In 2024, the Lotus community will actually meet for the 25th time on the Stelvio Pass to celebrate the anniversary of the presentation of the Lotus Elise.
In early 1999, the alt.cars.lotus newsgroup on Usenet (who remembers?) came up with the idea of a ten-day tour to celebrate the anniversary of the Elise presentation on September 12, 1995 at the IAA in Frankfurt.
Seven "day organizers" organized the entire tour in their spare time and it was clear that the highlight of the trip had to be the Stelvio Pass, where the revolutionary aluminium brakes of the Elise had already been tested in the pre-production stage.
45 participants started the "Stelvio 1999" ride on the small circuit at Lotus in Hethel, on a tour to France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Since then, the tour to the Passo dello Stelvio on the anniversary has been a firm fixture in the calendars of many Lotus drivers from all over Europe.
For some years now, the organization of the tour has been in the hands of a very special godmother: none other than Elisa Artioli, the namesake of the Elise, organizes the annual Stelvio Lotus Meeting. Even after 25 years, up to 100 Lotus enthusiasts meet every year at the beginning of September on the Stelvio. Of course, not only "old hands" are there, but also many new faces every year.
The meeting starts this year on September 13, 2024 and promises up to four days of riding fun with like-minded people on the passes around the Stelvio Pass.
The Stelvio Meeting is the only tour for which a Lotus is required as an entry ticket. This and all other open-brand tours can be found on the event website.
