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Street Racing

When Larry was working at General Motors, he got a job in the styling department but he was...he still had his Ford. He had this Ford that he had built and it was like a ‘50s Ford that he had built, basically it was a NASCAR car that he drove on the street. I mean it was a racecar that he drove on the street and he was sitting at a light going home from work and Bill Mitchell pulled up next to him in a special car that Bill had, all the chief designers and all the higher-ups they could do whatever they wanted basically and he had a pretty souped-up car. And I guess the light changed and Larry blew the guy’s doors off.

And the next day, Bill called him in and said, "I want you to bring your car into the shop." And so when he brought his car into the shop, he opened the hood and saw what it was, it was basically a racecar. And Bill...that’s when Bill wanted him to work for him, in his department.

Larry was hired actually by Harley Earl who was the chief designer at that time, and Bill Mitchell was one of the heads of styling, underneath Harley Earl. So that’s how that happened, it wasn’t Bill Mitchell first it was Harley Earl. Bill Mitchell became head of styling and pulled Larry with him, all the way up. So...and Larry became head of what they call Studio X, which was like the top-secret, you know, concept studio and that was a big feather in his cap I think at that time.


automobiles Bill Mitchell General Motors (firm) Larry Shinoda motor vehicles race cars

Date: September 14, 2011

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Akira Boch

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

After graduating from high school in Anaheim, Ron Kusumi earned his degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and worked in the automotive industry for 20 years with companies such as Nissan and Mitsubishi. It was while working on a project developing an aluminum alloy wheel at Nissan that Ron met famed designer Larry Shinoda, whose brief comments about the project impressed Ron with a keen eye and genius for knowing the essence of style and function. The two shared a mutual passion for sports cars and became friends. For the past fifteen years, Ron has run an independent film studio in Long Beach, California, writing, producing and directing programs for cable television. (September 2012)

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