Lotus Co-Founder Hazel Chapman Dies At 94

Most people associate Lotus with the late great Colin Chapman, but it was a race team and motorcar company that he co-founded with his wife Hazel Chapman. Earlier in the day, the 94-year-old Hazel Chapman passed away. 

Notably, Hazel Chapman met her husband at a dance in 1944 and she married him in 1954. The Lotus Mark 1 was built around an Austin 7 chassis in a lockup garage at the rear of Hazel Chapman's parent's house in Hornsey, North London in 1948. She herself took over the development of the Mark 2 which had a Ford engine when her husband had been commissioned into the Royal Airforce. 

After the formation of the Lotus organisation in 1952, she took a seat on the boards of a number of its companies including the F1 team. She played a matriarchal role in the success of the F1 team which won 6 world driver's championships and 7 constructor's crowns through the 1960s and 70s.

She became the matriarch of the brand after the death of her iconic husband in 1982

Her tenure yielded some of F1's greatest driver's including the late great Jim Clark, Graham Hill (father of Damon Hill), Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, and Nigel Mansell, and the late great Ayrton Senna from the 80s. 

When her husband died in 1982 she was instrumental in getting the company new investment to secure its future with a sale of equity to a group led by British Car Auctions. The F1 team remained in the ownership of the family till 1990 and after its demise in 1994, Hazel became the director of the Classic Team Lotus. 

"This is a very sad day for everyone around the world associated with Lotus. Without Hazel Chapman there would be no Lotus," said Matt Windle, the MD of Lotus Cars.