The father of the Porsche 928, Anatole "Tony" Lapin dead

Tony Lapine was an apprentice with Daimler-Benz in Hamburg and in 1951, came to the United States to work at General Motors (GM). He eventually became a stylist in Bill Mitchell’s secretive Studio X workshop, and helped design a number of sports flavoured concept cars. While at General Motors, he often paired with designer Larry Shinoda like the iconic 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.

GM transferred Lapine in 1965 to head Opel’s Research Center in Germany, before Porsche recruited him away four years later to become their chief designer. His apprenticeship under Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda, helped broaden Porsche’s (mostly monotonous) styling. While at Porsche, he oversaw design of the 928, 924/944 and of the G-series 911 (1974-1977).

Porsche’s then CEO, Ernst Fuhrmann, understood the 911 alone could not keep the company running and new legislations were made to replace the rear-engined classic with an all-new model. Legislation changes called for new bumpers, which saw the end for delicate chrome bars. Lapine and his team turned the plastic items into prominent styling features with the aesthetics of the 911 G Series turning out to be at the forefront of fashion.

Tweaking the 911 was one matter, but expanding the Porsche form language was a whole new challenge with the 924/944 and 928 models. They were tasked with establishing a vision of Porsche beyond the core model.

The 928, was a thoroughbred, both in a styling and an engineering perspective. Its shape while familiar was not only charismatic and modern, but also timeless. In fact, when production ended in 1995 after 18 years, the 928 didn’t appear outdated besides one crucial flaw. It could never be a 911.

Lapine oversaw two generations of the classic G Series, 964, the 959 supercar and certain transaxle models which has crafted Tony Lapine’s legacy. They serve as an example to new generation designers. Tony Lapine was succeeded by to Harm Lagaay in 1989, after 20 years. He passed away at his retirement home in Baden-Baden/Germany on 29 April 2012, less than a month shy of his 82nd.