Historic Lotus Register	Events organised by, or of interest to, HLR members

The Elite Summer Lunch - 11th June, 2026

This year's Elite Summer Lunch will be held at The Trout at Tadpole Bridge on Thursday 11th June, 2026. The inn is located next to the upper Thames in the West Oxfordshire countryside, close to the small town of Faringdon, at Buckland Marsh, Oxfordshire, SN7 8RF. As before, the aim is to have a convivial lunch for people interested in the Type 14 Elite and other classic Lotus cars - it isn't essential that you have an Elite!

Full details of the Trout can be seen online, there are residential rooms if you wish to stay over.

The cost of the meal is £40 for 3 courses or £35 for two courses, and the HLR will have exclusive use of the tented dining room.

The menu can be seen here. To book tickets, contact John Mead by email, or by 'phone on 07881 864549

Lotus Summer Gathering and Picnic - 21st June, 2026

Richard Hinton will again be organising the Annual Historic Lotus Register Summer Gathering and Picnic on Sunday 21st June 2026.

This friendly informal event is open to Lotuses of all ages, and takes place in East Hertfordshire, between Standon and Bishops Stortford. As before, food and drink will be available, or you can bring your own.

The event in 2025 was attended by over 100 Lotus cars plus a few other classics and 150 people. There's a video of the event here.

There is a great variety of Lotus cars already booked in, as well as a Lotus carbon fibre Olympics bicycle. Classic Team Lotus, Caterham Cars and Absolute Lotus magazine personnel are expected, and William Taylor will be on hand from Cotterie Publishing with some of his large and magnificent Lotus history books for you to buy. There will be an area near the lake where you are welcome to set up a table with any parts, books etc. to sell.

If you are interested, please put the date in your diary, and email Richard Hinton, who will add you to his mailing list for updates on the event.

Le Mans Classic, 2nd-5th July, 2026

The Le Mans Classic has traditionally been a biennial event, but from this year it becomes annual. The organisers will alternate between two formats: the Heritage edition, featuring cars up to the 1970s as in previous years, and the Legend edition, which showcases plateaux 6 to 10 and covers cars from the 1970s through to the late 2010s.

As this year’s running is a Legend edition—focusing on vehicles outside the Historic Lotus Register’s period of interest—the HLR will not be arranging an official trip.

Details of the event may be seen on the website.

BRDC Classic, 24th-26th July, 2026

The BRDC Classic (formerly the Silverstone Festival) takes place on July 24th-26th 2026. This year marks the return of the Classic in its traditional form — a premier historic racing weekend with the spotlight firmly back on the track, and fewer of the broader ‘family’ attractions such as food halls and playgrounds. It's also hoped that many of the long‑standing classic car traders will be rejoining the event after drifting away during its more recent reinventions.

Club Lotus and the LDC will have display areas on the infield, and Club Lotus will also be running track parades for their members on Saturday 25th lunchtime for the Esprit, Elise, Exige, 340R and Europa to mark their important anniversaries.

Details of the event may be seen on the Silverstone website.