• Running through the centre of Lotus’ Norfolk sports car HQ, new road officially named in honour of Lotus co-founder
• Chapman family planted a Maidenhair tree in celebration of Hazel, who passed away in December 2021
• Children of nearby Wreningham VC Primary School took part and planted more trees

The event was led by Matt Windle, Group Vice-President and Managing Director of Lotus Cars, and Hazel and Colin’s grandchildren. It included the ceremonial unveiling of a road sign and the planting of a Maidenhair Tree (Gingko biloba), chosen as a particular favourite of Hazel’s.

It was followed by the planting of 10 trees in an area of land adjacent to the famous Hethel test track which, in time, will become a small woodland. The work was carried out by children from the nearby Wreningham VC Primary School. Earlier they had participated in a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) challenge run by the Lotus Learning Academy, where they designed, built and ran their own model cars.

STEAM activities to inspire the next generation, and a commitment to improving the local area through the planting of trees, are initiatives aligned to Driving Change, the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Charter which Lotus published last year.

Hazel Chapman Way runs alongside the all-new Lotus Retail Centre and staff restaurant, recently completed as part of the ongoing transformation of the Hethel site. The road is flanked by a number of trees including maples, poplars, willows and cherries, planted to follow the site’s horticultural and landscaping plan conceived nearly 60 years ago by Hazel Chapman herself.

On display for the distinguished guests to view was the current range of new Lotus performance cars – the Emira, the last Lotus petrol-powered sports car and the best of breed; the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar; and the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV.

By contrast, with them was the original Lotus Mk 3 from 1951 – the second oldest Lotus car in existence, which was built by Colin and Hazel Chapman and raced competitively by them in the early 1950s.

Matt Windle commented: “Lotus is indebted to Hazel Chapman and we are delighted to help celebrate her life and legacy in this small way. The Hethel site is such a wonderful place to work, surrounded by fields in the heart of south Norfolk. Today we’ve added to that natural landscape with the planting of new trees that will further enhance our environment.”

Clive Chapman, Director of Classic Team Lotus and son of Colin and Hazel Chapman, added: “We are very grateful to Lotus for this dedication of Hazel Chapman Way, at the heart of the Hethel site, which is so appropriate. Our family is delighted to see how the Lotus legacy that Colin and Hazel Chapman started 75 years ago is also being nurtured and cared for by its shareholders. On behalf of all my family, we thank Lotus very much for this lovely honour being bestowed on Hazel today.”

The dedication of Hazel Chapman Way coincided with the birthdays of Colin Chapman (19 May) and of Hazel Chapman (21 May).

The show took place outdoors, under the watchful eye of the iconic Helios statue in the circular central courtyard at BBC Studios, London. It was just down the corridor from where the seated audience of more than 200 VIPs were watching on screen.

The film starts in black and white, focused on a glitterball at a 1940s tea dance where a young Colin Chapman first met Hazel Williams, his future wife. It moves through the development of his first vehicle, the foundation of the Lotus business and its early motorsport success. Next up were the legendary Formula 1 wins, plus the new road cars of the 1970s and 1980s, the Elite and Excel, showcasing Lotus’ desire to develop more practical four-seater cars aimed at families.

For the 1990s, Elisa Artioli – both young and older – had a role in the story as the inspiration for the name of the Type 111, the Lotus Elise.  Moving through the millennium, the film shows how Lotus built the Tesla Roadster at Hethel and how it’s now the only car in space. The production ended with Matt Windle, Managing Director of Lotus Cars, presenting the Lotus Evija, the world’s most powerful production car.

The show got a great reaction from the live studio audience and thousands watching online, but how was it all pulled together?

• The show had a cast of 22 people, 12 dancers from the Laine Theatre Arts School in Surrey, plus another 10 actors playing key characters from Lotus’ past.

• Originally the plan was to re-create a series of scenes, but once the BBC Studios were confirmed as the venue, the idea of a one-take film was proposed.

• The creative team sat with Clive Chapman, the son of Colin and Hazel Chapman, to get his input on the script. Several elements including the hat-throw, using Hazel as inspiration for the logo and the meeting of Colin and Hazel at a dance came from that session.

• Clive lent the production the Austin Seven, the Lotus Type 72, the Lotus Eleven and several other props.

• Rehearsals started 15 days before the show in a very unglamorous west London warehouse. The rehearsal space was much smaller than the Helios, so the production was split into seven sections which were then linked once the team was on site.

• The camera operator, Damian Watson, joined the cast from day one for rehearsals – a very unusual step – and played a central role in the choreography of the sequence.

• Rehearsals were filmed each day and then edited together for key staff to review and make notes.

• During rehearsals, pop band Little Mix were in the studio next door. They could be heard through the wall whenever the Lotus team paused their music.

• Custom elements of the set, including the trophy cabinet and the inside of Colin and Hazel’s house, were designed and built to be pulled apart to allow the camera operator to get through the gaps. Period props were hired from three different suppliers.

• Wardrobe designer Hannah Wing created custom costumes which allowed the actors to be layered up for several scenes. Each layer was secured with magnets, allowing the cast to rip off the top layer as they completed one scene and moved to the next.

• On the first rehearsal day, the planned lunch didn’t arrive for the crew. The production team led 15 of the cast down to a nearby McDonalds to order catering for 40 people and created a massive traffic jam outside the drive-through!

Starting and finishing each day in the Alpine resort village of Mount Buller, the event is run Friday to Sunday. Teams cover just over 900km, of which roughly a third are driven at speed on those closed roads.

THC is the mid-point of the three-round Motorsport Australia Targa Championship, which commences with Targa Great Barrier Reef – held in Cairns in September – and concludes at Targa Tasmania in April.

THC isn’t just about competitive racing. An equally important component is the Targa Tour, which allows people to experience the thrill of spirited driving on closed public roads without the pressures of competition.

Lotus Cars Australia and Simply Sports Cars have been supporting customers participating in Targa events for more than a decade. What started with one competition car at Targa Tasmania in 2012 grew to 49 cars – competition and the Tour – at the THC 2022, staged in February.

After months of lockdown, it was no surprise to see a record number of Lotus cars on the start list, with 27 in the Tour plus a further 11 in competition. A further 11 non-Lotus cars were entered in the Tour, bringing the total under Lotus Cars Australia / Simply Sports Cars management to 49 cars – the most ever.

With each requiring two occupants (driver and co-driver), and Simply Sports Cars providing eight support crew for the event, a total of 106 people had to be accommodated, fed, watered and supported. It’s a huge logistical exercise for the Lotus Cars Australia team.

For many, Targa is and always will be about the competition. This year we had teams entered in two competition classes.

• GT Sports Trophy – a maximum permitted speed of 130km/h
• GT Outright – a maximum permitted speed of 200km/h

To be competitive you need a lightweight agile car that can accelerate fast, is capable of late-braking into corners and can carry its speed to power out of the curve. Sound familiar? Sounds like a Lotus.

The results sheet definitely suggests a Lotus is the car to have, with the first seven places of the GT Sports Trophy competition going to Lotus teams. This is the second year running that Lotus has completed a podium lockout. The class was won by the team of Matthew Gibbens and Tim Jurd in their Exige Sport 410. They were closely followed by Steve Sher and Fergal Murphy in their Exige S, then Rob Bryden and Ian Noble, also in an Exige Sport 410. The top three were separated by less than 90 seconds after three days of competitive driving.

The stage is now set for an exciting Targa Tasmania. Gibbens and Jurd will be out to claim their second victory, having won in 2021. If they do they will be odds-on to secure their first ever Motorsport Australia Targa Championship. They won’t have it easy though – there will be plenty of Lotus cars chasing them!

If you are wondering how much fun it is being on a Lotus Targa Tour, the following feedback from one customer sums up the experience.

“Awesome, brilliant, amazing – just some of the accolades I can think of. Lotus Cars Australia and Simply Sports Cars, thank you so much, your hard work is incredible, you brought to life an event experience that I’ll never forget. Friends made, laughs had, and the opportunity of participating has done more than tick something off my ‘bucket list’.  It’s resulted in the bucket being emptied and refilled… with just more Targa please!”

It’s been an exiting year for Lotus fans and despite the challenges, Lotus have been working hard to carry on and develop a group of new cars along with finalising the production of the Elise, Exige and Evora. We’ve seen the Emira, we’ve been teased on Type 132 and the Evija is making progress to customer builds. The factory has expanded the USLot team with another 250 staff throughout the year, many of whom and training to be soon building the Emira and Aftersales has launched a range of new products and merchandise for us owners and enthusiasts.

In the video above, Lotus’ Managing Director, Matt Windle gives us some further insight into the year that was and we join him in wishing all Lotus owners, enthusiasts and visitors to TLF our seasonal greetings and best wishes for 2022.

The 4.2 litre quad cam Ford runs on Methanol and makes a mighty roar.  Aaron Banks has been helping Lewis in the final stages; watch out for those flames, Aaron!

The plan is to run 38/8S at the forthcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed, to be driven by Jeff Downes of CanAm Cars.  Jeff would be happy to stand aside for Damon Hill, if he fancies a go in his father’s Lotus Indy car from 1967.

To watch the full video head over to their YouTube channel or click on the link below: