coolest piece of lotus memorbelia

[Brian Skeoch]

what is your coolest piece of Lotus memorabelia ? I have a unmolested Lotus shaving kit that was given to Dan Gurney by Mr. Chapman in 1963 when the team went to Indy. Colin gave one to Jim Clark and the other to Dan Gurney. Jim used his but Dan never opened or used his .

2 years ago Mrs. Gurney found it in their garage in CA and they asked if I wanted it... knowing that I am a Lotus nut they gave it to me..

this shaving kit has about 50 pieces in it, all with Lotus branding.. even the leather shaiving bag is British racing green with gold lettring...

I am proud to own the only living Lotus shaving back from that era.. Jim Clark used his when he stayed at the Speedway Motel, but Dan never opened his.

other than that I have a brick from the speedway.

what are your cool Lotus memorbelia ?

Brian

[Tony K]

Wow! That is unique! :)

I'm not much into memorabilia, but I do have one cool thing that may rank as such down the road: Giorgetto Giugiaro autographed my red S1. I met him in 2001 when my car was displayed at the Eyes On Design event in Detroit and he was the year's honored designer. I had a brief conversation with him (via a translator), and then the artist signed his greatest work inside the front compartment on the wheel arch:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/Tony-K/Red%20Lotus/GIUGIARO.jpg
(photo courtesy of Pete Blackford)

I suppose every man-made phenomenon or industry has its "golden age" (flying, computers, automobiles, railroad, whatever), and every generation has its own idea of when that golden age is or was. Personally, I would loosely define the golden age of automobile styling as from the late 1950s through the early 1990s, and more narrowly as the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s (for reasons too many to describe here). With that in mind, I view people like Giugiaro and Gandini as being to car design what Michelangelo and Donatello are to sculpture. I think we are walking among the greatest of the greats, and living in an era that can never be repeated.

[GregWO]

Cool Tony! I had no idea your red S1 was autographed by Giugiaro. That's memorabilia for sure.... great picture too!

I'm too new to Lotus to have any kind of memorabilia.... but very interesting thread.

[Brian Skeoch]

that is way cool.

I have my car autographed by Dan Gurney, Andy Pilgrim, David Murry and Doc Bundy. all exe factory winning Lotus drivers.

did you do anything to protect your signatures on your car ? I forget that mine is autographed .. I wonder if I should have it clear coated over the sharpie autographs. ?

[Tony K]

that is way cool.

I have my car autographed by Dan Gurney, Andy Pilgrim, David Murry and Doc Bundy. all exe factory winning Lotus drivers.

did you do anything to protect your signatures on your car ? I forget that mine is autographed .. I wonder if I should have it clear coated over the sharpie autographs. ?

Wow! Those are some awesome people to have sign your car! Again, I'm not an autograph hound, but when it is meaningful it is special! :)

There was some discussion about protecting mine on the S1/S2/S3 yahoogroup back in 2001. There was concern that the clearcoat might make the sharpie bleed, or would crack and yellow later, etc. I was so concerned about what to coat it with to preserve it, and Pete Blackford said, "...how about nothing?"

What I ended up doing was putting a sheet of plastic over it and sealing the edges with a neat frame of tape so that no air or moisture could get in. I was careful not to use a type of plastic that might sitck to the surface or lift the letters. I used something like from a sheet protector. So far so good, but I do check up on it every now and then.

[Brian Skeoch]

cool. thanks. Mine have survived mother time too and I didnt do anything to protect the sharpie ink either.

[TWO OLD ELANS]

I suppose mine would be the autographs of Dan Gurney, Colin Chapman, Jim Clark, Mike Spence, and Stirling Moss. I also have an old Merit plastic 1/24th scale Lotus Eleven in my minature Lotus collection, and dozens of books and magazines about Lotus.
Hello Brian, what would it take to get Dan Gurney to write an autobiography? His career spanned from front engined F1 cars to his years as car builder including the winning Eagles at Indy, not to mention Le Mans, Stock Cars, and so much inbetween. It's a fantastic life! Do you think we could talk him into it?

[Brian Skeoch]

Dan Gurney just had his book published. I received mine about 2 weeks ago. its called Eagle Racing cars. It was the best 80 bucks I ever spent. its about 300 pages of wonderful historical info and great pictures. everything from the old Lotus days at Indy to the most recent GTP Eagle days with Toyota. Its a great book.

Mr. Gurney was nice enough to personalize it for me.

you can get one through Dans VP. Her name is Kathy Weida. kweida36@aarinc.com if you ask Kathy to have Mr. G sign it he will.

its a great book. I bought it for someone I love.. ME. ha

Brian

[Brian Skeoch]

speaking of Mike Spence, is he still around ??

[Brian Skeoch]

if you want to see some really neat write up's about Mr. Gurney go to his web page. do a google on Dan Gurney's All American Racers. then go into Eagle eye.

its really neat writings about the man and the Eagle cars. .

[Autocross7]

hey Brian, thanks for the info on book and getting it signed. I ordered up a copy and asked Kathy to have it signed to my daughter - as she is being raised correctly with a love of cars and races. she is already asking about going back to Sebring and ALMS next year...

Cameron

[TWO OLD ELANS]

Unfortunately, Mike Spence died May 7, 1968 after crashing in a Lotus 56 turbine car during practice at Indy.

[WayneB]

I have a couple of cherished pieces of Lotus memorabilia :)

Did anyone know the Lotus Grand Prix team released a record when they won the F1 world championship in 1972?:confused:

I have one of the records and its hilarious to listen to. The only thing that dissapoints me is that Colin Chapman doesn't sing on it!:(

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150058.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150060.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150061.jpg

The other thing is a brochure I got off Tony Kimberley that was signed by his dad, Mike.

Titled" Lotus Total Technology " it's a little time capsule as to how the Lotus Company was operating in the early 80's just before Mr. Chapmans tragic death.

The photo that features three men I greatly admire, Mike Kimberley, Colin Chapman and Tony Rudd is beyond cool!

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150062.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150063.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/PB150064.jpg



Now if I can only get to meet Giugiaro like Tony K...................................

[Brian Skeoch]

You are welcome.

Kathy is a great great woman. interestingly enough, her husband Mark is a race car engineer for the IRL. he has called the shots for several IRL teams.

they are great people.

Brian

[Kimbers]

I have several collectable pieces, though not as many as you'd think as I give my dad everything I collect (on the previso that I get it back in his will). But between us we have:

A unique Bronze of a Europa TC flying through the countryside.
Signed Esprit Poster by the design team.
Several of dads designs.
Don Safety Trophy replica (only 2 made, one for dad the other for Colin)
Signed Picture of Colin sitting on a gold Esprit with the inscription "To the man who makes it all possible - Colin"
Poster of Dad pilotting the Lambo F1 offshore powerboat.
Every article and many of the car magazines with Lotus in it from 72 onwards.
Several design awards
Every book on Lotus from mid 70's to now signed by the authors (including the Jabby Crombac book, signed by Jabby, Hazel Chapman and my dad.
I could go on....and on...and on....

The one that always takes pride of place is Colins signed Picture.:drool:

[Brian Skeoch]

awesome..

[Brian Skeoch]

anything from the Senna days or Mansel era ?

[Kimbers]

TBH Brian I'm an F1 fan but the memorabilia never bothered me so I sold it all on E-bay and used the money to go on holiday and buy a few things. Did have a Senna autograph and all the drivers autographs, in a book, from the Monza GP in 1978. I got Ronnie Petersons just as he got in his car, so was the last autograph ever signed......wish I'd held on to that one!

[WayneB]

Talking about Ronnie Peterson, I recieved some good news this week that they are finally going ahead with the museum dedicated to him in his home town of Orebro , Sweden.

The Swedish government has given a group of people (including his brother Tommy) a 270,000 euro donation towards the museum.

I will be making my pilgramage there one day!:)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/ColinandRonnie-2.jpg

[Brian Skeoch]

that is wonderful news.

[clockwork]

A note pushed in my window of my +2 from Ron Hickman asking me to phone him `cos he wanted to buy it.Clockwork:)