According to the article article “Will 1965 be the Year? The Development History of the Biggest Lotus”, Motor, 10 Jun. 1965, two Lotus 30s were delivered to Bob Challman of Ecurie Shirlee Distribution Corp., 2409 Sepulveda Blvd., Manhattan Beach, California. Bob was the exclusive distributor for Lotus Cars throughout the western United States during the mid-1960s.
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Chassis No.
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Last Known Owner |
| 1964 – Bob Challman (CA, U.S.A.)
(“B. Challman – Team Lotus” as shown on the scanned Lotus 30 Chassis List.) 1964 – Raced by Bill Krause (CA, U.S.A.) 1964 Oct 17 – SCCA Laguna Seca Regional, Car #28, Winner1964 Oct 18 – Laguna Seca 200 Miles, Car #28, 10th (DNF) – Heat 1: 4th, Heat 2:22nd (DNF) [1]http://www.racingsportscars.com/type/archive/Lotus/30.html Retreived 2015-Aug-15 1965 – 1966 – Occasionally raced by Bob Challman (CA, U.S.A.) |
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| 1964 – Bob Challman (CA, U.S.A.)
1964 Oct 11 – To be raced by Mike Spence at the Riverside 200 Times GP. Spence was unable to qualify the car. The car was marked “Ecurie Shirlee – Team Lotus” on the side. 1964 Oct 11 – John Masterson (CA, U.S.A.) 1964 Oct 17 – SCCA Laguna Seca Regional, DNF 1964 Oct 18 – Laguna Seca 200 Miles, Car #222. DNQ – Raced and crashed in consolation race. [2]http://www.racingsportscars.com/type/archive/Lotus/30.html Retreived 2015-Aug-15 1966 – converted into PAM Lotus 30, raced by Dick Guldstrand. |
Gene deRuelle wrote an excellent article on his experiences at Bob Challman’s Ecurie Shirlee. Bob had been working in Southern California’s film industry, and finding himself unemployed, he took a job at Ecurie Shirlee.
Gene wrote an excellent and fascinating article, “Memories of a Curmudgeon”, about his time at Ecurie Shirlee for the Lotus Elite World Register newsletter. Gene had two passages about the Lotus 30s that were delivered to Challman’s dealership –
“I guess the two visits the factory people and Jimmy Clark for the Times Grand Prix at Riverside had to be the biggest ego shattering events Bob had to suffer. The first visit was by Jimmy Clark and a couple of factory types, but Jimmy wasn’t set to drive anything from our shop. He was scheduled to drive a Ferrari for Frank Arciero. Bob sensed that Clark needed a backup, but he couldn’t affors any big iron, so he acquired a used 23B from a private party and we all pitched in to alter the driving position to fit Jimmy. As it turned out, Arciero’s Ferrari blew up, Jimmy drove the 23B to 4th overall and first in under 2 liter. Bob never received much credit for that and I know it hurt him. The second visit was even worse.
“For the second visit the factory sent over two Lotus 30’s and a team of mechanics for drivers Jimmy Clark and Mike Spence. They treated Challman like he was a leper. I guess they figured he had nothing much to contribute so they treated him just that way. Jimmy made a trip to the showroom for pictures and all, and both he and Mike Spence were really fun and wonderful people, but they pretty much stayed with their own. I know Challman really wanted to be in the mix, but I don’t think it worked out that way. “[3]http://lotuseliteworldregister.com/Newsletters/EliteJournal/LotusEliteJournal_vol_3_no_1.pdf
The present whereabouts of these cars are unknown.
Last Updated on August 29, 2015 by
References