29 Facts About Anatole Lapine

In 1951 the family relocated to the US, settling in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Lapine earned a living repairing locomotives and trains.

Shortly after this Anatole Lapine moved to Detroit, Michigan looking for work.

Anatole Lapine 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 due to his experience with Daimler-Benz.

Anatole Lapine contributed to several concept cars and projects, including both the Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT and Corvair Monza SS cars, working again with Shinoda, and the CERV I and CERV II prototypes with both Shinoda and Arkus-Duntov.

In 1965 Anatole Lapine was transferred to Opel to oversee the Research Center at Russelsheim am Main.

Anatole 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.

The car was originally called "the Taxi" because Anatole Lapine had put a taxi sign on the roof of the car.

Anatole Lapine contributed to the final shape of the Opel GT.

Anatole Lapine was a part of the tour, and weeks after the visit was offered a position with Porsche.

On 15 April 1969, Anatole Lapine became chief designer at Porsche.

One of Anatole Lapine's first major projects to reach production at Porsche was a redesign of the iconic Porsche 911, even though Anatole Lapine was not necessarily a fan of the model.

Mobius served as the 928's principal designer, and Anatole Lapine oversaw and guided the car's development.

Apart from his history at GM, Anatole Lapine revealed that the shape of the 928 had been influenced by the Chevrolet Testudo, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro while at Bertone.

The last project overseen by Anatole Lapine was the Type 964, released in 1989.

Anatole Lapine designed the body for the Porsche 917 PA Spyder.

Anatole Lapine created several memorable paint treatments for some of Porsche's racing cars.

The colors were selected by Anatole Lapine to represent the irises that were his favorite.

Anatole 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.

Anatole Lapine was involved in many projects for companies that had come to Porsche for engineering expertise, including some projects unrelated to automobiles.

Anatole Lapine was part of a team that consulted on a project in Russia that eventually went to Fiat, and became the VAZ Zhiguli, called the Lada in export markets.

Anatole Lapine worked on a project to redesign the cockpit of the Airbus A310 aircraft.

Anatole Lapine had eliminated the flight engineer's station to free up more space in the fuselage for additional passenger seating.

Anatole Lapine built a very special MG TC as a personal project.

Anatole Lapine moved to Baden-Baden to recuperate, but eventually retired in 1989 rather than return to work.

Anatole Lapine continued to pursue his interest in music, including the use of his personal professional Pearl drum kit.

Jeanette Anatole Lapine returned to the US, settling in Litchfield, Connecticut, where she died 6 July 2018.

Anatole Lapine drove a variety of cars throughout his career as a racing driver, including his wife's new Jaguar XK120, which he totaled.

Anatole Lapine later raced Volvos, Volkswagen Beetles, a Triumph TR3, and an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Anatole Lapine is not your average citizen; he is one of the best and that will make anyone unusual.