3 January An enthusiast friend sends me a New Year message. We go back to the 1960s and the temporary buildings of Coventry Art College. He makes the point “there must be another book [in me].” No, there is not, although some of the events mentioned in my book probably could’ve gone as far as a court case!
3 January Today I received and accepted an invitation to Classic Team Lotus for the launch of a new book, Black & Gold. Published by Coterie Press (apologies to Veloce), the venue will feature at least 15 JPS liveried F1 cars. I am looking forward to the evening of the 25 January.
4 January Amazon UK have the price back at £37.50 with 6 books left in stock.
4 January Discover that a young lady at the Barnham Broom Bell is the daughter of an old buddy of mine from the 1980s. He is currently up in Wensleydale (an area I know well), but I have recommended my book as the next birthday present for him.
7 January I guess Amazon must be either buying books back or constantly restocking. Hopefully the latter. They have 7 books in stock on the 6 January and now 9 books in stock on the 7th.
7 January I am delighted to get an unexpected envelope forwarded from Veloce. It contained a letter from a German who had read my book. But better than that, he has a 1980 TVR Tasmin that was the 77th built, and from the photo, is in superb condition. He says he has an education in design and appreciates the completeness of the “masterpiece.” He loves it and asks for my signature, which will be on its way shortly. I do enjoy a bit of praise!
7 January A busy day today! I receive an email from Peter Riches (ex-Lotus) who read my book over Christmas and asks for my contact details. This is because Ken Heap, who did a superb job on Lotus suspension design in the late 70s-early 80s, at Lotus had my book for Christmas, and wishes to get in touch. I look forward to that, as I have not seen him for many years.
8 January A response from Ken Heap tells me that he enjoyed my book. He had returned to Jaguar after his time at Lotus and he told me “I finished my working life at Jaguar at the end of 2003. I'd been there for 18 years, and in that time was a Chassis Senior Manager responsible for suspension and brakes engineering, and for the chassis load and stress analysis department.” Well done and deserved, Ken. I hope to meet again this summer.
9 January I responded to the TVR owner in Germany, and mailed a signed photograph back to him.
11 January A nice message from Germany, saying the letter and signed photo had arrived safely. Satisfied customers of both car and book are always much appreciated.
11 January 2 years ago on this date, I received one of the first 10 pre-production copies of the book. A fondly remembered day of excitement at Veloce. It also made the face-to-face meeting with the book editor Lizzie, who did such a good job. Sadly, she has since left Veloce. I have always loved the customer review of my book (in the USA) where the English text was not apparently correct. Lizzie has a First in English from Oxford University - but not in American English!
14 January Amazon have sold one! They now have 8 books left. Hooray!
15 January Ken Heap (see 8th January) sends me very interesting information on the Cresswell, which became very successful in Clubmans Formula racing. I was involved with this project at its birth, but moved from Jaguar to Lotus shortly after the design was solidifying, so had to stop helping. It’s all in the book.
16 January Veloce contact me to introduce Ellen, their new Marketing Assistant, who will be looking after my Book Bulletin. Welcome, Ellen.
19 January I send talk title ‘Lotus DNA Some Views on Colin Chapman’s Philosophies' to Club Lotus Avon for my talk on 5 March. I have felt the need to correct some historic statements made by recently replaced executives.
21 January I receive the Statement for the Public Lending Right which collects royalties from public libraries. Some technical books can generate a lot of money. My book was lent 24 times between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018 generating a magnificent £2.04. Whoopee, I’m out on the town now! (That works out at 8.5 pence a time).
22 January Down at the Barnham Broom Bell, I happily supply a signed copy of my book to Vincent's daughter ahead of his birthday (see entry 4th January). She is looking forward to reading it first!
25 January 5:00 pm and I arrive as invited at Classic Team Lotus HQ for the launch of a new book, Black & Gold. It traces the history of the famous JPS Lotus racing cars. The evening was also an opportunity to tour the new workshops which restore and maintain a huge number of classic Lotus racing cars. The event concluded at the Wrenningham Bird in Hand, where I could meet many characters from years back. A superb event.
Some of the 15 JPS Lotus racing cars on display
28 January I learned last night that a book customer, and ex-colleague, had lost his copy when he left it in a hotel in Amsterdam. Well done J M! At least it should help spread the word, although to whom in downtown Amsterdam may be questionable.
29 January Order the new book Bunty, about David Scott-Moncrieff, the charismatic, ‘interesting' car dealer, from Veloce (released 1 February). Looking forward to an amusing read.
Richard Woolaston has been in contact, as he plans the 45 year anniversary celebration of the Lotus Elite Type 75, and Eclat. I hope he can reach as many owners of these vehicles as possible. I am ready to support a celebratory event.
31 January I respond to a delightful letter praising the 1974 Lotus Elite, in the Club Lotus News. To read such a positive narrative after a number of negative articles in the motoring press that were obviously written by authors using public bar jesting information, was most welcome.
His comment that the 1974 Lotus Elite was 30 years too soon, was most flattering! Aerodynamically, I suspect the Elite was the first production car to utilise a fully ducted cooling system which greatly assisted the low front axle lift performance. In these days of cars trying to achieve high axle downforce at speed, the Elite was not looking for that. We were trying to ensure the lift figures were small but almost more importantly, balanced at the front and rear with very low yaw so that the handling did not change with increased road speed or in crosswinds. As Mike Kimberley has said, “The Elite was the most stable car I have ever driven at high speed and in horrific cross winds.” The author appears to have read my book, A Life in Car Design, which gives the inside story of the vehicles creation. Thanks Michael Humphreys.
Today is very cold and foggy so I was delighted that my book order from Veloce is delivered safely on time.
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