Fodor Lóránt

by Paul Negyesi

Fodor Lóránt was born in a small village in 1956. As a small boy he liked cars, but show me a kid who doesn't. He was also good in drawing but his family and even himself favoured a more stable job, than of the artist, so he studied chemistry and biology. But his interest in cars, particularly in car-design remained. This wasn't unusual in the '70s but to find Western magazines which covered automotive design was nearly impossible, not to mention any information on the subject. The sole Hungarian car magazine, Autó-Motor sometimes featured Italian and other stylists and the Hungarian bus factory, Ikarus employed a few designers but it sums up the possibilities. He found a Hungarian magazine on house-interior design though and the idea caught him.

After finishing his secondary school, he chose the College of Crafts and Design (it's now a University) and the University of Veterinary. In those days You should opt for only 1 place, but the art schools wereexcepctions (another sign, how the previous political system ranked artists).But when Fodor, without too much forethinking marked the College, the director of his grammar school asked him whether do his parents know about this action? When he heard the negative answer he tried to ask the parents to convince their son about his wrong decision. It didn't work, but due to some other problems Fodor started the University after his 4th trial. He finished it in 1983 and became teacher there in 1985. His car-design hobby remained in that level. He created some drawings and scale-models though:

He always supported the students who showed some marks of loving car-design. He said that he likes real individuals: "E.g. the works of Luigi Colani as working automobiles should not be rankedgood, but he as a stylist has his own flair".
Before the Mazomoto group came along, there were 2 or 3 other promisingtalents, but the spirit of the school killed their interest.
And then came Péter Kukorelli. From this point the story goes back to the history of Mazomoto.