Oliver Winterbottom Monthly Bulletin - April 2019

1 April I write up description of the contents of my book for the Amazon Author Central Team in the USA. It explains the 'inside the business' nature of the story, and the changes from design with pencil and paper to design with computer.

2 April Tom Smith, who owns the Lotus M90 / X100 prototype in Texas, has requested permission to write an article for the USA Lotus Ltd Club magazine. I am happy to permit it! It may assist the publicity for the book.

3 April I send a copy of my book contents description for Amazon USA to Paul Shipley. He says he will use it in the next advertising for the May 1st event near Burton-upon-Trent.

4 April I complete the presentation for the PJS Sports evening on May 1st.

8 April I finally manage to access the PJS Sports Cars website. It doesn’t like Apple computers! The event is as shown below:

PJS Sports Cars Presents - An Evening with Oliver Winterbottom

A talk, questions and answers session and book signing by Lotus, Jaguar and TVR designer Oliver Winterbottom.

Ticket price (£10) includes tea, coffee and sandwiches. 

Ticket profits go to the Midlands Air Ambulance.

Book available on the night at £37.50 or in advance at £35.00 (see ticket options)

1 May, 19:00 – 22:00

Tatenhill Village Hall, Main St, Tatenhill, Burton-on-Trent DE13 9SD, UK

9 April Receive a message from Richard Woollaston, who is organising the Lotus Elite/Eclat/Excel Club display at the Donington Historic race meeting, to say the organisers are arranging for me to drive to the display. I plan to attend on Friday 3 May. In return, I agree to be interviewed by the commentator which could help publicise the book. 

Lotus Excel website states: Update – Oliver Winterbottom will be joining us at Donington on Friday 3 May, so a good opportunity to meet him and talk about the cars if you haven't done so already!

It looks like he'll also be giving an interview at the event.

Cheers, Richard.

                45 years since the launch of the Lotus Elite

10 April I circulate comments on an Autocar Opinion article, criticising the low profile tyres and dreadful ride of many current cars. My talk on The Lotus DNA had 2 slides explaining the traditional Lotus approach which gave a suburb ride as well as premier handling.

I am asked if I would give a talk to Club Lotus Cambridge which I would be happy to do. I sent my “no go” diary dates and await their response.

11 April  I get a message to say that Venisse Thibault is no longer involved with Club Lotus France. He allowed an English Lotus Excel to park on the club display at Dijon Prenois historic races. I signed a copy of my book for him two years ago. I am attempting to find a new contact. I succeed! Serge Audigier to be contacted by Tony Poll who would like to park his Excel with them.

13 April Arrive at Silverstone for the VSCC Historic races and have to talk my way into parking inside the circuit. I meet up with Paddins Dowling who runs the 1935 ERA R10B (ERA racing cars were created by my cousin, Raymond Mays.) Paddins lives in the USA but keeps the car in Britain. He kindly purchased a book, which I happily signed. He said he planned to read it on the flight home.

15 April I travel up to Yorkshire to visit a recently widowed friend. I was delighted to sign her copy of my book.

18 April I am contacted by Lotus Cars' PR Dept asking if I would be prepared to be interviewed for their new in-house magazine for their staff. Cleverly titled Us Lot (I am sure you can work that out) I am delighted to co-operate. I await a suitable diary date.

Diary date is in; just two hours later! A telephone interview with George Chapman, a London journalist. He will write up on the back page. I discuss my talk, entitled Lotus DNA: Some Views on Colin Chapman’s Philosophies. George was most interested in the comment that Colin was more interested in design efficiency than weight. He did however once utter “simplicate*, and add lightness.” I had wondered what simplicate meant for many years, so had looked it up. It was first used by W. S. Stout, an American who designed a car and an aircraft.
*Simplicate: to make something simpler through a process that initially seems daunting or complicated.

20 April A 1:43 scale model Lotus Elite arrives in the mail from Grand Prix Models. It joins my collection of cars that I had a hand in. Looks nice alongside a TVR Tasmin Coupe – although I say it myself. A nice Easter present.

The model Lotus Elite

23 April An old friend, John Ashley, joins me for a trip to Lincolnshire. We visit the superb Newark Air Museum and whilst there, fall into conversation with a volunteer guide. He has a Clan Crusader, a sports car built by ex-Lotus engineers in the early 1970s. I mention my book to him at least three times!

24 April I arrive at the Blyton Park track for the annual BRM Association Track Day. This brings together BRM and associated racing cars for demonstrations on the track. There is no racing but some of the most exciting cars can be seen.

I was keeping an eye out for Dick Salmon, who is another Veloce published author, ex-BRM V16 mechanic, ex-Lotus Quality Manager in the early 1970s a former customer of the Wicklewood Cherry Tree! His superb book, BRM A Mechanics Tale, is still selling, now as a reprint. 

Dick Salmon and a wonderful BRM V16 which he worked upon

Another pleasant meeting was with Malcolm Kenwood of the Bourne Motor Racing Club. We had a brief chat about my forthcoming talk to the club on the 10 October.

Howden Ganley, who drove the BRM P180 competitively in the early 1970s was present and I was delighted to talk to him at the event. His book, The Road to Monaco: My Life in Motor Racing, was on display at the BRM Association kiosk, alongside mine. I suggested that if he bought mine, I would buy his! He declined, as his book was actually a donated raffle prize. I bought a few tickets and asked Dick Salmon, who was to draw the winner, how much a bribe would cost... It proved unnecessary as I won a prize anyway, yes, it was Howden Ganley’s book – and it's signed! Despite the generous offer to display my book, none were sold.

26 April Tom Smith, current owner of the prototype Lotus M90/X100 in Texas, sends me his final copy of an article he has written for the Lotus Ltd. Club in the USA. It traces the restoration of the car which is now as good as new. The story will appear in the club magazine Remarque. He has kindly mentioned: “Oliver told many interesting stories about the X100’s development and his dealings with Chapman, most of which he later documented in his book, A Life in Car Design (A good read for any Lotus aficionado, by the way.)” Many thanks, Tom.

My copy of Club Lotus News magazine arrives. Inside it is my letter, concerning the aerodynamic stability of the 1974 Lotus Elite. The final sentence: “For more information, may I recommend my book, A Life in Car Design, which attempts to describe the birth of the Lotus Elite as I remember it.” 

I am delighted that my car pass for the Donington Historic races for Friday 3 May has arrived. I am due to meet up with the Lotus Elite/Eclat/Excel Club and possibly give a public interview.

30 April All packed and ready to leave for the Midlands. PJS Sports Cars evening talk tomorrow and Donington Historic race meeting and interview on Friday 3 May.

Monterey Car Week

This weekend sees the start of Monterey Car Week, a special automotive week that is full of exciting events, auto shows, rallies, concours and car auctions that culminates at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on the 26th.

There are two major motoring bodies that will be unveiling new models that piqued our interest, and in today's blog post, we bring you details on these latest cars. 

The new Lamborghini Aventador SVJ will have it's official unveiling during Monterey Car Week. The newest super sports car form the famed Italian marque recently set the lap record for production cars at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, in a time of just 6:44.97 minutes. 

The Aventador SVJ is made of lightweight materials that contribute to the excellent weight-to-power ratio of only 1.98 kg/hp. Furthermore, Lamborghini's patented ALA 2.0 active aerodynamics system with aero vectoring guarantees handling and downforce. 

"Its tenure as the Nürburgring lap time record holder, even before its unveiling [this month], endorses Lamborghini's competence in applying superlative design engineering and ground-breaking technologies. The SVJ is a super sports car at the zenith of performance, while also ensuring unrivalled driving pleasure." – Stefano Domenicali, Automobile Chairman & CEO. 

It may cover an older model, but we have an impressive new tome! Our newest Lamborghini book, due for release in October, is all about the Lamborghini Murciélago. This book, written by Dr Thillainathan Pathmanathan, a lifelong Lamborghini enthusiast, examines the Murciélago in detail, while casting a look back through the marque's troubled history, to understand how the Murciélago came into being. This exceptional work touches on the people and organisation involved in the production of this iconic car, before examining each of the model variants, and discusses the joys and tribulations of ownership. 

BMW are another marque set to reveal a new car this week – rumour has it, it's a redesigned Z4. Monterey would be a meaningful venue, as BMW has a pattern of revealing concepts and production cars at this event; last year they showed 8-series and Z4 concept cars. 

So far as is known, the new Z4 will pull plenty of its design from the concept cars displayed last year, with a more forward face, and sweeping lines at the rear. As for power, BMW confirmed that a Z4 M40i will use the company's 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged inline-6. Engineers also focused on reducing the car's mass; despite the car being nearly 3 inches wider than its predecessor, the new Z4 will weigh nearly 50kg less. 

BMW's mystery reveal is set for August 23. In the meantime, if you are interested in owning a Z4, then you should first invest in our newest Essential Buyers Guide, which covers the Z4 E85 Roadster and E86 Coupe 2003-2009 – including the M and Alpina Roadster models. Packed full with loads of good advice from marque expert David Smitheram, and described as a "must have" by the Z4-forum and the BMW Car Club GB, this is the complete guide to choosing, assessing and buying the original BMW Z4. 

Dan Gurney

Veloce were saddened to hear news of the passing of a another motorsport legend, Dan Gurney, on the 14th January, aged 86.

Dan Gurney, Netherlands GP, 1970
By Joost Evers / Anefo (Nationaal Archief)
via Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Sexton Gurney was born in Port Jefferson, New Jersey, on April 13 1931. He moved to California with his family when he was 16, and by the time he was just 19 years old, he built and ran a car that attained 138mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. His interests quickly moved-on to dragsters and sports cars.

With the ability to wrest even less-than-competitive, pre aero-era cars to a podium finish, he was said to be the only driver that Jim Clark feared on track. Gurney’s racing record reads like a hall of fame of championship series and cars, and he leaves a legacy that future drivers, constructors, and team owners alike, may never again attain. His career saw a string of high-profile wins and podium places in the world’s top racing series, from F1 and Le Mans, to Indy and NASCAR.

But it wasn't only racing where Gurney made his considerable mark. Constructor and team owner are also prominent on his CV, and his Eagle-Weslake cars are still considered as one of the most visually stunning F1 cars of all time.

A comprehensive look at Dan Gurney’s life and career in motorsport appears in Motor Racing Heroes – The Stories of 100 Greats, by Robert Newman.

Daniel Sexton Gurney, 13 April 1931 – 14 January 2018

Get your kicks, on Regent Street!

The Regent Street Motor Show returns this Saturday, but with a State side twist … With that in mind, and with my own personal interest in the Mother Road, today's blog post will take you into this iconic piece of American history,  whilst also giving you all you need to know about this weekend's London event!

Connecting Chicago to Los Angles, Route 66 is known to many as the Main Street of America, as it was one of the primary routes across the country, with as many as 210,000 people travelling it to migrate to California during the Great Depression. 

Though most of the old Route 66 has been bypassed by the various Interstates, much of the 300 miles that stretch across the 'Prairie State' still remains untouched from its heyday. Famous for quirky roadside attractions, many in Illinois, Route 66 is home to such curiosities as Wilmington's Gemini Giant, outside the soon-be-renovated Launching Pad diner; the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum located in Pontiac; and part of the old, original, historic brick road, which can still be found – and driven on – in Springfield. 

Illinois is where Route 66 begins, and as it is the presenting partner to this year's Regent Street Motor Show, the state, and its iconic Route 66 elements, will be showcased in the UK's capital. Director of Illinois' Office of Tourism, Cory Jobe, says, "This partnership is a prime opportunity for our team to highlight in a meaningful way all the Route 66 Americana flair that our international visitors travel to experience." Nick Wigley, CEO of Goose Live Events, the organisers of the show, adds, "We are delighted to welcome Route 66 to London: two iconic roads linked by a rock 'n' roll classic!"

The Regent Street Motor Show is a unique, free-to-view event that takes place as part of the larger London Motor week, run by the Royal Automobile Club." Since its inaugural show in 2005, it has grown in popularity over the years, and has even featured the famous Genevieve last year!

It is a hope to many that the historic Route 66 can be kept alive for many generations to come, and bringing some of this across the pond to us here in the UK is a sure-fire way to not only assist in the preservation of this classic piece of motoring history, but to also introduce it to a whole new audience. 

This certainly sounds like an exciting day, so, if you are near the capital on the 4th of November, and fancy a nice, free, family day out, why not go and get your kicks on the A4201! –Siân