THE STELVIO PASS

The connection with Lotus is that Lotus used the Stelvio Pass for their brake-fade testing during the latter development of the Elise prior to its launch in 1996. Ever since, it has become the Holy Grail of the Lotus fraternity and every year there is pilgrimage of one form or other.

Credit for the Lotus annual Stelvio event has to be given to Tony Chorly, as it was his inspiration that kicked off the first Stelvio Tour in 1999. The early 'Tony-organised' tours were by invitation only, generally over a two-week period and always included the Stelvio Pass. Whether by choice or by coincidence, the Stelvio day was always the Friday of the second week in September. As news of Tony’s Stelvio trip started to seep out into the wider Lotus community, European Lotus owners, Italian, German, French and a few from the UK, started to meet up with Tony’s tour at the top of Stelvio.

SELOC, of which Tony was a member, was an enthusiastic follower of Tony’s trips and in 2003 the first SELOC Stelvio one-weeker was planned, organised by Rob Clarke. Known as ‘SELOC -Stelvio or Bust’, it was open to all interested SELOC members and was planned to coincide with Tony’s tour so that both groups could meet up at the top of Stelvio. This started a long run of annual SELOC organised one week trips. In some years a second week was added on to the first and in other years, the two week trip was quite separate, only joining up for a few days with the one weekers.

A number of SELOC members have organised the runs over the years, Nikki Robertson, Kevin "Irish" Groves, Ben Rye, Richard Hermida to mention a few and many, many more have contributed to make the events the un-doubtable success they have always been.

2009 was for many a watershed year. The event was becoming so popular that there were thirty odd cars from the UK alone which made the logistics and organisation a nightmare. It was also the first year where there were two serious incidents. Two of the cars from the group were involved in accidents on the same day which thankfully didn't involve any other cars, Lotus or otherwise, and neither of the two drivers were hurt. However, it did put a dampener on the event, along with unwanted Police interest. What followed the following day was probably one of the biggest Stelvio brag stories of all times, where the 30 Lotus’s were given a police escort, with both cars and helicopters, out of Germany to France.

What was very apparent, was large Stelvio groups were just not practicable and consequently sub groups were formed which ran their own trips over the following years. The Toad Group probably being the most notable and steadfast to the cause of all the splinter groups.

Toadsters have developed these trips in somewhat of an art-form and have always kept to 'the mountain passes, where the roads are twisty’ as the key theme but have broken away from the Stelvio Pass to pastures-new, to add variety. 

This has included a re enactment of the Mille Miglia, culminating in a run though Rome city centre, the Italian Job, trips to the Milau Bridge, Nice, the GrossGlockner pass in Austria and to the Pyrenees.

The early trips where based on route books and as Sat Nav became more and more reliable, TomTom became the work horse from a navigation standpoint.

All the Stelvio runs have been Hotel based every night, so a wide catalogue of Trip Hotels has been developed over the years from the cheap but comfortable to the medium priced and very comfortable, all with good car parking facilities and a well stocked bar.

So what contributes to the magic and allure of the Stelvio trips. Certainly the cars, the roads, the scenery and, in the main, blue sky Alpine days but what makes them truly memorable are the friends and comradery that are built up over that short week.  People from completely different backgrounds, all with the passion for Lotus and driving, will become life long friends. There are few activities I have experienced in my life that bring people together in such a way.