The Annual Donington M100 Gathering

For some years now, ever increasing numbers of M100 Elan owners have been meeting at the services car park situated at Junction 23a of the M1 where the M1 meets the A42 (see the map to the left). The rendezvous is traditionally on the Saturday morning of the annual Club Lotus Show at Donington. Attendance to this pre-show gathering takes some commitment though, as the aim is to muster as many Elans as possible and then to travel in convoy, from the services to the Donington show, arriving at Donington before the show begins (usually at about 9:50 am - the doors to the show open at 10 O'clock). This can mean some very early alarm calls and set outs from home; but it's well worth it, honestly! A lot of us now choose to travel to the area on the Friday evening and enjoy a beer or two with fellow owners and take advantage of the wide range of accommodation available in the Donington area - which also gives the added benefit of not having to get up at some early hour on the Saturday morning.

In 2005 we managed to muster over 80 Elans for the short convoy to the show and in 2006 there were even more cars in the convoy! What's more, we drove in colour-coordinated groups - no small miracle of planning! The looks on other Lotus owners' faces and the reaction of onlookers, when we pull into the car park at Donington has to be seen to believed. In the past Club Lotus have been kind enough to reserve dedicated M100 parking within the Lotus only car parking area outside the main show hall. Continued dialogue between the Elan fraternity and Club Lotus should ensure that these arrangements continue for the foreseeable future.

We have already set up threads for accommodation, social gatherings and the 2007 LEC stall within the Forum, so have a look at those for the latest info and details of timings etc.

Thank you to Google Earth, Ordnance Survey and Club Lotus for the loan of the imagery on this page.