Robert Opron, 1932-2021
France’s most celebrated car designer dies
Robert Opron, the designer who shaped generations of iconic French cars and has an arguable claim to be the inventor of the modern hatchback, has died aged 89. An aviation enthusiast, trained architect Opron began his transport design career in 1954, devising aircraft cockpits for Nord Aviation before switching to cars with Simca in 1958. Although aged just 27, he was tasked with designing a limousine for President Charles de Gaulle in 1959. Before Simca’s design department was closed in 1961, Opron sketched an idea for a compact three-door, front-wheeldrive, two-box car. The idea was taken on by Simca and evolved into the 1100, one of the first modern hatchback designs.
Following a brief interlude at the domesticappliance firm Arthur Martin to avoid triggering a non-competition clause, Opron moved to Citroën in 1962, rising to chief stylist following the 1964 death of Flaminio Bertoni. His early work for Citroën included a hatchback 2CV which became the Dyane, and the facelifted DS, incorporating a tidier glazed twin-headlight nose, the inner lamps swivelling with the steering. Both designs hit the market in 1967.
Opron’s solely-authored cars took Citroën in an even more radical direction. The 1970 GS effectively downsized the DS concept and featured a strikingly unconventional aeronautically-inspired interior. The Maseratiengined SM of the following year took Citroën’s thinking into the GT market; and Opron combined GS and SM themes in his final design for Citroën, the 1974 CX.
Upon Citroën’s bankruptcy and buyout by Peugeot the following year, Opron took his services to Renault. His first major project was once again a facelift of a distinctive car – Trevor Fiore’s Alpine A310, which required Opron’s aeronautical brain to solve its aerodynamic issues ahead of a PRV V6 engine being fitted. Into the Eighties, Opron styled the Fuego, 9 and 11, and collaborated with fellow design heavyweights Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro and Antoine Volanis on further models including the 5 Turbo, 21 and Espace.
Opron’s final posting in the automotive industry saw him move to Italy to head up advanced design at Fiat Centro Stile in 1985, just as Fiat was acquiring Alfa Romeo. One of Opron’s first projects was a new Alfa Romeo sports car, the ES30, which Antonio Castellana developed into the SZ. Opron retired from Fiat in 1992, but continued to operate his own independent French design consultancy until 2000, advising manufacturers including Ligier and Piaggio.