Dutch on-line parts supplier elise-shop.com has just launched their new website, and to help mark the occasion, Lotus-central took a trip to Holland to see the operation first-hand. The company, owned by Yvo Tuk, is based on a new business park near Moordrecht, not far from Rotterdam.

Like so many others before him, Yvo’s passion for Lotus began when he bought an Elise in 1999, but at that time there were no after market parts available. He came into contact with a dealer in Hamburg who owned the Elise-shop.com name, and when they fell out with Lotus, Yvo offered to buy the name. However, the asking price was phenomenal so he decided to walk away. Just six months later the name was offered to Yvo for an acceptable price, so he decided to go ahead!

At about the same time Elise Parts and Racespeed also appeared on the scene, although the latter soon went out of business. Now Elise Parts and elise-shop co-operate on the production of parts. That side of the business has partially come about because Lotus themselves are not always able to deliver, or have long lead times.

It is just eighteen months since Yvo made the transition from running the business as a part-time venture alongside his career in electronics sales. Elise-shop has  grown significantly in that time, supplying both genuine Lotus parts and aftermarket components on a worldwide basis. Inevitably much of the custom comes from the European market with France, Germany, Britain and Italy leading the way, but also from further afield destinations such as Australia and South Korea.

There’s more than just a change of date to attract Lotus enthusiasts to the Club Lotus Show and Festival to be held over the weekend of 18/19 April at Donington Park. How about the change of name for a start? Well, Club Lotus have teamed up with LoTRDC, organisers of the highly successful Elise Trophy race series, and they will be running their opening event of the season on the Donington Park circuit on the same weekend. What better excuse, then, for a thoroughly Lotus weekend?

Moving the event just a few weeks later than usual should make all the difference. For a start, the clocks will have changed so the days will be a bit longer, and hopefully it will be a little warmer than usual too! Many owners will have brought their cars out of winter hibernation, so the Lotus-dedicated parking area should be even more packed than usual with the full spectrum of Lotus models both old and new.

When Lotus introduced the 2-Eleven in 2005 it was more than just the name that was evocative of the past. The current track weapon of choice has more in common with its predecessor from 50 years earlier than you might imagine possible.

The 2-Eleven came about following-on from what seems like an unlikely request from the organisers of the Shelsley Walsh hill-climb. Due to celebrate their centenary in 2005, they aimed to have a car from each of the 100 years at their anniversary event. Finding machinery from the early years was easy, but wanting something new and cutting edge to represent the 100th year, they turned to Lotus. Not perhaps the obvious choice, but think back to Lotus’ origins and you will see that Colin Chapman and Lotus very much found their feet in grass-roots motor sport. 

Ownership of any performance car comes with high costs – notably, insurance, maintenance and horrendous road tax (if our debt-ridden Government has its way – and all in the guise of protecting our environment, ho!ho!).

If you have a spanking-new Lotus, the decision on servicing is normally an easy one – at least until the warranty runs out. However, it’s worth doing a little research before plumping for the car’s supplier, as not all dealers are equal. And the same research is vital when the warranty has expired, if you want to keep costs down.