Lotus Launches ‘Us Lot Sessions’ Podcast
Season 1 guests include Ant Anstead, Magnus Walker, Matt Farah, the Goblin Works Garage team and other famous Lotus owners and fans.
Last year Lotus launched the Us Lot Podcast as part of a drive to enhance internal communications across the company. Now, to keep in touch with performance car fans around the world affected by social distancing and self-isolation, the podcast is relaunched as a new public service broadcast from Lotus titled US Lot Sessions.
Season 1: Episode 1 is now available for download, with six more episodes to follow in the coming weeks. Each is hosted by Rob Borrett, Lotus’s P.R. Manager, who is joined in conversation with a special guest each episode.
Episode 1 was recorded at Hethel, U.K., the home of Lotus since 1966, at the end of last year and before the current global situation. Borrett is joined by Gavan Kershaw, Director of Product Integrity for Lotus. Kershaw is the test driver who helped shape the performance of Lotus’ cars for over 30 years and the mastermind behind the TV show Top Gear.
The podcast starts in dramatic fashion, with Kershaw explaining vehicle dynamics to Borrett … at more than 120mph on Hethel’s iconic 2.2-mile circuit. In the coming six episodes, two a week on a Tuesday and Thursday, listeners can look forward to hearing from:
- Ant Anstead: TV’s Master Mechanic host (pictured in top image with his Lotus Elite Type 14) reveals how a Lotus Elise saved his life
- Magnus Walker: Sheffield-born “L.A. Urban Outlaw” car collector (pictured below) shares stories of Lotus ownership
- Matt Farah: host of The Smoking Tire podcast chats about driving Lotus cars, including a road trip around California
- Helen Stanley and Ant Partridge: Goblin Works Garage hosts (pictured above) highlight which Lotus they would modify and why
- GF Williams: London-based auto photographer explains why his Lotus Exige has its own social media following
- Alex Goy: British auto journalist talks about taking his Lotus on a recent trip to the famous Mount Panorama circuit
“The Us Lot title is derived from the company name,” explains Lotus in a press statement. “Lotus founder Colin Chapman referred to his earliest employees as ‘us lot’ and as a term of affection, it has grown to encompass not just the staff, but customers, retailers, fans and the extended Lotus family around the world. Adding to the legend, it has been suggested that Colin rearranged the letters to name his company Lotus.”
With the Kershaw interview already completed but the Hethel site closed from March 24, Borrett recorded the remainder of Season 1 in his home garage the following week.
“With exciting new products such as the Evija all-electric hypercar on the way, Lotus is on an amazing journey,” says Borrett (pictured below, right, with Gavan Kershaw on the left). “But as a Communications team, we’re restricted in telling that story at the moment. So, I thought we should expand the Us Lot podcast platform that we launched last year for our employees, and so the Us Lot Sessions was born.”
Raiding the pages of his contacts book, Borrett quickly pulled together an eclectic mix of Lotus owners, fans, collectors, and people from the auto world who declare their love and respect for the brand’s exciting past, present, and future.
The Us Lot Sessions podcast is available to download at the following links:
Photos: Lotus; Porsche; Chris Frosin; Ant Anstead
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