Shinichiro Sakurai

was a Japanese engineer for Prince Motor Company and later Nissan. He continued to work in the automotive field up until his death.

He is best known for the development of several generations of the Nissan Skyline, earning him the nickname "Father of the Skyline".

History Sakurai at Yokohama National University at the age of 19Sakurai was born in Totsuka-ku, Yokohama on April 3, 1929.

Sakurai (second from left, sitting) and his boss Takuya Himura (leftmost, standing) at the Prince Motor Company Mitaka Plant, circa 1954.He joined Tama (later Prince) as a chassis engineer and was heavily involved in the development of the first-generation Prince Skyline. In September of 1963, not long after Prince's merger with Nissan that August, Sakurai was promoted to manager of a design department within Nissan's Prince division. He served as a part-time lecturer at Osaka Sangyo University in 1989 and Tokai University in 1995.