911 icon: Tony Hatter
The English designer is celebrating 35 fruitful years with Porsche, the highlights of which are the 993 and GT1
The quiet Yorkshireman has influenced both road and race at Porsche, via the 993 and Le Mans-winning GT1
Tony Hatter had always wanted to work for Porsche, but had to take a post at Opel for five years from 1981 before realising his dream of working at the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer from 1986. Celebrating 35 years with Porsche in 2021, Hatter has left an indelible mark not just on the manufacturer, but specifically with its iconic 911 sports car.
Hatter’s first jobs at Porsche included design work on the
964 Turbo’s rear bumper, plus the now legendary door pull straps on the 964 RS no less, before moving on to the 993 under the guidance of Harm
Lagaaij. “We started [work on designing the 993] in early
1990. I was very pleased to be working on the new air-cooled
911,” he told Total 911 in 2019.
Hatter is chiefly credited with the 993’s overall design, thereby writing himself into Porsche history as the creator of the last ever air-cooled
911’s visuals. The front of the 993 in particular followed a clear, homogenised Porsche design language which had earlier debuted on the 928 and then 959 with their dual centre bumper inlets, and of course the 959’s more raked back headlight design.
Mr Hatter’s influence over the design of prominent Porsches also spills from road cars into racing, as it was he who designed the original 911 GT1 which the factory campaigned at Le Mans in 1996 and 1997. The GT1 changed to a tubular chassis with 996-style ‘fried egg’ headlights for the 1998 assault at La Sarthe, and Hatter would again play a part, this time overseeing the graphics and liveries on the Porsche factory vehicles. In later years Hatter also revealed he played a crucial role during the 1998 race itself, which Porsche won, by watching rival competitors up close and radioing back up the pits to Porsche when tyres were changed or fuelling took place. The scouting enabled Porsche to make informed decisions with its own tactics, which helped Stuttgart take a landmark first win at Le Mans for 11 years.
Le Mans is crucial to Porsche but the 911 is its enduring icon, and the last air-cooled model in the 993 will forever be a firm favourite among adoring enthusiasts. For its iconic visuals, we can thank a humble designer from Yorkshire, England, whose dream from a young age was simply to work for Porsche.