Claude Lobo (20 August 1943 – 3 June 2011) was an automotive designer who served in various design positions at

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

over 32 years, playing a prominent role in designing Ford automobiles including the

Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...

(Mk I),

Mercury Cougar Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times during ...

(Mk VII),

Ford Ka The Ford Ka is a small car manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1996 to 2016 as a city car and from 2016 to 2021 as a subcompact car. It entered its second generation in 2008, produced by Fiat in Tychy, Poland. A third generation was introduced ...

(Mk I) and

Ford Focus The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...

(Mk I) – while pioneering innovations including the development of

Computer Aided Design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

. Born in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1943, Lobo studied at the city's Technical College and the Academy of Applied Arts.

Career at Ford

After designing for an electric appliance company and later for Chrysler-Simca, Lobo joined

Ford of Germany Ford-Werke GmbH is a German car manufacturer headquartered in Niehl (Köln), Niehl, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, which operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a ...

in 1966, as a designer. In 1967, Lobo became Manager of Exterior Design at what became

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

, where he held a number of senior design posts, including assignments in small, medium and large car and truck design – and became chief designer of Advanced Program Definition and Computer Aided Design (CAD) in 1987. In 1994, Lobo became Director of Ford Motor Company's Advanced Design Studio in Dearborn, Michigan, leading development of several concept vehicles including the

Ford Indigo The Ford Indigo is a concept car developed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 1996 auto show circuit and designed by Ford's design and technical director Claude Lobo. Only two examples were built, of which only one was actually fun ...

, Synergy 2010 and the Mercury MC4. Lobo continued to assist with further implementation of Computer Aided Design technology at Ford, e.g., coordinating the CAD system at Ford with advanced model-milling

CNC Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a p ...

machinery as well as coordinating the CAD systems between Ford and its subsidiary

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

. Lobo returned to Ford of Europe in 1997 as Director of Design, where he was responsible for the development of the European Car of the Year, the Mk I

Ford Ka and Focus

As chief designer on the Ford Ka, Lobo has spoken about his original role, influences on the design, the importance at the time of creating an enduring design, and how the design aged: Regarding the design of the Focus, Lobo was a smoker and located the ashtray high on the instrument panel, enabling the driver to use the ashtray without removing his hands from the steering wheel.

Retirement and personal life

Lobo retired in 1999 at age 55 from

. Shortly thereafter, in 2000, he created the

Concours d'Elegance ''Concours d'Elegance'' ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, whe ...

d´Automobiles Classiques de Bergerac with Nicole and Jean Descamps. Lobo continued to participate in both internal Ford design competitions, as well as design competitions outside the company, e.g. the 2003 Grand Concours International du Design Automobile,

Lille, France Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

. Lobo had been a professional race car driver in the early 1970s, winning the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

sports car race and the Marathon de la Route driving a

RS with

Klaus Ludwig Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver. Biography He also known as ''König Ludwig'' ("King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car racing. In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche R ...

. Lobo also competed in the

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 ...

, – and had been known drive a

Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which wo ...

as his personal vehicle. Lobo was married and father of two children, Alexandre and Nathalie.

References

External links

Ford Ka Retrospective

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobo, Claude 1943 births 2011 deaths Engineers from Paris Ford designers French automobile designers