I can’t think of anything we could have done differently, so it must have been a success!

Starting in 2004, Michael Hipperson has organised an annual event to raise funds for the Little Havens Children’s Hospice in Essex, under the title of The Elise Garden Party. The event has taken a different format and been held in different locations, but for this year Lotus Cars kindly made available their Hethel test track for a trackday.

Under clear blue skies and unrelenting sunshine, some 272 guests attended on the day, enjoying a barbecue lunch provided by Essex dealers Castle-Lotus. Amongst the guests was World Land Speed Record holder Andy Green, who had just returned from South Africa where he was inspecting a possible site for the Bloodhound record attempt.

Aside from the trackday activities, organised by Lotus-on-Track and primarily for Elise, Exige and 2-Eleven variants, there was a specially invited Heritage section which attracted some very unusual machinery. Attracting particular interest was the unique Gold Leaf-liveried Lotus 58 F2 car, driven by Malcolm Ricketts. Whilst that one was originally tested on the very same track, the Lotus 25 pre-dates the company’s move to Norfolk and so this was a rare opportunity to see the 1963 World Championship-winning car in action at Hethel, piloted by Lotus collector Nick Fennell. He also got the opportunity to try Classic Team Lotus’s recently restored Lotus 30 sportscar.

For John Bolding, the occasion was a particularly emotional moment, a day he has described as being his best day out ever. He has spent seven years restoring an ex-works Gold Leaf Team Lotus Type 47A, and anyone who has seen it will know just what a stunning job he has done. When he acquired the car it was in such a wrecked state there was even uncertainty as to exactly what car he had got. However, former driver John Miles inspected the car in the early days and spotted that it had a particular seat mount, peculiar to his car and thus confirming it to be Lotus Type 47A, chassis number 47/69. From that day on Bolding resolved to see Miles back behind the wheel and his wish finally came to be at the Elise Garden Party.

One or two non-Lotus products did manage to sneak in through the gate, most notably Terry Hoyle bringing along the totally unique Ferrari 268SP owned by Bernie Carl, this fabulous-sounding car having been raced at Le Mans in 1962, when Giancarlo Baghetti/Ludovico Scarfiotti got as high as third place before gearbox gremlins forced retirement at three-quarters distance. Was this a first-ever case of a works Ferrari appearing on the Lotus test track?

A charity auction after lunch contributed £5250 towards the overall sum of just over £13,000 raised at the event, while a raffle and passenger rides added yet more to the funds. Star item was a replica Lotus 72 ‘anvil’ airbox knocked-down by auctioneer Clive Chapman for £750. 'I think we’ll have to make some more of those', he remarked.

That £13,000 took the overall total raised for the Little Havens Children’s Hospice by Michael Hipperson’s events since 2004 past a remarkable £100,000, a tremendous achievement. The day was a huge success, thanks to his tireless efforts and as he reflected afterwards, 'I can’t think of anything we could have done differently, so it must have been a success!