Andreas Zapatinas (born 1957) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

automobile designer and

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

er.

Early life and education

Zapatinas was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He studied at the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, and graduated in 1986.

Career

He worked at Centro Stile

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

from 1988 until 1994, where he met

Chris Bangle Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars. Early life Bangle ...

. Zapatinas was chief exterior designer of the

Fiat Barchetta The Fiat Barchetta (; Type 183) is a Roadster (automobile), roadster produced by the Italy, Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1995 to 2005. ''Barchetta'' in Italian language, Italian means "little boat", and also denotes a type of open-top sports ca ...

. He also contributed to the design of

Fiat Coupé The Fiat Coupé (Type 175), officially also known as Coupé Fiat, is a car that was manufactured by Fiat between 1993 and 2000. The two-door, four-seater coupé was introduced at the Bologna Motor Show in December 1993 and features an exterior ...

and

Alfa Romeo 145 Alfa may refer to: Businesses and organisations Broadcasting * Alfa Radio, a Macedonian radio station * XHFAJ-FM, a Mexico City radio station better known as Alfa 91.3 * Alfa TV (Cypriot TV channel), a premium television service available in C ...

. In 1994 he followed Bangle to

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

. He designed the exterior of E59 project, a record CD aerodynamic study for a production 5 series 2 door coupe. The iconic design of the E59 had tremendous influence on most consecutive BMW by introducing a new surface theme and new volume architecture on the side of the vehicle. Also on the E59 Zapatinas introduced for the first time the "Angel Eyes" headlight concept with the help of Ludwig Deinzer, resident studio engineer. Later his proposal for the E46 compact, inspired by the legendary BMW 02 a 3 volume 2 door coupe, would be transformed after his departure from BMW to the basis for the first generation 1 series. The coupe and cabrio versions were very close to Zapatinas proposal that was used as the design basis during the 1 series development. He has been credited for the unique (for its time) rear end design of the

. In 1998 he became chief designer at Centro Stile Alfa Romeo. He directed the following projects: 156 GTA, 147 GTA, closing phases for 156 Sportwagon and 147. Also directed the restyling of 166 and interior restyling of 156. In 2002 Zapatinas joined

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

as Head of Advanced Design. He is responsible for the interior of the Tribeca and directed the design of 3 subaru concept vehicles. Tokyo Motor Show 2003, Subaru R1e, Subaru Scrambler and Tokyo Motor Show 2005 Subaru TPH. At Subaru, he is often incorrectly credited with the controversial "spread wings grille" first introduced on the R2, and later the B9 Tribeca and the Impreza, Subaru have said that this concept was proposed before Zapatinas joined the Japanese company. This design created some controversy, and it was abandoned by Subaru. This controversy is said to have been related with Zapatinas's departure from Subaru in July 2006 when he was its chief designer. In 2006, as Industrial Designer, Andreas Zapatinas started cooperating with Kleemann Lifts designing elevator cabins and doors. "We see the lift not as just a small square box that moves you up and down but as a means of transportation that provides a unique experience. It's not only the new curved shape and design. Above all, it is the different new feeling you get in the FUTURE TREND cabins. We design the lift as a high tech vehicle that provides you added sensations". With these sentences, Andreas Zapatinas, the designer of the Future cabins and doors, creates the concept of the new trend; the Future Trend. As of 2010 he joined

Changan Automobile Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (CCAG) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.

, a Chinese automotive company with a design headquarters in Turin Italy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zapatinas, Andreas Greek automobile designers Alfa Romeo people Greek engineers 1957 births Living people Engineers from Athens