All British Day 2018

Our Concours at the All British Day.

Story and pictures by Vyvyan Black.

Come Sunday the 23rd of September, I wanted to have my car looking it’s best for our annual Concours d’Elegance at the All British Day. But I had a lot to of work to do.

Unlike the wonderful Lotus examples listed below as class winners, in my ownership the Plus 2, though in very good condition, has never actually been the pinnacle of perfection. And truthfully, I’m okay with that – if it was perfect I’d be afraid to use it!

Anyway, I needed to repair the damage that was done when I last took the beast to Morgan Park Raceway for a fun dash around in the B-Series comp. On the first run the engine bay suddenly became a Weber barbeque, flames licking into the cabin, and I wasn’t cooking snags!

Thanks to the wonderful team at the track who saved the day and avoided the horrible spectacle of my car becoming a sticky lump of metal and fibreglass beside the track. Needless to say though that the manic use of fire extinguishers and the ripping of panels to get to the heart of the fire didn’t do wonders for my interior.

So, eventually, and after a long and expensive job of replacing all the under bonnet burnable bits, there I was at 11.30pm the night before the concours swearing at the last bolt on the passenger seat to make its whereabouts known immediately, hands blackened with carpet and glue, and back aching with the ups and downs of my new career as a motor trimmer.

All worth it in the morning though, as ‘Zsa-Zsa’ flickered with life and we happily burbled off – me admiring the newness of it all – ready to check out all the other British mechanical perfection on display.

I promise I’ll do my best to keep it all shiny and clean. Next job, all those bloody stone chips!

Winners:
Tony Galletly (Lotus Eleven) Class 1: Lotus Cars 1950–1962
Bill Blackmore (Lotus Elan +2) Class 2: Lotus Cars 1963–1974
Russell Carter (Lotus Carlton) Class 3: Lotus Cars 1975–1995
Steve Lennox (Lotus Europa S) Class 4: Lotus Cars 1996–2017
Daryl Wilson (Caterham) Class 5: Lotus 7 & Caterham
Craig Wilson (Lotus Elan S1) Outright Winner