12 September 1995, Frankfurt. On this windy and rainy day, in a blog and vlog free era, the IAA or Frankfurt Motor Show opened its doors to journalists. At some point during that day they assembled at the Lotus stand to witness the uncovering of Julian Thomson’s new born. After the chassis had been revealed, from under a ‘I am Elise’ cloth on a rotating platform, three year old Elisa, granddaughter of Lotus owner Romano Artioli and name giver of the Elise, appeared in the brand new Lotus Elise concept car. The rest is history as they say.

25 years later, Bends and Curves road tripping and Elisa’s and Joerg Uhr’s Delightful Driving teamed up to organise ‘Stelvio 2020 – Elise 25th Anniversary’ road trip. After two days of driving the best roads in the Dolomites and Italian Alpes, on 12 September nearly 90 Lotus sports cars drove up and down Stelvio pass, to pay respect to the Lotus team that designed, built and tested the Elise. And to have fun and to make memories. Loads of fun, the best of memories.

Memories of these days still put smiles on participants faces. It was brilliant.