I’m not sure who to credit for this wonderfully evocative photo of Bruce in Lurch (Bruce’s Elite) next to Brian Caldersmith at Wakefield – if anyone knows more detail on this one, I am all ears!

Happy New Year (if its not too late) and I hope you had a lovely break over the summer. And who knows, maybe even got some work done on the cars? Although speaking from first hand experience, the garage, even with a concrete floor, is not the place to be on 40 degree days!

Just a reminder, 2026 is the 50th anniversary of the Lotus Esprit, so if you are an Esprit owner, we’d love to hear from you as we arrange various events to celebrate this amazing car.

Kicking off the new year, we are well into getting our first trip organised. It was to be a rerun of the Beecroft to Burrawang Blast, but the Burrawang Hotel is still closed for refurbishment, so we are holding the Beecroft to Robo Rustle instead, heading off to the Robertson Hotel on Sunday March 1st. Fuller details, and bookings are on MemberJungle at this link.

In rather sadder news, as you will no doubt have learned from our earlier email, we will be farewelling Bruce Mansell today at the Macquarie Crematorium. His was a life truly well lived, and a more thoughtful, considerate, sharing person I would be hard pushed to think of. From my earliest days in Australia, he was always welcoming and willing to share his amazing knowledge freely. And for his welcome to the Club for the legendary Bruce’s Shed evenings we will always be immensely grateful. Farewell Bruce.

Looking slightly further ahead, as well as our Tyre Kicks, which will be getting back into full swing, on 15th Feb there are two events being held. The first round of the CSCA sprints, and the Rotary Club of Richmond Show and Shine and Super Swap Meet at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds. I’m a bit sad that I will miss these, as in particular I was hoping to offload some of the garage contents! But I’d be grateful to hear from anyone who gets to the Show and Shine, and good luck to all those competing in the sprints this year!

Then, in March, we have the Phillip Island Classic over the weekend of 13 – 15th  where a few of us are headed for a weekend of fabulous historic cars. As well as the usual national and international open wheelers, there will be a good showing of Aussie V8 muscle from the ’60s, ’70s and 80s, as well as the hilarious madness of Group N (the Mustangs vs the Minis :)) and Group S. Something for everyone! I’ll drag the Elite down for the weekend, and I know of a few others going both to compete and to spectate.

And finally (for now), over the last weekend of May is Historic Winton, where they are celebrating the Esprit’s 50th birthday (as noted above). So, get your planning shoes on and if you are willing to bring your Esprit along, get tin touch with the organisers directly, or drop us a line and we’ll gladly help.

I’m off to the UK for a month (it would usually be a bit later into the year, but a change of jobs necessitates an early visit to see my folks) so look after yourselves and each other in my absence, and see you in March.

Meanwhile, keep it safe, upright and on the black stuff,

Pip pip
Ashton