Larry Shinoda
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Lawrence Kiyoshi (Larry) Shinoda (March 25, 1930 - November 13, 1997) was a noted automotive designer who was best known for his work on the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang.
He was born in California and was interned by the U.S. Government during WW II under U.S. Executive Order 9066 into a "War Relocation Camp". After release, he attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles but was kicked out, and went to work first for Ford Motor Company in 1955, then Packard, then General Motors in late 1956. Working with GM design chief Bill Mitchell and Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, he refined work on concept cars that eventually translated into the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and the 1968 version, patterned after Shinoda's Mako Shark show car.
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 a high performance Mustang known as the Boss 302 Mustang. Reportedly Shinoda chose the name "Boss" as a homage to Knudsen. He led design for the Mustang models for 1970-1973 as well, but when Knudsen was fired from Ford late in 1969 Shinoda left as well.
Shinoda later opened an independent design firm and did work for GM, Ford, and aftermarket companies. In addition to its in-house team, he was one of three designers under contract with American Motors Corporation (AMC) to create and build clay models of a vehicle then known as XJC, which later became the Jeep ZJ (Jeep Grand Cherokee) after Chrysler's buyout of AMC in 1987 [1].
He died in 1997 while still an active designer; his tradition is carried on by his daughter Karen.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Al Rothenberg, "Design Debate - Who's the father of the Jeep Grand Cherokee", Ward's AutoWorld, March 1998.
