Published by the Golden Gate Lotus Club www.gglotus.org April 2007

The Chapman Report

Friday, April 20th, 7:30 pm

Host: Scott Hogben

April Meeting

Hawaii 5.0 Liter editor

“Aren’t you excited, Dad”,my daughter says. No not really.“Maybe you will be when we geton the plane.” Hawaii, land ofthe small, congested roads withspeed limits like the one above.Pretty hard to get excited aboutthat when I would be missingtwo car events to slowly drive aChevy Cobalt on a road full ofother tourists. As it was, I didn’thave to drive very long. After anhour of my wife and daughteryelling at me that I was going toofast, this chore was passed to mywife.

Many locals have a bumpersticker that says “No SuperFerry”. The ferry will shuttlepeople and their cars betweenislands, and they think it will addto road congestion. They have nomass transit system on any islandbut Oahu (a few buses there). Ithink that’s the main reason fortheir congestion.

I talked to a few locals aboutracing their cars. Many lovedrifting and drag racing, but theironly track was closed last year.They have ‘unofficial’ racingsites as it’s their only option.

One nice thing were the gasprices. The photo to the right iscurrent; over ten cents less thanhere. And where was thatChevron gas probably refined?Right here in California.

Oh, one thing about ourrising gas prices. The price ofdiesel has stayed constant and isnow lower than regular, ratherthan more than premium. Maybethis current “Lust for Ethanol”will make diesel a worthwhileoption, now.

OK, we had a trackday, ofwhichwe havea storyandphotos.We hadthe firstlocalvintagerace oftheseason,the firstF1provestheseason

may be very competitive, andmore events to come.

This month we have anautocross at Marina on the 14thand the Half Moon Bay DreamMachines on the 29th. Also theHooked On Driving track day onthe 20th.

Also, inside this issue is astory by our new club President,Clark Vineyard, and more infoon LOG 27 by Scott Hogben.

page 2

CalendarApril 14 Autocross Marina Airport

April 20 HOD Driving School Thill(check Website for info)

April 29 Dream Machines HMB

May ? TBA Tech Session MikeOstrov’s

For more and up to date information on theseGGLC and other events check the GGLC websiteat www.gglotus.org

Parts and Service for Lotus CarsSpecializing in Lotus Elans and EuropasQuality and Considerate ServiceTotal Ground Up Restorations toRoutine Maintenance

Huge Inventory of New and Used PartsMany Hard to Find Pieces

KAMPENA MOTORS

WWW.KAMPENA.COM

Infineon Raceway28935 Arnold Drive F-10

Sonoma, CA 95476 Phone # 707-933-8039

Independent LOTUS Parts & Servicewww.jaeparts.com

Tel: 805-967-5767 Fax: 805-967-6183

Factory parts for the latest Esprits and M100 Elans toVintage racing and restoration parts for the classic Lotus.

Also, pain-free next-day drop shipservice for parts we may not have.

CALL NOCALL NOCALL NOCALL NOCALL NOW FOR COMPETITIVEW FOR COMPETITIVEW FOR COMPETITIVEW FOR COMPETITIVEW FOR COMPETITIVEPRICES,PRICES,PRICES,PRICES,PRICES,

EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE AND SERAND SERAND SERAND SERAND SERVICE.VICE.VICE.VICE.VICE.

Last month I remindedeveryone that LOG 27 will be inAspen Snowmass, Colorado thisyear, August 24th – 27th. Forthose who wish to take their carsto the event, there are severalGGLC members who are plan-ning on meeting at an as-yetdetermined location and time onthe Wednesday or Thursdaybefore the event, and driving toColorado together.

For those who do not want todrive the distance but want tohave their car there, we arecurrently arranging for a trailer

LOG by Scott Hogbenwhich can accommodate 8 cars.The cost will be $1225 per carfor the round trip to Coloradoand back. If you are interested inbeing one of the 8 cars, email meat events@gglotus.org and leaveme your contact information.This will be a first come, firstserved arrangement.

For more information aboutthe event, go to the LOG 27website at: http://www.log27.com.

Track Dayby John Zender

Registration is now open forthe Golden Gate Lotus Clubtrack event at Thunderhill onJune 5. Go towww.motorsportsreg.com toenter.

On the right, separatingtread from a frontwheeldrive Audi. Lots oflateral stress.

page 3

Hey, this is Clark Vineyard,your 2007 GGLC president.Although my life is busy here atUC Davis, practicing guitar,playing solitaire and attendingthese “classes” they make ustake, I figured it was time toaddress you, the Lotus ownersand enthusiasts in this club whomake having these wonderfulcars that much more fun. Firstoff, I’ll tell you a little about me.

I got my first Lotus at thetender age of 14. I could notdrive yet and it was in no condi-tion to drive either. It was a 1974Elite, an unconventional looking4 seater with the front of anEsprit and the back of an AMCGremlin. The previous owner,my uncle, had had it sincecollege. After he married, itsbabe magnet abilities were nolonger needed, so he put it in hisgarage for a decade. Eventually,the garage needed remodelingand my parents figured I coulduse the Elite to learn about cars,believing “it will never run”.With almost any other Lotus,they would have been right, but Isomehow coaxed the Elite tosputter to life within a year(without even having to sell mysoul). Of course, it never reallyleft the “project car” phase andwas exceptionally problematic.Looking through my records, forevery month it drove, it wasbroken for a month, a nearperfect split. However, I toler-ated this because I loved the carand it was a crowd pleaser,

A Message From the Desk of the Office of thePresident whether overheating in down-

town traffic, or in auto shop(inboard mounted drumbrakes?). It was towed 5 times in3 years, a personal record for ourfamily’s cars. After senior year Iwas headed off to college whereI couldn’t have a car. Rather thanlet it languish in our driveway, Isold the Elite and put the pro-ceeds to a good cause. Everytime it had been at Burnett’sBritish Auto Service, I saw JeffBurnett’s 1980 Esprit S2 for sale.After weeks of pleading, myparents to buy it with me as aninvestment, as it had 17k originalmiles on the odometer. It is inalmost flawless condition and isa dream to drive. My parents arevery clear it is their car, althoughI paid for half. I’m pretty sure

they got so I would come homeon weekends, and that’s work-ing. But enough about me andmy favorite methods of transpor-tation, back to the club.

April has several events andsomething for everyone. There isan autocross on the 14th if youwant G forces and a drive toForceFed on the 28th that willprobably be a little slower. Also,on the 20th, there is an intro totrack driving day at Thunderhillwith Hooked on Driving. GGLCoffers several track days through-out the year and if you’re new totrack driving and want to get inon the fun, this is the place to be.I think I have classes that day butvelocity and vectors apply tomath, how about some realworld experience!

page 4

Tuesday March 27 dawnedbright and sunny. The rain fromthe day before had passed by andthe temperatures rose from the40s(F) to the 60s(F) during theday. The wind was light tomoderate. It was a great day, verycomfortable.

We had 60 entrants and 5second drivers. We ran as 3groups, with 3 different setspassing rules. Group A havingfree passing everywhere andgroup B and group C havingrestricted passing rules. Westarted about 9AM and ran till5PM with an hour for lunch.The 3 groups rotated on track,with the A group starting at thehour, B 20 minutes later, and Cat 40 minutes past the hour. Sothere was plenty of track time forall.

This is the second of ourtrack days not allowing begin-

ners. Folks who have not racedor run track days before shouldgo to the gglotus.org web siteand read the page(s) on trackdays for information on organi-zations that will teach you trackdriving, such as Hooked OnDriving (which happens atThunderhill) and others.

Thunderhill has a new build-ing (50 feet closer to the high-way) where track waiver signingtakes place, but it seems every-one noticed the new building ok.(GGLC has its own waiversfolks going on track must signin addition to the track waiver:the GGLC waiver signing is atGGLC registration, which wasinside the main track building).

Team Europa was a bitdepleted this time. John Zender’sFlamer transmission was still notcompletely reassembled, andScott Hogben’s Europa was not

running.Evil Twins Racing’s Europa

S1 had blown up its transmissionat a race the previous weekend,so only your reporter’s Europawas on site for Team Europa.

Mel Boss brought his blackElan Coupe and SueQuackenbush brought a whiteElan Coupe. Joel Farber’sElan+2 rounded out the Elancontingent.

Dave Platt’s Esprit was notyet back together (engineproblems) so he brought aJaguare S type — and the(admittedly old) front tiresimmediately began to shred onthe track.

There was just 1 Seven but10 or more Elises on hand. Therest of the field brought Porshe,BMW, Corvette, Audi,and other makes to fill out thefield. We really appreciatetheir presence: we could notafford to rent the track without

Thill Track Day by Dave Anderson

Paul Quackenbush prepares ‘his’ Elan. His to getready for his wife, Sue.

next page

An Exige leads an Elise on to theback straight.

page 5

The Chapman Report is published monthly by the GoldenGate Lotus Club, PO Box 117303, Burlingame, CA 94011. TheGGLC is a non-profit incorporated car club and is not affiliatedwith Group Lotus, Team Lotus or Lotus Cars USA. The GGLC’sannual membership dues are $25.00.

Opinions expressed in the Chapman Report are those of theauthors and do not represent those of the GGLC or its officers.

Submissions to the Chapman Report are accepted andencouraged. Please email them to chapmanreport@gglotus.org inMS Word, rtf or ASCII text. Submissions may also be mailed toJim McClure, 11238 Bubb Road, Cupertino, CA 95014.

2006 GGLC Officers are: President: Clark Vineyard, VicePresident:Clark Vineyard, Treasurer: Laura Hamai, EventCoordinator: John Zender, Membership Chairman: DavidAnderson, Secretary: Jon Rosner

Chapma Report Staff: Editor: Jim McClure, CirculationManager: Tom Carney, Advertising Manager: Mel Boss.

these folks support of our trackdays.

Lotus reliability was good.Alan Copeland (Elise) had anew set of rather soft rain tiresand these got too soft in thedry and did not stick well.John Sass (Elise) ran out ofbrake pad. With 4000 milesand 4 track days he’d simplyused them up and nobody hadspares on hand.

At end of day your reporterwent to drive the Europa backon its trailer and it would notstart, just whirr. One of thestarter bolts had completelyfallen out, and the other hadbacked out quite a bit. GuessI’d better get those safetywired in place from now on..

The Toyota was putting in some good lap times at Thilluntil Dave Anderson’s Europa got in it’s way.

page 6

Classifieds(non-comercial ads are free to GGLC members and will run

for three issues before requiring renewal)

First Class Mail

RICHARD L. KAMP

Authorized Dealer of Caterham Cars

Designed for Racing Built for Livingwww.goldengatesevens.com

G GOLDEN ATE EVENSSInfineon Raceway

28935 Arnold Drive F-10Sonoma, CA 95476

Phone # 707-933-8039

The Golden Gate Lotus ClubPO Box 117303, Burlingame, CA 94011

Wanted: Lotus Cortina.Does not have to be running buta sound bodywould be best. Contact KevinEnderby, enderby@mac.com(650) 364-6368. (11/06)

For Sale: Two Avon ACB10tires size 245-45x13 or 8-22x13.More than 1/2 tread reamining,$20 each. Lower front controlarms for Europa, very goodcondition with new bushingsinstalled -$100 each. Rearcorners for S1/S2 Esprit includ-ing hub carriers, hubs, axles,drive shafts yokes. Excellentcondition, fully assembled withnew U-joints and bearings readyto bolt-on for $600/corner, or I’llprice the components separatelyif you like. John(650)283-9105 (2/07)

Wanted: for Lotus Elan +2.Spyder chassis new or used.Good upper and lower frontcontrol arms, rear control arms,and “sills” under doors. Will payto ship from anywhere in thecountry or if close enough willpick up. Steve Vukobratovich(southeastern Arizona) PH#520-378-4665 e-mailvukosj@msn.com (4/07)

For Sale: 1970 Elan +2.Twin Cam, 40DCOE carbs,Knock Off Wheels. Has not runin several years, but was runningwhen put away.Significant spare parts included.Ken Dusenberry<kadmad@swcp.com>

(12/06)