Larry Shinoda was a big part of the first Corvette Sting Ray and helped to shape Corvette into the car it has become today. Even before the first Sting Ray was developed he helped Bill Mitchell design and create the Stingray Racer which went on to a brief but successful racing career.
Shinoda was born in Los Angeles to parents of Japanese decent and began his love affair with cars at an early age when he would use broken pencils to create different shades and colors while drawing his designs. He continued drawing and designing cars while he was still a child and into his adolescence and his passion would prove its worth when he would later find his way to GM.
Shinoda was a big part of the original Q-Corvette that was a major player in the Sting Ray design. He also had a hand in the decision to add the split window to the first year of the C2 Corvette. The Sting Ray that he helped develop represented the first time that the Corvette would stand on its own as an icon and stop looking towards the European sports cars for influences. Shinoda took his job at GM seriously and even in 1963 when he was told to create a four seater corvette, he did so without a complaint (luckily the design was not popular and was later scrapped).
Shinoda worked for many years with GM until he followed then Chevy general manager Bunkie Knudsen to Ford in 1968. While it was a shame to see him go he continued to enjoy much creative success there as well. While at Ford he was directly responsible for designing the Boss 302 Mustang which many consider to be the most graceful Mustang ever made.
After his time at Ford he started his own design company and then went to work designing anything and everything. Among his more notable designs were Roger Penske's race trailers, Monaco Motor Homes, and even the Goodyear Blimp.
When the C4 Corvette came out Shinoda once again became involved with Chevy in an indirect way. He developed and designed a slick body treatment that was available as an aftermarket product and he dubbed it the Rick Mears Special Edition. Though he was not directly working for Chevy, he was none the less involved with the Corvette once again.
In 1996 the innovative designer fell ill with a kidney condition and the doctors informed him that his days were numbered if he didn't get a kidney transplant. A major fund raising effort was put into place and although there was a good amount of money collected for the effort, Shinoda sadly succumbed to the condition in late 1997 at the age of 67.
His creativity and design grace will always be remembered by all those who have come to love the Corvette and what it stands for. In 1998 Larry Shinoda was honored by being inducted to the Corvette Hall of Fame. There he will forever be remembered for all that he did for the American icon that is the Chevrolet Corvette.
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