Celebrating Colin Chapmans Finest  

MEDIA RELEASE JANUARY 2026 

Steve Keene 

A recent addition to our race meetings has been the inclusion of a car display and parade for a classic marque. At Southern Classic 2025 it was Datsun, and at the Brooklands 2025 meeting it was the mighty Valiant Chargers.
As we will have a variety of Lotus cars competing closely in the International Formula Junior and VCC and Historic groups, we felt  what better opportunity tocelebrate this most prestigious marque.

‘Simplify, then add lightness’ was a term invented by thelegendary Colin Chapman, but the term “light” will onlybe a description of the individual cars, as we have received tremendous support from the Southern Lotus
Register who are making the Southern Classic a key feature of a weekend long club catch up, and at this stage the plan is for over 25 cars to join in with the race cars to not only show all things Lotus, but also parade the marque during Sundays lunch break.

We are also proud to announce we will have some special brand new Lotus's on display with Lotus cars New Zealand will be bringing 3 of their latest machines, with a VERY rare Jim Clark edition of their sensational Emira Sports car. There are only 60 of these produced worldwide, and we are very luck to have one this incredibly collectible vehicles coming for display.
Additionally our luck saftey car drivers will be able to try out the latest Emira Turbo as the events Pace car, and crowds will be able to see up close the new Lotus Eletre SUV, so bring your wallets as these will be available to order from your local Archibald's dealership.  (excluding the Clark Emira which have all sold out already).

For more information on the Southern Lotus Register also follow he link below, they are a fantasic club that are extremely active in the South Island, and are incredibly proffessional , and it has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside them to mark this event.

https://www.lotus.org.nz/