The Golden Gate Lotus Club (GGLC) presented a display of classic Lotus cars at the 48th annual San Francisco Auto Show. This long running show has become the 2nd largest auto show on the west coast.
Proudly the GGLC had the priviledge of showcasing a number of beautiful examples of Lotus history. The display located in the exotic car showcase area was adjecent to the BMC - SF Lotus display. The GGLC along the Corvette and Ferrari clubs are the only clubs given the unique opportunity to showcase cars from their members.
Huge kudos to Jim McClure for chairing this event. Jim worked for 10 weeks finding appropriate cars and contacting owners, working out details with the show organizers and getting the cars placed. Great job Jim!
A number of GGLC members volunteered to be in the booth to greet visitors, chat about the history of Lotus and share background on the cars.
F to R: Elite (Frans N), Seven S1 (Jim McC), Seven Chassis (Frank R), Seven S2 (Tony B) |
L to R: Seven S2 (Tony B), Lotus 18 (Jack F), Lotus 41C (Kiyoshi H), Lotus 11 LeMans (Richard R) |
|
L to R: Lotus 18 (Jack F), Lotus 41C (Kiyoshi H), Lotus 11 LeMans (Richard R) |
L to R: Lotus 11 LeMans (Richard R), Lotus 23B (Stan R), Lotus Cortina (Bruce M) |
|
L to R: Europa S2 (Tom C), Elan S2 (Kiyoshi H), Elan Sprint (Dave A), Esprit S2/Turbo (John Z), M100 Elan (Mel B) |
 |
|
The San Francisco Auto Show opened Nov 19, 2005 and closed Sunday Nov 27th. Over 250,000 people attended the show.
Sunday, Nov 20th, at the SF Auto Show
A busy second day of the SF Auto Show. There was a constant line of people at the BMC stand waiting to sit in an
Elise. The comments varied from "WOW!" to "How do you get out of this thing?"
The GGLC display had a steady flow of on-lookers of all ages. Youngsters liked the sleek looks of the Eleven and 23. One 6-7 year yelled out, "Look there's one my size!" at the sight of the Sevens. A group of 20-somethings stopped and paused, "That thing looks like a rocket with wheels", pointing at the 41.
Quite a few in the 40-50 age group would gravitate to one of the cars, stop and stare, and comment how their Dad, Uncle, neighbor or someone they knew had an Elan, Europa, Cortina or such and getting a ride in it. The cars brought back fond memories.
The M100 Elan attracts some attention |
The Elans were very photogenic! |
|
Where are the fenders?!?! |
The Elises at the BMC stand were ALWAYS busy! |
|
Thanksgiving Day, Nov 24th, at the SF Auto Show
It must be a family tradition to come to the SF Auto Show on Thanksgiving as the show was very busy.
The popularity of the GGLC is amazing. All ages seem to enjoy the cars, for some it's a memory from childhood, an uncle, neighbor or parent who once owned a Lotus, for others it's because the Lotus 11 looks like the Batmobile!
The Lotus race cars attract attention. |
Jim and Tom enjoy conversation with one of the many who stopped and wanted more information about the cars and club. |