This week, on May 21 to be exact, Hazel Chapman turns 94. To describe her as merely ‘Colin Chapman’s wife’ is to do her an incredible disservice - in reality she is the co-founder of Lotus, a successful racing driver, a shrewd businesswoman and the rock upon which the Lotus foundations – since 1948, when the very first Lotus car was made – have been solidly built. Hazel Williams was born on May 21, 1927 in North London. She met Colin Chapman at a dance in 1944 when he was just 16 and she a few months older. They immediately hit it off and Hazel could immediately see something special about her new boyfriend.