[PIC] Who Signed this Split Window? Turns Out it was a Corvette Legend!

With my dad purchasing a new 1966 Corvette and me coming along two years later, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that I grew up in the Corvette hobby. I caught my own serious case of Corvette in the mid-90s when bringing that same Corvette down to Florida after it had spent nearly a decade as a barn find and finally getting it running and driving again.

As someone “new” with the Fever, I never did get to any of the big Corvette shows until this blog really took off in the 2010s. By that time, it was “too late” to meet some of the great legends in the Corvette hobby like Harley J. Earl, Zora Arkus-Duntov, and Larry Shinoda. I think of my friends like Corvette seller Mike Furman who had such easy access to these guys back in the day. I sure wish I could have known some of them personally!

I was cruising through the Corvette Forum this morning when I saw this post, and it got me thinking about why we allow and even encourage those who worked or race Corvettes to sign our vehicles. It’s a practice that goes back decades and I believe it’s a way for an owner to show that his car has a direct connection to that famous Corvette figure, whoever they may be. I know that I will always covet my Tone-Loc CD booklet after meeting the rapper in person in the early 90s and getting him to sign it, so I know how enthusiasts feel about having their car signed by someone who is a big deal in the hobby.

Over on the Corvette Forum, a new user named “nomadci” shared this photo of a sun visor on a 1963 Corvette Split Window Coupe that was signed back in 1992, but the signature on the car was unknown to the owner. He wrote, “This signature is located on the topside of the drivers side visor. Anyone recognize? Red/Red 63 327/340 coupe.”

In under 10 minutes, he had his answer as member “KingRat” replied to his query: “Larry Shinoda. You are very lucky. I met him at Bloomington Gold in ’92,” and he also shared this graphic of a split-window Coupe that Shinoda had worked on and signed in the lower right corner:

Shinoda was a Japanese American who grew up drawing cars and even built his own hot rod as a teenager back in the day. The story goes that after bouncing around between Ford and Packard, Shinoda got a job in design with General Motors. One night after beating GM Design Chief Bill Mitchell in an impromptu drag race from a stoplight, Mitchell came looking for him the next day and moved Larry into Studio X where he would be primarily responsible for many of the concept cars including the Mako Shark and CERV 1. Shinoda would eventually leave GM after 12 years and go to work for former GM executive Bunkie Knudsen at Ford, where he penned the design for the Ford Boss 302 Mustang, and even named it “Boss” as a tribute to Bunkie Knudsen. Larry passed away in 1997.

As signatures go, this would be one of the ones to have on your Split Window Coupe as Shinoda also worked on refining Peter Brock’s original split window Corvette design. The owner of the 1963 Corvette should be extremely proud to have Larry’s signature on his car. Do you have a historical signature on your Corvette? Let us know in the comments below!

Source:
CorvetteForum.com

Related:
[VIDEO] Throwback Thursday: Corvette Designer Larry Shinoda Tells His Story
[GALLERY] Throwback Thursday: Happy Birthday to Larry Shinoda
[PICS] Here’s the Real Reason Why Chevy Never Built the Four-Seat 1963 Corvette

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