The Same Guy Helped Design Both of These Cars
Over its lifetime, the Porsche 928 was referred to as "Germany's Corvette," and for good reason. Like the Corvette, the 928 was a V8-powered, front-engine, rear-drive coupes designed to cover long distances at high speeds. The two cars don't have much else in common, except for one man: Tony Lapine
Latvian designer Anatole "Tony" Lapine started his career at GM in 1951, in the height of the Bill Mitchell years. While there, he frequently collaborated with Larry Shinoda, who shaped the second-generation Corvette. Lapine served as the studio engineer for the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.
After the Sting Ray, Lapine worked on a number of concept cars with legendary Chevy engineer Zora-Arkus Duntov, including two mid-engine CERV Corvette prototypes. After the CERV II, Lapine was transferred to GM's Opel Division in Germany, where he stayed for a few years before being poached by Porsche in 1969.
Lapine's arrival at Porsche came just a few years before the company embarked on a plan to replace the aging 911 with two new models, the 924 and 928. Lapine led the design of both vehicles, the 924, which was styled by Harm Lagaay, and the 928, styled by Wolfgang Möbius.
When the 928 debuted in 1977, it looked like nothing Porsche had ever done before. The always-excellent Ate Up With Motor reports that Lapine and Möbius insisted the 928 should look provocative, and it took a while for Porsche executives to come around to its looks. The 928 was never successful enough to replace the 911, though it stuck around until 1995 since Porsche didn't have the capital to develop an all-new car.
The Sting Ray is the quintessential 1960s American sports car design, and few cars that evoke the late-1970s better than the 928. Both designs reflect their times, but have aged quite gracefully, a credit to Lapine.
Lapine passed away in 2012 at the age of 81. His isn't a household name, even among car enthusiasts, but he had a hand in shaping some of the most important sports cars of all time.
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