The Lotus Reunion is the brainchild of Alan Nobbs who was Principle Development Engineer in the powertrain division. Born out of the Lotus Remembered group on Facebook, which was initially set up as a place for ex-Lotus employees to share memories of their time with the marque, the first few meetings were set up for those people to meet face to face once a year. Over time, the event has grown and since last year it has also been open to Lotus owners who are invited to put their cars on display.

At its heart, though, it still attracts those Lotus faces who have been instrumental in creating the cars we love. Some of them are well-known: Mike Kimberley, Peter Stevens and Matt Becker were all mingling among the crowd, but there were a host of less well known names among the number whose contributions to Lotus lore are less celebrated but nonetheless vital. Chatting with any and all of them reveals fascinating inside stories from Lotus’s past.

In some areas, cars were grouped together by model. In the Elan corner were Roger Makhlouf’s one-off Estralle shooting brake, Guy Munday’s Shapecraft and a racing 26R. The earliest Lotus models were lined up in front of the showroom and included Nigel Halliday’s Mark II (the oldest surviving Lotus), Classic Team Lotus’s Mark I recreation and the Mark VIII prototype. The largest single gathering, though, was for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the M50 Elite and Eclat. It was perhaps the biggest gathering of models in recent years.

Other highlights of the day included a number of engines on display that had been devised by Lotus Engineering, a chance to see the Emira assembly line and a parade of Sinclair C5s, one of which has been retro fitted with a turbine.

So far word of the event has spread mostly via word of mouth by the organisers envisage it growing in years to come to attract greater numbers of Lotus owners to join the former staff. We’ll certainly be back for 2025.

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