Anatole Lapine

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Anatole Carl Lapine (born May 23, 1930 in Riga , Latvia ; † April 29, 2012 in Baden-Baden ) was an automobile designer and, during his time as chief designer at Porsche, designed the transaxle models in the 1970s.

Life

Anatole Lapine became famous for the design of the Porsche 928
Opel Rekord C Black Widow , replica of Opel Classic

After the end of the Second World War, he learned to be a car mechanic at Daimler-Benz in Hamburg . Afterwards he attended the Wagenbauschule. In 1951, Lapine began his professional career at General Motors in body advance development. After 14 years in the USA, he returned to Germany in 1965 and took over the management of the research center at Opel .

During this time Lapine was responsible for the secret development of a racing version of the Opel Rekord C , which became known as the Black Widow . This vehicle was used in races by Erich Bitter and Niki Lauda , among others . Shortly before his death, he contributed to the replica of this no longer existing vehicle. He worked on the successor to the original 911.

On April 15, 1969, Lapine became chief designer at Porsche and held this position until 1988. During this time, the front-engine models 924 , 928 and 944 were developed under his leadership . These sports cars, some of which were controversial when they were launched because of their design, are now considered classics.

He also designed the shape of the so-called G series of the Porsche 911 . The bellows on the bumpers and the baffles of the American version go back to Lapine like the matt black window frames and door handles, the elimination of chrome jewelry and the rear spoiler framed by black rubber.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Opel blog: Black widow - like a phoenix from the ashes , entry from July 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ Auto, Motor and Sport: Anatole Carl Lapine - Former Porsche chief designer has died. From: www.auto-motor-und-sport.de , May 2, 2012, accessed on May 9, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Dr. Ing.hc F. Porsche AG: One icon, four designers. From: newsroom.porsche.com , June 4, 2014, accessed June 10, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Lapine, Anatole
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lapine, Anatole Carl (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German automobile designer
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvia
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 2012
Place of death Baden-Baden , Germany