Tuesday 9th June 2009

New Lotus Franchise At Silverstone

Official Lotus outlet offers sales, service and track preparation

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Lotus's new site is in the heart of Silverstone

Lotus has set up shop inside the Silverstone Circuit, with a new dealership opening to offer sales and service, as well as a full track preparation service for Lotus models and other performance cars.

The dealership not only fills a hole in the Lotus marque's UK coverage, but will offer customers the chance to soak up a bit of genuine motorsport atmosphere as the new 4000sq ft showroom and four-bay service facility have been moved into existing industrial units close to the Stowe Circuit.

Road cars and track cars are catered for

PistonHeads visited the new franchise on a trip to Silverstone last week and even as the paint was drying and the signs were waiting to be screwed to the walls, there was definitely an engaging 'motorsport' buzz about the place. Not surprising, given the location, but the place does look set to become a magnet for Lotus enthusiasts in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire - and even farther afield - who want to indulge in trackday fun. The workshops will be run by an existing Silverstone team currently responsible for service, maintenance and track fettling of the circuit's own fleet of exotic and high-performance cars (including Lotuses) used for both individual and corporate trackday instruction and experience.

Lotus Silverstone sales manager Oliver Wiltshire, who gave PH our tour of the premises, reckons the prospect of having your Lotus maintained and prepared for the track at the circuit itself will be a major draw for customers, particularly as they'll also offer storage on site - allowing customers to just turn up and play. As a regular main dealer, road car sales and service will naturally be catered for, too.

As part of the development, a new manufacturer facility is to be opened on an extended Stowe Circuit later this year - which will include a low-friction straight and turning circle.

Lotus arrives at the site less than 12 months after Porsche opened its Experience Centre next to the famous Hangar straight. Silverstone is also home to the Audi Driving Experience for retail and corporate bookings, and last year successfully ran the GT-R Academy for European customers of the Nissan super-coupe.

 

[Zumbruk]

I bet the mechanics will love that lift, every time they drop a spanner or nut and it vanishes under the raised floor...

[MarcoDecamilli]

Lets hope it lasts longer than the TVR dealership did !

[marctilling]

Hmmm... I used to work @ Stratstone Lotus in MK... could be of interest if they have any jobs going!

Edited by marctilling on Tuesday 9th June 12:30

[roland82]

Zumbruk said:

I bet the mechanics will love that lift, every time they drop a spanner or nut and it vanishes under the raised floor...

^^^^^
Those ramps look much more hi tech than anything I ever used but I didnt think of that.

[Gadgeroonie]

is this in the building that used to be silverstone performance ?

[585bhp]

I'm going to rate this venture, It's headed by a very capable chap Olly Wiltshire.

[Frimley111R]

Nicely timed with the British GP next week! (Assuming it is somewhere near enough for the public to get to).

[Bixy]

This is where WRC were based before they went down ! I had a few of my Evo's re mapped by weltmeister ( Chris ) there ! Great location and very nice workshop - I wish the new owners all the best in there new venture

[Fidgits]

I went there for the launch weekend - the staff were very friendly and its a great location...

Plus the fact is they put on a hell of a launch, getting to take an Exige on track, autotests, tour of silverstone and an Evora test drive..


I did a write up of the day here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


I'd definatley consider using them after spending a day there..

[cvegas]

All three Silverstone circuit configurations are great to drive (especially in a Lotus or Caterham!) - if you get a chance to drive there then take the opportunity.

[roosevelt]

cvegas said:

All three Silverstone circuit configurations are great to drive (especially in a Lotus or Caterham!) - if you get a chance to drive there then take the opportunity.

Hope the circuit be used during a road test!!

[Graham]

cvegas said:

All three Silverstone circuit configurations are great to drive

Not sure I can agree with that ( and there are actually 5 circuits )


1) national :- the short circuit and its utter pants, used on most test days
2) International :- cuts off the gp at maggots/becketts but unlike the national includes bridge so a lot better than national

3) southern. uses the same mid section as the inter ( but backwards) and the bottom of the circuit. I prefer it to the Inter

4) the GP circuit: Fantastic enough said

5) Stowe : whilst not actually part of the main circuit ( its inside it) it uses part of the old runway its very small but quite a laugh and they do hold races on it...

[Silver Pellet]

Silverstone is the only place I've driven that makes an Exige S feel somewhat pedestrian.

[rico28]

Will we be able to get in during the GP weekend, perhapes on the Friday practice?

Would be interested in taking a look around.

[purpleperil]

Gadgeroonie said:

is this in the building that used to be silverstone performance ?

Those lifts certainly look familiar!

Edited by purpleperil on Tuesday 9th June 17:49

[m30dus]

purpleperil said:

Gadgeroonie said:

is this in the building that used to be silverstone performance ?

Those lifts certainly look familiar!

Edited by purpleperil on Tuesday 9th June 17:49

Think WRC Tech were there before them - let's hope these guys get off to a better start