Claus Luthe:  Car Designer

Born: 8 December 1932 - Wuppertal, Germany
Died:  17 March 2008 - Munich, Germany
Family: Married (one son deceased)

Resume:

• 1956-70 - head of design department, NSU Motorenwerke AG ;
• 1971-76 - designer, Audi-NSU Auto Union AG
• 1976-90 - chief designer, BMW AG, 1976-90

Claus Luthe passed away on 17 March 2008. He was 75 years old.  Mr. Luthe was the chief designer at BMW from 1976-1990 where he supervised the design team that developed the 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, and 8 Series models with timeless designs during the 1980's and early 1990's.  Mr. Luthe is often credited in positioning BMW into one of the most sought after brands in the world.

Luthe was undoubtedly one of the leaders of post-war German car design and his creations had a massive impact on the perception of the modern German car, with its feeling of visual solidity and self-assurance that remains to this day.

When launched in 1967, the Ro80 had a breathtaking elegance and modernity to it that was simply unrivalled. Features such as the wedge-profile, airy glasshouse and slim pillars, styled headlamps and drag coefficient of 0.35 were way ahead of their time. The basic aerodynamic shape was ‘rediscovered' in the early 1980's and led to cars such as the Audi 100, Mercedes 190 and Ford Sierra. The tragedy for Luthe was that the excellence of the styling was always overshadowed by the dreadful reputation of the rotary engine.

Claus Luthe first worked as a coachbuilding student at Karosseriebauer Voll in Würzburg, where he worked on proposals for buses. He moved to NSU in 1956, where he was part of a small team that styled the rear-engined Prinz that went on sale in 1958 and was developed during the 1960's into a range of models including the TT and Wankel Spider. The design of the 1961 Prinz 4 was influenced by the rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair, particularly the ogee-curved body side section that was a favorite of Claus Luthe, and used by him on the Ro80 and later on successive BMWs, particularly the E28 5-Series. Following the takeover of NSU by Volkswagen in 1969, Luthe continued to work for Volkswagen/Audi and his NSU K70 came to the market as the VW K70 after considerable delays with modifications to his original design. From 1971 to 1976 Luthe was involved in, among other projects, the original Polo/Audi 50, the Audi 100 C2 and the initial proposals for the Audi 80 B2, although the design was modified substantially after he left Audi.

The BMW 8 Series, E31, was his final achievement as chief BMW designer.  Lauded by many as a timeless design, the 8 Series was well received despite the looming global recession 1990-92 that would later diminish the 8 Series sales potential.

After the launch of the E31, the major catastrophe in Luthe's life came in 1990 at the height of his career, when he fatally stabbed his only son Ulrich during a violent argument over Ulrich's drug addiction. For this tragic event he was jailed but only served a short term before being released. Despite being offered his job back by BMW - an indication of the high esteem in which he was held by the company - Luthe instead decided to take early retirement in 1992. However, he continued as a consultant to BMW throughout the 1990s.  His lasting influence was bestowed the E38 1995 BMW 7 Series, today a sought after used car bargain with timeless design.

After Luthe decided to leave BMW, Chris Bangle was appointed his successor October, 1992.

To many in the 8 Series community, Mr Luthe's 8 Series design is legendary.  May he rest in peace.

Sources/Text used for this article with E31 edits:
The Independent - UK, by Giles Chapman
Car Design News