Sept 2016
A lot of car type activities.
Lots of things have been happening, so in a
quick attempt to catch up with life, I will just do a summary of what was going
on. Living on my own half the time, buying a new Lotus and learning about Austin-Healeys !
Janet has been spending a lot of time in
Perth, babysitting 5 year old grand-daughter Poppie. With her dad Damien working 28 days on and 28
days off on the oil rigs up off the NW coast of Western Australia, her mum
Hannah had been doing a lot of the duties while Damien was away. But when Hannah finally (after several years
of trying) got accepted into the WA Police Force, she was faced with being
unable to look after Poppie while Damien was away. Child care is just SO expensive, and despite
the fact that Damien would be home 50% of the time, the child care facilities
require you to pay 100% of the time in order to keep your place. Long story short, it was way cheaper for
Damien and Hannah to pay Janet’s airfare from Brisbane to Perth, and she would
work “opposite” Damien – So when he was in town, she would fly back home to
Queensland for 28 days. As a result, I am also working 28 on / 28 off
– My chores involve everything in the house and garden while Janet is away,
plus looking after Trooper and cooking for myself (not my favourite past-time
!!). Fair enough, as long as it helps
the kids get sorted out, plus it was a great opportunity for Janet not only to
spend more time with Poppie and build up a relationship with her, but also for
her to see more of our other son Nick who lives in Perth with his partner
Tanja. So wins all round.
On Janet’s first “hitch” in Perth after I
got back to Australia from my 2 ½ year Adventure round the world in August, one
of the first outings I had (on 9th September) was to drive 3 hours
up through country Queensland to Morgan Park Raceway in Warwick where a lot of
my Lotus buddies were competing in a sprint series. As I hadn’t caught up with them for a long
time while I had been away, it was a good opportunity to see them all while
they
Photos of Morgan Park are here (Warning,
heavy car content !!) :- https://goo.gl/photos/eQxMHCMFK3hR5gX78
Buying
a new car !
When you are driving across countries (or
even across whole continents), one has plenty of time to think about life. And one of the things I have realized is that
most of my friends (though not all !!) around the world are friends through car
activities in general, and Lotus in particular, due to the 15 year ownership of
my Lotus Elise in which I had travelled around Europe, Australia, America and
Canada. I wasn’t keen on joining a
fishing club, or a golf club, or a photography club or any other of the usual
activities – I wanted to be a member of a car club, and a Lotus one in
particular, just because I love Lotus’ – Always have ever since I used to watch
Jim Clark and others racing them in the 1960’s. And it is kind of hard to be a member of a
Lotus club when you drive a Toyota Landcruiser ! It is possible, I agree, in the same way that
it is perfectly possible to be a member of a fishing club without owning a
fishing pole, or a member of a golf club without owning golf clubs – Possible,
but not really very fulfilling, I am sure you would agree !
 |
| Emma Peel of the Avengers with her Lotus Elan |
So as I thought about buying a Lotus, my
first thought was about what kind of Lotus I would be happy owning. I didn’t really want an older one (although I
have always loved the 1960’s Elan, like Emma Peel used to drive !!), and I
didn’t really want another Elise, as I felt I had “been there, done that” as
far as an Elise was concerned. An Exige
was too hard core, and anyway, I didn’t really feel I wanted to do a lot of
competitive driving – Once again, done that.
The new Evora is too big and expensive for me, so what to buy ? Maybe
there was nothing suitable.
When in UK in 2015, good Aussie friend
Winno had pointed out a 2007 Lotus Europa to me, but I had dismissed it out of
hand. I had seen these cars when they
first came out, and didn’t really like them – They didn’t “fit in” with my
ideas of a Lotus. All carpets and
air-conditioning and fixed roof kind of stuff – Kind of tame. “A true old man’s Elise”, said Winno, and I
laughed at his attempt at humour, and dismissed it.
 |
| New baby in the driveway ! |
Then I started to think about it on the way
across Canada. I had done some research
and found that no one else really liked the Europa in 2007 either, so instead
of building thousands of them and marketing them in the USA as well, they ended
up producing only 456 of them, of which only 25 were ever officially sent out
to Australia. So quite rare then. They also have a powerful turbocharged 2
litre Opel engine, more comfortable seats, and a (slightly) bigger boot. Also supposed to be easier to get in and out
of, but that is kind of relative ! Hmm, maybe this would be an idea – Slightly
different (yup, that’s Giles !), rare so likely to hold their value quite well,
and funnily that design is starting to grow on me ! Right – Where do I find one ?
 |
| Trooper admires the new addition ! |
This turned out to be a problem – 10 years
after production finished, people are realizing what a great little car they
are, and trying to find a good one for sale is almost impossible !! I considered buying a UK sourced one and
shipping it to Aus, but that had its own issues, although certainly
possible. In addition, prices for the
cars were starting to creep up, reflecting their rarity. And then, through a friend of a friend, I
heard of one that was in Queensland, a first owner car in immaculate condition,
but the owner had had a bad motorcycle accident and was hardly driving the car,
so was “slightly interested” in selling – He wanted to keep it, but common
sense dictated otherwise ! I contacted
him and he said he was happy to wait till I returned to Aus to discuss it
further, and once I got back, I went to see the car and the rest, as they say,
is history !
 |
| Taking over from the previous owner |
It was immaculate – the owner had only been
out in the rain in it once when he got caught in a shower, and it only had
23,000 kms on it even though it was 9 years old. I didn’t have the money – But had realized I
had some bank shares that I had had for years (thanks to my son Nick for
selling them to me 20 years ago !!) that were worth about the same, while the government
was talking of having an inquiry into banking procedures and profits which
might limit their future growth potential.
So that solved that problem !
 |
| Dan arrives in his Lotus to take me to pick up mine ! |
So by the time Janet got back to Queensland
from her month in Perth, there was a shiny silver Lotus Europa S sitting in the
garage ! On the 16th September my buddy Dan had driven me up to
collect it from Brisbane in his Lotus Elise – Perfect way to pick up a Lotus –
And we drove it back. I was a happy
chappy !
Pics of the day are here :- https://goo.gl/photos/2AKZGZeiRxy5aNik9
Austin-Healeys
!!
 | |
| Ashton's 1954 Austin-Healey 100/4 |
Not long after I got home, Lotus friend
Ashton, from Sydney, called me up and asked if I needed a new adventure. OF COURSE – What a silly question ! “How would you like to join me on the
Peking to Paris Endurance Rally in 2019 ?”, he asked me. I think I took about half a second to
consider it, and promptly accepted. Ashton owns a 1954 Austin-Healey 100/4, and
proposed we use that for the rally. I had owned a later model Austin-Healey
3000 Mk III back in the 1970’s, so was immediately intrigued, and had to find
out more.
 |
| Lots of Austin-Healeys at British Car Day |
Coincidentally, some of the Lotus Club boys
were attending a British Car day up in Brisbane just a week after picking up
the Lotus– A perfect opportunity for me to show off my new car ! At this event were a LOT of Austin-Healeys,
so I spent a lot of time chatting to them and trying to find out more. It was obvious that over the next couple of
years I am going to be spending more time with Healey people than with Lotus
people !
Pics of the British Car day are here – Once
again, heavy car content, I’m afraid !
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