In the shadow of Mount Fitchet Castle lies Castle Lotus. They occupy a site that used to be an agricultural machinery outlet for suppliers Ernest Doe. Where once sat lawnmowers, the showroom is now occupied by machinery of a somewhat more powerful nature!

Stratton Motor Company grew out of the village petrol station in Long Stratton, Norfolk, the showrooms occupying a prominent position in the main street of the village that straddles the main A140 Norwich-Ipswich road.

The current privately owned business, headed by Roger Bennington, was established thirty-seven years ago and has held a Lotus franchise for the past twelve years. In addition to Lotus, the company also represents Aston Martin and Morgan, making an impressive line-up of all that is best in the British specialist-manufacturing sector.

When Belgium’s premier Lotus dealer, Thierry Verhiest, planned a New Year Party to celebrate the completion of work on his Evora-dedicated Ostend showroom, it was with the full expectation that he would have an example of the latest Lotus for his guests to admire, but circumstances conspired against him and it was left to a GT4 2-Eleven to fill the otherwise vacant space. But it would take more than that little setback to prevent Thierry’s guests from partying long into the night! Or maybe it was the copious supply of oysters during the evening that led them to think of other things…

Some two hundred guests turned out for the occasion, many of them loyal customers and not just from Belgium either, for such is the Verhiest reputation that customers come from far and wide. Not there on this occasion, but Verhiest even has an Esprit owner who drives all the way from Marseille just for a service, treating the trip as a holiday.