20 Facts About Claus Luthe

Claus Luthe was a German car designer, noted for his design work on the NSU Ro 80, Volkswagen K70 and numerous seminal models from Audi and BMW.

Claus Luthe was one of the first to embrace digital tools to improve and accelerate the process so that the designers could pass information directly to the engineers in digital form, he changed the methodology of designing into what everybody does today.

Claus Luthe was born in 1932 in Wuppertal, the second-oldest of five children in a deeply Catholic family.

Claus Luthe's father died on the Eastern Front when he was just 12 years old.

Claus Luthe originally wanted to follow his elder brother into a career in architecture, but took an apprenticeship from 1948 to 1954 as a coachbuilding student at Karosseriebauer Voll in Wurzburg, where he worked on proposals for buses.

Claus Luthe soon joined NSU, where he was instrumental in developing the company's design department.

NSU management decided that changes were needed, and an NSU board member who had just returned from the United States described the Corvair design to Claus Luthe, who incorporated some of the elements into the Prinz's bathtub design.

Claus Luthe was given responsibility for the design, working with the engineering team of Walter Froede and Georg Jungbluth, to utilize the compact Wankel engine, itself created by Felix Wankel.

Claus Luthe created a clean wedge shape with a large glasshouse, while the engineering team added innovations such as four-wheel independent suspension, semi-automatic transmission and inboard disc brakes to reduce unsprung mass.

Claus Luthe completed the styling of the tidy three-door hatchback design, as well as guiding the interior design; the concept of the dashboard design is remarkably similar to that proposed by Claus Luthe in the original Ro 80 prototypes.

Claus Luthe subsequently designed the interior of the second-generation Audi 100 C2, and produced the initial proposals for the Audi 80 B2, although the design was modified substantially, and finalized by Giorgetto Giugiaro, after Luthe left Audi.

In 1976 Claus Luthe succeeded Paul Bracq as chief designer with BMW, and began to move the Bavarian manufacturer's designs in a more creative, stylish direction.

Claus Luthe, then, was tasked with developing a facelift for the aging E12 5 Series within a budget of USD 100 million.

Claus Luthe solved the cost restraint problem by reusing the passenger compartment structure of the E12, but with new front and rear clips and a new interior.

Claus Luthe maintained a low front profile and the familiar dual round headlights in the E30 successor model, distinguishing the model from the larger 5 Series, while creating a smoother profile, as with the E28.

The W126 was a highly conservative design, penned by Bruno Sacco, but Claus Luthe took a far more radical approach.

Claus Luthe then supervised the design of the E36 3 Series, and by 1990 he was named the head of BMW's design department, supervising the creation of the 1989 E31 8 Series coupe, and the third-generation E34 5 Series.

Claus Luthe left his post at BMW after being accused of fatally stabbing his 33-year-old, chronically drug-dependent oldest son, Ulrich after an argument on Good Friday in 1990.

Claus Luthe was eventually convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 33 months in prison, but was released before having to serve the complete sentence.

Claus Luthe later worked as an external consultant for BMW.