Larry Shinoda

Career As a young man in Los Angeles, Shinoda built hot rods and raced them on the streets. This coupe has since been identified and restored. His 1929 Ford, named "Chopsticks Special IV", was powered by a flathead V8 with Ardun OHV heads. Shinoda sold the 1929 Ford as parts to his partner in the car, Jack Powers, in 1956.

Shinoda met Ford vice president Gene Bordinat in late 1954 For the rest of his twelve total years at GM, Shinoda primarily designed concept cars, including the Mako Shark show car and CERV I. Working with Mitchell and Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, he refined the XP 819 and other concept cars that eventually translated into the original 1963 Corvette Sting Ray design. Shinoda also led design work on the revised 1968 version that borrowed heavily from his Mako Shark concept. He also participated in the 1965 redesign of the Chevrolet Corvair, giving that car its sleek "Coke bottle" shape.

Ford

In 1968, Henry Ford II hired former GM executive Bunkie Knudsen to be president of Ford. Knudsen recruited Shinoda to come to Ford in hopes of improving the styling and sales of Ford's lineup. Shinoda's first project at Ford was the Boss 302 Mustang high-performance homologation special. Shinoda is credited with taking the original design, then designated SR-2, and removing much of the chrome ornamentation.

Freelance After leaving Ford, Shinoda and Knudsen co-founded Rectrans in November 1970, which built recreational vehicles in Brighton, Michigan. The Discoverer was based on the contemporaneous Dodge B-series chassis and sold for three model years (1971–73). White Motor Company acquired Rectrans in 1971 as a condition of naming Knudsen as its chairman; Shinoda followed him again and was named White's design vice president. This car had a fully enclosed wedge-shaped body, with only the front wheels, fitted with lakester-style wheel discs (Moon discs), exposed. That vehicle later was released in 1992 as the Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) after Chrysler purchased AMC and its designs in 1987. Shinoda's contract included styling four different versions of the XJC (a 4-door, 2-door, and two pickup trucks). According to Shinoda, AMC product design executives entered his rented design studio without him and said his "design was 'terrible, brutal; they ordered him to destroy the clay model and return AMC's wheels and tires. However, the next day, AMC sent a crew to the design studio to confiscate his drawings and wood templates, and Shinoda was later told privately that AMC would proceed with his design.

Shinoda developed kidney problems starting in 1996, yet continued to be an active designer.

Designs Notable designs by Larry Shinoda:

1959 Stingray Racer (XP-87, with Pete Brock and Bill Mitchell) 1960 CERV I 1962 Corvair Super Spyder (XP-785) 1962 Monza GT (XP-777) 1963 Monza SS (XP-797) 1963 Mako Shark I (XP-755) 1963–67 Chevrolet Corvette (C2) 1964 CERV II 1965 Mako Shark II (XP-830) 1965 Chaparral 2C 1967/68 Chevrolet Astro I (XP-842), II (XP-880) 1968–82 Chevrolet Corvette (C3) 1969/70 Boss 302 Mustang 1970 Ford Torino King Cobra 1990 Rick Mears Special Edition Corvette 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) National Corvette Museum logo