Claus Luthe

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Claus Johannes Luthe (born December 8, 1932 in Wuppertal ; † March 17, 2008 in Munich ) was a German automobile designer . He designed important models for the German automobile manufacturers NSU (later Audi) and BMW and is considered one of the most important automobile designers of the 20th century.

Probably the most famous design by Claus Luthe: The NSU Ro 80

Life

As a trained master body builder, Claus Luthe initially worked for the body construction company Voll in Würzburg , where he a. a. Omnibuses designed. After a short stopover at NSU-Fiat , where he u. a. helped design the front of the Fiat Nuova 500 , he went to NSU , where he built up the design department and headed it from 1967. In 1976 he succeeded Paul Bracq as Head of Design at BMW .

In April 1990, after an argument, Luthe killed his then 33-year-old son Ulrich, who was addicted to alcohol and pills. At the end of a trial in which he was examined by the psychiatrist Henning Saß , he was sentenced in December 1990 to two years and nine months imprisonment for manslaughter in a minor case . However, the warrant was soon suspended and Luthe was released. He agreed with BMW to take early retirement; however, he remained a free advisor. Chris Bangle was appointed as his successor .

vehicles

The most famous cars that Claus Luthe designed in the 1960s were

  • the second generation of the NSU Prinz , for which he borrowed from the design of the Chevrolet Corvair in order to rob the Prinz of its original small car appearance,
  • the NSU Wankel Spider ,
  • the then revolutionary NSU Ro 80 , which is still considered a milestone in automotive design today (1967),
  • as well as the VW K 70 (originally NSU K70).

After NSU was taken over by Volkswagenwerk AG , the K70 came onto the market as Volkswagen in a modified form.

Luthe worked at Audi NSU Auto Union AG from 1971 to 1976 , where he designed a. a .:

The Audi 80 B2 was significantly modified after leaving Audi NSU.

As head of the design department at BMW, Luthe designed, mostly in collaboration with Ercole Spada :

  • the second generation of the 5 series ( E28 ),
  • the second and third generation of the 3 series ( E30 and E36 )
  • the second generation of the 7 series ( E32 )
  • the 8 Series Coupé ( E31 ) and
  • the model of the third 5 series ( BMW E34 ).

NSU (1956–1971)

AUDI NSU (1971-1976)

BMW (1976–1990)

swell

  1. ↑ a b Gisela Friedrichsen: “I found that to be good” , Der Spiegel 50/1990, pp. 112–114.
  2. ↑ Thilo Bode: Just one word too many. Guilty: a middle-class family , Die Zeit 51/1990.
  3. ^ Father of the legendary "NSU Ro 80" died , Die Welt from March 21, 2008.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Luthe, Claus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luthe, Claus Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrial designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Wuppertal
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 2008
Place of death Munich