In Memoriam

Paris, the 29th of March 2021

I just got the very sad news that Mr. Robert Opron has passed away at the 29th of March 2021 in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France at the age of 89 from the effects of the corona virus.

The French car designer leaves behind a fairly wide heritage of models.

Opron did not initially start his career in the automotive industry. He studied architecture at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and initially turned to aviation before joining Simca in 1958. He had worked there for less than three years because his department was closed. Because he had signed a non-competition clause, he was not immediately allowed to look elsewhere in the car industry.

After a brief interlude of one year as a designer of home appliances, he started work for Citroen in 1962. There he started under Flaminio Bertoni, the man who was responsible for, among other things, the 2CV, DS and Traction Avant. When Bertoni died in 1964, Opron became Citroens chief designer. In his time at Citroen, Opron was responsible for, among other things, the facelift of the DS in 1967, with the four round headlights behind glass. Completely new models from Oprons hand were the GS, SM and CX, with which he made the Citroen style a lot more modern. Unfortunately, it did not help Citroen, because the money had run out and in 1974 the brand merged with Peugeot thanks to the French government.

Not long after, Opron exchanged Citroen for Renault, where he oversaw the facelift of the Alpine A310 and was responsible, for the Renault Fuego and the Renault 10, -11 and 25. It was not only with the cars, but also the angular truck Renault Magnum was designed by Opron. The clean lines and right angles were therefore an important style characteristic of the French master designer. After Renault, he worked at Fiats Centro Stile. There he drew the iconic Alfa Romeo SZ and RZ.

All todays classics that defined an entire generation.

In the period since then he has done independent consultancy work, eventually retiring in 2001.

In his career, Opron was particularly praised for his qualities as a team player. He was also able to translate style elements from his study models into practice, so that his designs could not be described as boring in the least.

The world has lost in him an iconic car designer. Mostly known to us because he laid the foundation for the design of our SZ and RZ but also for cars from Simca, Renault, or Citroen.

I met Mr. Opron at his 50 years designer anniversary in Paris 11 may 2002 where he attended with his grandsun and proudly was showing him the SZ.

For us it was an unforgettable introduction to an important icon in automotive history and the opportunity to learn from him his personal vision regarding the creation of the SZ.

We are very grateful to have been able to meet him.

Our thoughts go out to his family in these difficult times for them.

A sad loss !!

Eduard van de Beek.
The International Alfa Romeo SZ & RZ Registers