Anatole Carl "Tony" Lapine (born 23 May 1930 in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
, Latvia, died 29 April 2012 in Baden-Baden, Germany) was an automotive designer and racing driver. Lapine worked for
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
(GM),
Opel
Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...
, and
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...
. During his time as chief designer at Porsche he oversaw development of the front-engined, water-cooled
928
Year 928 ( CMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* King Rudolph I loses the support of Herbert II, count of Vermandois, who controls the ...
,
924
__NOTOC__
Year 924 ( CMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Forces led by Simeon I, ruler (''knyaz'') ...
and
944 that began to appear in the mid to late 1970s, as well as two revisions to the
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and ori ...
.
Biography
Early years
Lapine's earliest years were spent living in Riga, the capital of Latvia. His family fled Latvia during WWII, going first to
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
, Poland in 1941, then to a village near
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
, Germany in 1944.
In 1950 he apprenticed at
Daimler-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactu ...
in Hamburg. Afterwards he attended the Hamburg Wagenbauschule (Hamburg College of Motor Vehicle Studies).
In 1951 the family relocated again, this time to the US. They settled in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United ...
, where Lapine earned a living repairing locomotives and trains.
Shortly after this Lapine moved to Detroit, Michigan looking for work.
General Motors
Fisher Body
In 1951 Lapine began his professional career at GM. He had applied for a job at GM Research, but reported to the wrong location and soon found himself working in the body development department at
Fisher Body
Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. A division of General Motors for many years, in 1984 it was dissolved to form other General Motors divisions. Fisher & Company (originally All ...
due to his experience with Daimler-Benz.
His first job at GM was creation of a seating buck for the 1954 Cadillac.
Studio X
In the mid-1950s, at the instigation of
Harley Earl
Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first top executive ever ...
and the direction of
Clare MacKichan
Clare M. "Mac" MacKichan (/mækˈkiː.kæn/, March 10, 1918 – February 10, 1996) was an automotive designer and executive with General Motors (GM). He is best known for designing or overseeing the design of several significant models for the ...
, Lapine followed
Robert Cumberford
Robert Wayne Cumberford (born August 4, 1935) is a former automotive designer for General Motors, author and design critic – widely known as Automotive Design Editor and outspoken columnist for ''Automobile'' magazine.
Examples of ...
to "Studio X",
Bill Mitchell's clandestine design studio.
One of Lapine's first projects at Studio X was the design of the
Corvette SS, working with Cumberford and
Zora Arkus-Duntov
Zora Arkus-Duntov (December 25, 1909 – April 21, 1996) was a Belgian-born American engineer whose work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette." He is sometimes erroneously referred to as the inventor of the Co ...
.
The Corvette SS mule was later bought by Mitchell, who planned to use it as a basis for project XP-87, which later evolved into the 1959
Stingray racer.
Lapine worked on the Stingray racer with
Larry Shinoda
Lawrence Kiyoshi (Larry) Shinoda (March 25, 1930 – November 13, 1997) was a noted American automotive designer who was best known for his work on the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang.
Early life and internment
He was born in Los Angeles, ...
.
At roughly the same time as the XP-87/Stingray racer was taking shape,
Ed Cole was promoting an idea for a future GM car platform called the Q-Chevrolet. The defining feature was to be a front-mounted engine with a rear-mounted transaxle, a configuration that would figure prominently in some of Lapine's later projects.
A design for a Q-Corvette was drawn up, with hopes that it would become a reality, but the project foundered.
After the Stingray racer, Lapine served as studio engineer for the 1963
Corvette Sting Ray production model. He also contributed to several concept cars and projects, including both the
Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT
The Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT (XP-777) was a mid-engined experimental prototype automobile built in 1962 and based on the early model Chevrolet Corvair series. As it was essentially a concept car, the Monza GT did not enter production.
Design a ...
and Corvair Monza SS cars, working again with Shinoda, and the
CERV I and CERV II prototypes with both Shinoda and Arkus-Duntov.
During this time Lapine met
Wolfgang Möbius, a designer on a temporary assignment to the United States from GM's German subsidiary Opel.
Lapine also met GM designer Jeanette Lea Krebs.
The couple married in 1957, and went on to have three children; Klaus, Hans and Inge.
Opel
On 10 March 1962 MacKichan was transferred to Opel for a five-year term. In 1965 Lapine was also transferred to Opel to oversee the Research Center at
Rüsselsheim am Main
Rüsselsheim am Main is the largest city in the Groß-Gerau district in the Rhein-Main region of Germany. It is one of seven special status cities (implementing several functions that counties normally provide) in Hessen and is located on the M ...
. It was here that he established a secret "
skunkworks" studio of his own, and built a variety of experimental cars using Opel parts.
Lapine led the secret development of a racing version of the
Opel Rekord C, which became known as the "Black Widow" and was raced by
Erich Bitter and
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
. The car was originally called "the Taxi" because Lapine had put a taxi sign on the roof of the car.
Shortly before his death, he helped construct a replica of the original car.
Lapine also contributed to the final shape of the
Opel GT
The Opel GT is a front-engine, rear-drive two-seat sports car manufactured and marketed by Opel in two generations — separated by a 34-year hiatus.
The first generation Opel GT (1968 –1973) debuted as a styling exercise in 1965 at the Pa ...
.
On one occasion, members of the Porsche and Piëch families were invited to visit Opel.
Porsche was interested in observing the GM subsidiary's interplay between styling and engineering, and in seeing Opel's Design Center, which corresponded to Porsche's
Weissach
Weissach is a municipality in the district of Böblingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
The Weissach axle is named after the town, where the research centre of Porsche is located. The Porsche 918 Spyder supercar was developed in Weissach; Po ...
facility under construction at the time. Lapine was a part of the tour, and weeks after the visit was offered a position with Porsche.
Porsche
Road cars
On 15 April 1969, Lapine became chief designer at Porsche.
Accompanying Lapine in moving from Opel to Porsche were Wolfgang Möbius,
Dick Soderberg, and chief modeler Peter Reisinger.
One of Lapine's first major projects to reach production at Porsche was a redesign of the iconic Porsche 911, even though Lapine was not necessarily a fan of the model.
His redesign resulted in the 1974
G-series 911. Challenged by new safety legislation in the US, Lapine incorporated the bumpers behind distinctive accordion/bellows covers and refreshed the shape with a trend setting black-on-body-color trim style.
Facing the possibility that future American legislation would spell the end of the 911 in that market, Lapine headed up the project he is most closely associated with; the
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 is a luxury grand tourer produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 until 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 combined the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort ...
. The principal designer of the car was Möbius, but Lapine oversaw and guided the car's development.
The 928 was Porsche's interpretation of an American performance car, and drew on Lapine's experience at GM.
The 928 has, in fact, been called the "German Corvette".
More than one comparison has been made between the 928 and Lapine's work on the C2 Corvette and the earlier Corvette specials.
Apart from his history at GM, Lapine revealed that the shape of the 928 had been influenced by the
Chevrolet Testudo
The Chevrolet Testudo is a concept car built by Bertone on a modified Chevrolet Corvair Monza platform. The name comes from the Latin word for "Turtle". The car debuted at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show.
History
General Motors (GM) Vice President ...
, designed by
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont.
Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...
while at
Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include:
* Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon
* Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...
.
Two other "transaxle cars" were also developed under Lapine's aegis. The
Porsche 924
The Porsche 924 is a sports car produced by Porsche in Neckarsulm, Germany,from 1976 until 1988. A two-door, 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the Porsche 912, 912E and Porsche 914, 914 as the company's entry-level model.
Altho ...
began life as project EA425 for Volkswagen, and was drawn by designer
Harm Lagaay
Harm Lagaay (born Harm Lagaaij, 28 December 1946, The Hague) is a Dutch automobile designer. Educated in the Netherlands he completed the studies at the IVA and went to work for a Dutch company Olyslager in Soest, Netherlands, Soest.
In the la ...
. Development started after the 928, but was accelerated by VW as the paying customer so that the car reached the market in 1976, one year before the 928. The 1982
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1982 until 1991. A front-engine, rear-wheel drive mid-level model based on the 924 platform, the 944 was available in coupé or cabriolet body styles, w ...
was developed from the 924.
The Gruppe B prototype that appeared at the September 1983 Frankfurt Auto Show was designed under Lapine's oversight. Dick Soderberg produced the shape. The body's shape was used for the
Porsche 959
The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1986 to 1993, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring at least 2 ...
.
Helmuth Bott, Porsche's Executive Vice-president for Research and Development, built a one-off tribute to the 1955
Porsche Speedster
The Porsche 356 is a sports car that was first produced by Austrian company Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH (1948–1949), and then by German company Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (1950–1965). It was Porsche's first production automobile. E ...
of his own in 1983. By 1986 he had gotten
Peter Schutz
Peter Werner Schutz (April 20, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was the president and CEO of Porsche between 1981 and 1987, a time in which the company greatly expanded sales, primarily in the United States. He was a motivational speaker and co-foun ...
's approval for a factory version with modern mechanicals, with Lapine doing the design. The 911 Speedster went into limited production in 1989.
The last project overseen by Lapine was the Type 964, released in 1989.
The 964 was instantly recognizable as the next model in the 911 lineage, even though every single panel of the car had been redesigned.
Race cars
Lapine designed the body for the Porsche 917 PA Spyder.
He also created several memorable paint treatments for some of Porsche's racing cars. For the 1970
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
Lapine treated Porsche 917-043 to a bright, flowing, "psychedelic" paint job that earned the car the nickname of the "Hippie" Porsche. The colors were selected by Lapine to represent the irises that were his favorite.
1500 spray cans were used to create the finished look.
Another "Hippie" Porsche was a 917K, serial number 917-021.
For the trio of 908/3 cars fielded alongside the 917s at the 1971 Targa Florio, Lapine used sponsor
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
's traditional colors; a sky blue body and orange stripes, but changed the standard stripes into arrows, and added playing card suit symbols on the right front corner of each car.
Another car that received a unique paint scheme from Lapine was 917-20.
The car had bodywork developed by French firm SERA, who produced a car body with larger radius curves that someone remarked looked like a pig. Lapine painted the car pink, and added dotted lines with names of cuts of pork, giving the car the appearance of a butcher's diagram.
The car was nicknamed "Die Sau" (German for "The Sow"), and the "Pink Pig". It raced at Le Mans in 1971.
Other projects
Lapine was involved in many projects for companies that had come to Porsche for engineering expertise, including some projects unrelated to automobiles.
He was part of a team that consulted on a project in Russia that eventually went to Fiat, and became the
VAZ
AvtoVAZ ( rus, АвтоВАЗ, p=ɐftoˈvas) is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ ( rus, ВАЗ), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (russian: Во́лжский автомо ...
Zhiguli, called the
Lada in export markets.
Lapine also worked on a project to redesign the cockpit of the Airbus A310 aircraft. The company had eliminated the flight engineer's station to free up more space in the fuselage for additional passenger seating. The Porsche team redesigned the controls to allow a two-person crew to handle all functions previously done by three.
Another of Lapine's aviation projects was development of a helicopter airframe for Wagner. He also designed a forklift for
Linde.
To keep his design office busy, Lapine at times intercepted communications meant for other departments, taking those jobs for his own team.
Lapine built a very special MG TC as a personal project. The car used the original MG chassis, with new reproduction aluminum body panels, but with a DOHC inline-4 engine and 5-speed manual transmission from Fiat, a rear axle from an Alfa Romeo, and the same pedals and titanium steering rack used in the Porsche 917.
Later years
Lapine suffered a heart attack in the late 1980s. He moved to Baden-Baden to recuperate, but eventually retired in 1989 rather than return to work.
He was succeeded at Porsche by
Harm Lagaay
Harm Lagaay (born Harm Lagaaij, 28 December 1946, The Hague) is a Dutch automobile designer. Educated in the Netherlands he completed the studies at the IVA and went to work for a Dutch company Olyslager in Soest, Netherlands, Soest.
In the la ...
.
After his recovery Lapine taught classes at Vienna University.
Using his knowledge of fluid dynamics he had an aluminum-hulled yacht built, which he and one of his sons sailed across the Atlantic ocean. He also continued to pursue his interest in music, including the use of his personal professional Pearl drum kit.
Jeanette Lapine returned to the US, settling in
Litchfield, Connecticut
Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorporat ...
, where she died 6 July 2018.
Motorsports
Lapine drove a variety of cars throughout his career as a racing driver, including his wife's new Jaguar XK120, which he totaled. He later raced Volvos, Volkswagen Beetles, a Triumph TR3, and an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
Lapine was co-driver to
Dick Thompson at the 1959
Road America 500
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America (formerly the Road America 500) is a sports car racing, sports car race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event began in 1950, and in 1951 was added to the SCCA National S ...
at
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Elkhart Lake is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, located within the northwestern part of the county within the Town of Rhine. The population was 967 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolit ...
in Bill Mitchell’s XP-87 Stingray Racer.
The car retired after 67 laps.
Testimonials
"Anatole Lapine shaped Porsche sports car design over more than two decades. As a designer he didn’t follow fashion but was forever setting new trends with his concepts." —
Michael Mauer
Michael Mauer (born 1962) is a German automobile designer. He is the Chief Designer at Porsche. He has previously worked for Mercedes-Benz and Saab. Career
Mauer studied design from 1982 to 1986 at the Hochschule Pforzheim. His first job after ...
, Porsche AG Chief Designer, 2004–
"He is, of course, crazy. But that is my problem. One does not expect to ride a fine, spirited horse without some trouble. He is not your average citizen; he is one of the best and that will make anyone unusual." — Dr.
Ernst Fuhrmann
Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann (21 October 1918 – 6 February 1995) was chairman of Porsche AG between 1972 and 1980. He was a German citizen.
Fuhrmann attended primary school in Vienna before progressing to a secondary school. Between 1936 and 1941 he att ...
, Porsche AG Chairman, 1972–1980
Gallery
File:1959 Corvette XP-87 Stingray.jpg, 1959 Corvette XP-87 Stingray
File:Corvair Monza GT.1.jpg, Corvair Monza GT
File:Opel Rekord C Schwarze Witwe.jpg, Opel Rekord C ''Black Widow'' replica
File:1989 Porsche 928 S4 hatchback (27192327901).jpg, Porsche 928 S4
File:2006FOS_1970Porsche917L.jpg, Porsche 917-021 "Hippie"
File:Porsche_917-20_front-left_Porsche_Museum.jpg, Porsche 917-20 "Pink Pig"
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapine, Anatole
Automobile designers
General Motors designers
Opel designers
Latvian designers
1930 births
2012 deaths
Porsche people