Porsche designer Anatole 'Tony' Lapine (fourth from right in the main photo) has died aged 81.
The Latvian refugee was resettled in his youth to the USA where his first job was maintaining snowploughs before he slowly worked his way into the motor industry in Detroit.
His big break came when he was taken on by Bill Mitchell at GM and played a role in the Corvette working alongside Larry Shinoda.
His role in the Opel GT was greater still and he eventually ended up at Porsche where he can be credited with leading the team that came up with both the 928 and 924, 944 and 964.
In 2009 he told C&SC: "Even in the 1950s I knew that I would work for Porsche one day. I already knew Ferry and when I did join [in 1969] it was like a homecoming." He added: "Porsche was a philosophy, which also happened to build cars."
After retiring Lapine, with his son, took to the seas and sailed the Atlantic.
For the full story of and interview with this remarkable man see Kieron Fennelly's article in the October 2009 issue of Classic & Sports Car.
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car