Robert Opron
The dolphin, the leopard, the swift, they each move at a speed consistent with their environment, each using a minimum of energy. What a great lesson for a stylist.
Robert Opron (born 22 February 1932) is a French automotive designer, trained as an architect, and noted for designs from the 1960s through the 1980s for Simca, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ligier, Renault and Citroën – which he joined in 1962 and where he became Responsable de Style, head of the design department.
Opron was a nominee in the 1999 Car Designer of the Century competition.
[edit] Background
Opron studied eight years at the École des Beaux-Arts, studying architecture, painting, and sculpture. After working at a sugar factory and in the airplane industry, Opron began working at Simca in 1952 at age 26.[2] Subsequently he joined Arthur Martin, a design office for furniture, bathroom fixtures and domestic furnishings, where he became Director of Style.
Opron later met Flaminio Bertoni, head of design for Citroën, famed author of the original DS. When Bertoni asked to see his work, Opron opened his portfolio with drawings of Simca designs. Bertoni tossed them on the ground, spreading them with his cane and saying they were worthless. Opron collected his drawings, indicated that he found Bertoni's behavior unacceptable – at which point Bertoni said “you interest me”. Opron replied that the feeling wasn't mutual, and left. Three weeks later, he received a letter of recruitment from Citroën.[2] Opron joined Citroën – where he remained until 1975 authoring designs for the restyling of the DS in 1968, the SM, the CX and the GS. When Citroën overextended itself and declared bankruptcy in 1974, the French Government, concerned at the potential job losses, merged Citroën with Peugeot – and dismissed Opron.
From 1975–1985 he worked at Renault, authoring designs including the Renault 9 and Fuego. He later joined Fiat. From 1991–2000 he operated his design consultancy in Verrières-le-Buisson in south Paris (Essonne).
A celebration of his work, OPRON 50 Sears of Style was held on 11 May 2002 in Verrières-le-Buisson on the occasion of his 70th birthday.[3]
[edit] Design Work
Opron's is noted for the 1970 Citroën SM, a sports car with a Maserati engine and Kammback. He developed both the 1970 Citroën GS and the 1974 Citroën CX sedans internally, using Citroën's own style center at Velizy in France. The SM was Motor Trend Car of the Year in 1972, and the GS was European Car of the Year in 1971, and the CX in 1975 – a substantial achievement for any automobile designer.
Opron designed the Renault 9 and Renault 11 as well, which had been developed under the Renault code name L42 .[4] Renault had begun the conception of the Renault 9 in 1977, as a "four meter" model (referring to its length) to fit between the Renault 5 and the Renault 14. Opron conceived a traditional three-box design to appeal to the traditional customer and avoid the poor reception that had met the Renault 14's styling. Exhaustive consumer clinics suggested buyers rejected innovation, resulting in a non-descript design, albeit with moderate elegance. By the time the models entered production, Renault had dedicated 14.500.000 hours of studies and tests to the 9, constructed 44 prototypes, tested 130 engines, test driven prototypes more than 2.2 million km, and assigned more than 500 people to the development of the models.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Opron at Citroen, the Chamber Orchestra". Sagitta-productions.com. http://www.sagitta-productions.com/images/HS6-UK.pdf.
- ^ a b "Robert Opron, l'automobile et l'art". Gazoline.net. http://www.gazoline.net/article.pcgi?id_article=217.
- ^ "OPRON 50 ans de style – 11 mai 2002". GS-GSA.org. http://www.gs-gsa.org/rencontre-opron.php.
- ^ "Renault: A look to the past.". Renault Freaks Online. http://stud.pam.szczecin.pl/~wizard/renault/history.html.
- ^ "Renault 9: History". Renault 9 et 11 Club de France. http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.renault-9-11.fr%2Fmaronze%2Fhtml%2Fhistoire9.htm&lp=fr_en&.intl=us&fr=yfp-t-941.
