2 minute read
National Day 2022
2022 NATIONAL DAY
WHAT A FABULOUS DAY we had on the 11th September! It was such a pleasure to arrive to the sight of a superb display of Lotus Sunbeams, particularly as my own car had failed to start (more about that in a future article), with more cars still to come. After a period of eleven years away from Curborough, it was great to have another day there. The turnout was excellent, and what a great collection of lovely Sunbeams we have; so many potential concours winners and a great variety of specifications - a real credit to our members! Three very different, newly-restored cars were present that have never been to our National Day before: DAC 7Y looking very different from the last time I saw it in the 90s on a Group B Car Club Day at the same venue; DAC 101Y, although it has been on other events since returning to the road in the past year; and NKR 551W stealing the show with the concours prize. DAC 40Y was different the last time we saw it, too, and it was lovely to see it in the flesh in its black colour scheme. A515 EPC is another car rarely seen at our club days but that is two events in a row now, including Santa Pod, and great to see. Three Avons present this time, too; about 50% of all such cars currently on the road! Of course, other members brought along non-
Advertisement
Sunbeams, including a pair of Avenger Tigers, MR2s, GR Yaris and MX5. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves on the sprint course, which itself has seen some changes since the last time we were there. This year was the largest gathering of Sunbeam Lotus (24) at our National Day since 2012 (25), and while that’s still less than half of our largest turnout in 1997 the amount of our cars on the road has halved since then. We also attracted the highest number of Arbury cars (8) since 2004 (9, although we had 10 at events in 1990 and ’91 when we were part of Club Lotus). 12 of the 24 cars were Moonstone (7 black stripes, 5 silver, for those who like to know these things…), plus the 3 Avons, against only 6 Black cars and 3 alternative colour schemes. An equal number of Amil and Minilite-style wheels were present, plus a few alternatives. Only four cars had Marchal spot lamps, most featuring Cibies in varying quantities and arrangements. Nine cars were adorned with Lotus badges in the centre of the grille. Cars Present:
AJF 462Y AJU 947Y ARY 383Y CFJ 386Y DAC 7Y DAC 10Y DAC 40Y DAC 59Y DAC 101Y DAC 109Y DAC 112Y DAC 120Y DDU 16Y DDU 66Y DOD 696Y A515 EPC FOD 601Y JRU 263V KKV 444Y LDV 154W NKR 551W SGF 995V VSH 180V UKL 88X
Concours Winner: Paul & Emma Owen (NKR 551W) Highly Commended: Peter Christie (SGF 995V) & Mark Garnett (DAC 109Y)
