2025 Annual Lotus Owners Gathering

I just got back from “LOG 44”, the 44th annual gathering of members of various Lotus Owners Groups, this time in Pittsburgh. This was my first time going to one and I really enjoyed it. Some car brands attract owners who can be elitist, macho, pretentious and posers. But not so Lotus — everyone was universally friendly and easy-going. This is probably due to the fact that you don’t buy a Lotus to fit into the mainstream — it’s a very intentional purchase — and their fairly well-earned reputation for not the greatest reliability means there is a common experience of being humbled by our cars (!) and therefore eager to help and learn from others.

The main event on Saturday was a drive out from the hotel to Pitt Race racetrack. I convoyed with a few others, and we got a lot of stares and waves as we drove through towns and backroads (our group was avoiding the highways — in my case because my Elan +2 is very small by modern standards and not the greatest when surrounded by SUVs at 65mph…)

I didn’t hear an official count but we must have had upwards of 200 cars, which was awesome. It was also a delight to see cars in so many bright colors for a change. Today it’s hard to buy cars in anything other than white, silver, gray or black, and seeing so many bright yellow, orange, blue, green and red cars was a real treat.

Here are some pictures from that day at the track. We had mostly overcast days so light was pretty flat, but luckily we escaped rain.