 14 clubs got an allocation of tickets (all of which were used, I believe), try living in Wales and wanting to get a ticket for the rugby international home matches without belonging to a smaller active club!

 

(Oh, and any luck with the wall hangers yet?).

[Bibs 8,428 4 Vehicles]

Thanks Dave for your kind words mate. It was a team effort, everyone worked very hard to make it the day it was

Lotus are using the banners for a few more events this year, we'll find out their fate early next year all being well! 

[chipp 99]

No idea how many banners were at the 70th but if they did become available there is bound to be a lot of interest.

Maybe to give everyone a chance to get hold of one they could be auctioned with some or all of the proceeds going to some charities or good causes.

 

chipp