13 cars to remember Robert Opron

A man of many talents

We were all saddened to hear of the death of Robert Opron, on 29 March 2021, aged 89. He was an exceptionally versatile car designer whose work included everything from conventional vehicles to flights of extraordinary fancy.

He had a particular skill for applying his talent in a way that served whichever manufacturer he was working for. His Citroëns could have been nothing but Citroëns. His Renaults were distinctively Renaults.

As a design chief, Opron frequently led projects without contributing much to the look of the finished product. In tribute, let’s remember the 13 cars he was most closely involved with.

1. Simca Fulgur

Opron’s first automotive employer was the French manufacturer Simca, for whom he worked only briefly in his 20s.

His most famous design from that period was the futuristic, nuclear-powered Simca Fulgur concept of 1958 – “the sort of job you gave to the office junior,” he said many years later.

The Fulgur was intended to show what cars might look like in 2000. Ironically, from a 21st-century standpoint it has the 1950s written all over it.

2. Citroën Ami

The original Ami 6, designed by Flaminio Bertoni, was one of the most eccentric-looking cars Citroën ever produced, which is saying something.

Bertoni died before the car was facelifted (and renamed Ami 8) in 1969, so the job went to Opron, who had taken over from his former boss.

Opron abandoned the Ford Anglia-style reverse-rake rear window and reworked the front end, maintaining the little car's character, while making it look less like something from another planet than it had before.

The estate version, known as the Break (pictured), looked very similar to the restyled Ami, though its rear window was closer to vertical.

3. Citroën M35

Opron oversaw the styling of the M35, which was essentially a coupé version of the Ami.

Unlike the Ami, though, it was powered by a Wankel rotary engine developed by Comotor, a joint venture created by Citroën and NSU.

The M35 turned out to be an expensive catastrophe for Citroën, but that was hardly Opron’s fault

4. Citroën DS

Opron wasn’t even working as a car designer when the Citroën DS was introduced, but he was responsible for its 1967 restyle.

The most obvious change was the introduction of twin glass headlights mounted behind glass panels. The angle of the headlights changed when the steering wheel was turned, effectively allowing the driver to see round corners.

When Classic & Sports Car set up a poll among designers to determine the most beautiful car ever made, the DS was a clear winner, ahead of the Jaguar XK120 and Ferrari 275GTB.

5. Citroën SM

If a single car could be described as Opron’s masterpiece, it was the Citroën SM.

Launched in 1970, the SM was the same size as the DS but had a three-door coupé body and a V6 engine supplied by Maserati, which was under Citroën ownership at the time.

With this project, Opron was even more extravagant when it came to headlights, putting three on each side of the SM’s nose. This was to become one of the most memorable features of an outstandingly memorable car.

6. Citroën GS

Launched in the same year as the SM, the GS filled an enormous gap in Citroën’s range between the tiny 2CV, Ami and Dyane, and the enormous SM and DS.

In this sense, it was a middle-of-the-road car, but by giving it an aerodynamic body, a flat-four air-cooled engine and hydropneumatic suspension, Citroën ensured that it was in all other ways extraordinary.

Opron in turn ensured that it looked that way, too.

7. Citroën CX

Opron’s last project for Citroën was the CX, the replacement for the DS.

Rather than attempt to create another DS, he came up with what was essentially an enlarged version of the earlier GS.

Resizing an existing design doesn’t always work, but in Opron’s hands it did. Despite the similarities, the CX in isolation looks like it could have been styled the way it was even if the GS had never existed.

8. Alpine A310

Opron moved from Citroën to Renault, another French manufacturer but one with, at the time, a much more cautious design philosophy.

He arrived just in time for the restyle of the Alpine A310, whose original four-cylinder engine was being replaced by a 2.7-litre V6.

The changes included the addition of a rear spoiler. This was considered unfortunate by those who thought it spoiled the shape, but keeping the back end of this rear-engined sports car planted on the road was a higher priority.

9. Renault Fuego

The 1980 Fuego, based on the Renault 18 saloon, was not styled directly by Opron but by Michel Jardin.

However, Opron was Jardin’s boss, and can take some of the credit for a shape which even the notoriously difficult-to-please British journalist Leonard Setright was prepared to describe as ‘beautiful’.

10. Renault 9

It’s hard to believe that the man who had designed Citroën’s SM and GS also came up with the Renault 9 of 1981.

Opron showed his versatility here, providing Renault with a suitably conventional design for its small family saloon car. The 9 could not possibly have been a Citroën, but it made perfect sense as a Renault.

11. Renault 11

The 11 was a hatchback version of the 9 introduced in 1983.

Like the saloon, it was unremarkable in many ways, though the more practical body style allowed Opron to show more of his flair.

Seen from the rear, the 11 looked ordinary enough, but at the same time it couldn’t be mistaken for any other hatchback of the era.

12. Renault 25

Opron and Gaston Juchet are jointly credited with the design of Renault’s flagship luxury car, launched in 1984.

The 25 was cleverly designed to look like a saloon car even though it was really a five-door hatchback. The wraparound rear window must have been expensive and difficult to produce, but it was very distinctive, and gave the car excellent rear three-quarter visibility.

Renault facelifted the car in 1988 without Opron’s involvement. He had left the company three years before.

13. Alfa Romeo SZ

Opron’s career as a manufacturer employee ended at Fiat, where he was employed in the Centro Stile department.

He was partly responsible for the astonishing Alfa Romeo SZ, creating the preliminary sketches which were then developed by Antonio Castellana.

Opron left Fiat in 1992 and acted as a consultant for other manufacturers until 2000. We hope he enjoyed a happy retirement.