Robert Opron

Robert Maurice Jean Opron (born February 22, 1932 in Amiens , France , † March 29, 2021 in Antony , France) was a French automobile designer . With his designs for Simca , Citroën and Renault , he was one of the pioneers of aerodynamically shaped hatchback sedans .

life and work

Opron spent his childhood in Algeria , Mali and Abidjan . From 1952 he studied architecture in France . After working as a draftsman at the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautices du Nord , he began working for Simca in 1957. His first draft in 1959 was the futuristic study “Fulgur” - a nuclear-powered car reminiscent of a flying saucer and a glass dome over the passenger compartment. After his preliminary studies, the Simca 1100 was realized in 1967 as a two-box compact car with a hatchback, the construction of which anticipated design concepts from the VW Golf , among others .

In 1962, Opron began working for Citroën under Flaminio Bertoni and became chief designer after his death in 1964. During this time, Opron worked out numerous proposals for a revision of the Citroën DS . The new front section of this vehicle for the 1967 model year, which is sometimes attributed to him, is not his work, but Bertonis, who hit the fenders on a real DS with a hammer and created this new shape in a few days. The Citroën Ami 8 followed in 1969, followed by the Citroën GS , a mid-size sedan in 1970 , and the spectacular Citroën SM , a sports sedan with a Maserati engine and six headlights behind a glass panel that stretches across the entire width of the vehicle - the SM is considered Opron's masterpiece . The successor to the DS, the very clearly drawn CX , which appeared in 1974 , was also his departure from Citroën. In 1975 the company was taken over by Peugeot and PSA Peugeot Citroën was founded. Opron saw the independence of the design at Citroën in jeopardy and left PSA.

He switched to Renault, where he designed the Fuego , the R25 and also the Alpine GTA . The design of the Espace, which is sometimes attributed to him, is actually the work of Matra designer Antonis Volanis . Test vehicles such as the Vesta II (1984) and the design of the Renault Magnum truck (1990) were also created with Opron's assistance. For Automobiles Ligier , who had already built the Citroën SM, he developed a two-seater microcar, the successor of which is still being built today. He also worked for Fiat .

From 1992 to 2000 Opron worked as a freelance design consultant. In the 1999 election for Car Designer of the Century , Robert Opron was one of the 25 candidates. Was elected Giorgio Giugiaro . From April 2012, Robert Opron was an honorary member of the Citroën SM Club Germany and Citroën-Straße, the association of German Citroën clubs. He died in March 2021 at the age of 89.

Gallery: Cars by Robert Opron

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  Citroën Ami 8

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  Citroën GS (1970)

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  Citroën SM (1970)

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  Citroën CX (1974)

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  Renault Fuego (1980)

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  Renault 25 (1984)

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  Alpine GTA (1984)

literature

• Peter I. Pijlman: Robert Opron, L'automobil et l'art. Sagitta Productions, Rotterdam 2002, ISBN 90-5179-024-4 .
• Niklas Maak: The man who shaped the future : The car designer Robert Opron has been creating sensational, pioneering shapes for 50 years. Still, hardly anyone knows him. A visit. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, September 9, 2007, No. 36, p. 30.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elizabeth Blackstock: Legendary Designer Robert Opron Dies, Aged 89. In: jalopnik.com. April 3, 2021, accessed April 4, 2021 .