History of the West Coast Lotus Meet

West Coast Lotus Meet - Fun since 1986!

Since the first West Coast Lotus Meet (WCLM) in 1986 the concept of a fun, casual, multi-club, multi-day event for Lotus enthusiasts in the western U.S. has remained steadfast.

The concept for the WCLM began between Lotus Clubs in 1985 with Rod Bean of Lotus West, a Los Angeles based Lotus club and Charley Rockwell of the Golden Gate Lotus Club. The two clubs had a history of doing smaller joint events with one another so doing a large scale event seemed natural. Thus the first WCLM was held on April 4-6 in Cambria, California with over 100 attendees and over 50 Lotus cars. There were dinners, a casual Lotus concours, a rallye and a wine tour.

After the success of the inaugural WCLM the second WCLM was again held in Cambia. Max Griggs, the Sales Manager for Lotus Cars USA attended and presented a slide show of the factory and a film on active suspension.

In 1988 and 1989 the WCLM moved to Santa Barbara and the chairmanship of the event was alternated between Lotus West and the GGLC.

The 1990 WCLM was hosted by the GGLC and took on a new moniker, "Lotus Convention". The event was held in Sonoma, California in conjunction with a Vintage Racing weekend. The WCLM grew to a 4 day event that included a Track Day at Sears Point Raceway. The M100 Elan was introduced and Bob Challman was the special guest.

In 1991 The WCLM was in San Diego with Lotus West as the hosts and in 1992 the WCLM returned to Sonoma, California. 1993 marked a big change, Club Lotus Northwest were the host club and the event included a track day at Portland International Raceway and the Norm Thompson Historic Races.

The 1994 WCLM returned to Sonoma and Sears Point Raceway.

1995 was THE EVENT. The WCLM became "The Lotus Festival" and was tied into the Monterey Historic Races that celebrated Lotus as the featured marque. Some 350 Lotus cars entered the Lotus Festival with some 150 vintage Lotus race cars involved in the races. On hand were Hazel and Clive Chapman, Stirling Moss, Jay Chamberlain (first US Lotus dealer), Patrick Peal (Lotus PR Director) and many others from Lotus history. The 1995 banquet had over 700 attendees who were spell-bound by Stirling Moss as guest speaker.

1996 Club Lotus Northwest were hosts for second WCLM in Portland. The WCLM took a hiatus in 1997 and 1998, but reappeared in 1999 hosted by the GGLC in Willows, California with local drives and a track day at Thunderhill Raceway.

The WCLM was struck by an even longer gap and re-emerged in 2002 in Monterey, California.

Then the WCLM headed north to be hosted by Club Lotus Northwest in Portland, Oregon.

In 2004 the WCLM celebrated the introduction of the Elise. Hosted by the GGLC the WCLM was held in South Lake Tahoe with a track day at the Reno-Fernley Raceway. Then in 2005 the WCLM took the north shore of North Lake Tahoe with a glorious banquet at the National Auto Museum in Reno, NV.

The newly formed Club 111 hosted the 2006 WCLM in Morro Bay with a track day at Buttonwillow Raceway and a group tour of the Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

The 2007 WCLM was suspended so we could attend LOG hosted by Lotus Colorado. And in 2008 the WCLM returned and was held in Canyonville, Oregon and then in 2010 the Southern Nevada Lotus Car Club hosted the WCLM in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Again the WCLM was suspended in 2011 to support LOG hosted by SNLCC in Las Vegas. That brings us to 2013 and the WCLM in Seattle, Washington hosted by the Evergreen Lotus Car Club!

Throughout the 25+ years of the WCLM one thing has been consistent… They are FUN!!! The events are great, there's always something to do, new places to see and the best part is you get to do that with a bunch of like-minded Lotus enthusiasts.