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The Elise Garden Party 2008


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#1 Andrew Kitson

Andrew Kitson
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Posted 11 August 2008 - 09:48

TNF'er and former GT40 owner and club racer Michael Hipperson puts an enormous amount of work in organising this annual weekend to raise funds for Little Havens Children's hospice in Essex. Last year's event in France at Le Touquet and the Abbeville circuit was a huge success. This weekend it was at the Wensum Valley hotel near Norwich on Saturday evening (and BBQ at the lovely Rainthorpe Hall yesterday), which pushed the bar even higher.

100 Lotus owners bought along their Elises, Esprits, Elans, a Mk6, Lotus Cortina and Nick Adams from Lotus brought along the prototype Evora. Well known names Jack Sears, Alan Henry, Brian Lister, Bob Dance, Cedric Selzer and Martin Donnelly came along and Sir John Whitmore was auctioneer. A brilliant 90min talk and filmshow by the fastest man on earth, Wing Commander Andy Green OBE was a highlight. He is a real-life action man hero.

The charity auction was what it was all about, in a room of only 200 people almost £26K was raised from 30 lots! Outstanding. I donated one of my Lewis Hamilton signed prints and an original painting of Jimmy Clark's first single seater victory, in the type 18 at Goodwood in March 1960. It was the FJ race when Surtees made his car racing debut in Tyrrell's Cooper-Austin, the first car race he saw and he started from pole. Jimmy's victory was the first ever win for a Ford-Cosworth engine.

Sir John Whitmore, Andy Green, Martin Donnelly and 'Gentleman Jack'.
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Brian Lister, a true gent:
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The Lewis signed print made £1200:
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'Formula Junior - The Making of Champions' made £2800:
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The wonderul Rainthorpe Hall, airborn to get some shots of the '60' created by
parked Elises to celebrate the Lotus anniversary:
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Despite opposition from within Lotus, Nick Adams was persuasive in bringing the prototype Evora along:
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Well done Michael and all who put their hands in their pockets.