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Illustrated Corvette Series No. 87 1990 Mears-Shinoda Corvette
"Larry Shinoda Strikes Again"
The
Rick Mears Special Edition came out of an interesting mix of talents.
Mears, a three-time Indy 500 winner, was the front man, Corvette
designer Larry Shinoda was the stylist, and Jim Williams was the
businessman. While this certainly wasn't the first body kit for a
Corvette, it was one of the cleanest. Mears was at the top of his
racing game by the early '90s. Rick won the Indy 500 in '79, '84, '88,
and '91! He was the Indy 500 "Rookie of the Year" in '79, and racked up
six Indy 500 pole positions. Mears retired from racing in 1992 with 29
CART wins and 40 pole positions.
Larry Shinoda is generally known as the designer of the 1963 Stingray.
While this is correct, the actual Stingray shape was first drawn in
1957 by Pete Brock and Bob Veryzer as a concept study called the
"Q-Corvette." Shinoda took the sketch and made it into a real car.
Larry would go on the design the Corvair Monza show car, the Mako
Shark, and the Boss 302 Mustang.
Jim Williams was the president and CEO of Golden State Foods, a food
preparation company that services all of the McDonalds restaurants. In
the late '80s, GSF was an associate sponsor of the Penske racing team.
Shinoda showed some sketches to Williams and Mears at the Long Beach
CART race in 1989. Both men liked the design and agreed to go into
business. Shinoda-Williams Design, Inc. was formed and started making
kits in 1991.
Shinoda's design wasn't just
another make-over kit. The front and rear spoilers, along with the
sculpted side panels lowered drag coefficient from .34 to .30! As a
throwback to his old Mako Shark days, Larry gave the side panels some
"coke bottle" style. All of the parts were barrier crash tested and
designed so the the stock Corvette tire jack could be used. Except for
the front chin spoiler, the factory ramp angles were maintained.
The kit
was made up of 11 pieces that would attach to any '84 to '91 coupe or
roadster. The panels were made from primed, semi-rigid polyurethane
material. Also included were front fog lights, black finished stainless
steel exhaust tips, floor mats with the Mears logo, a "Shinoda Design"
badge, a "Rick Mears Special Edition" badge, and fasteners. Assembly
time was 25 hours. The kits were designed to use common garage tools,
used stock mounting points, and required little drilling.
The cost
of the kit was $5,200, plus $2,500 to $3,000 for installation. Paint
was another extra. The total cost for entire kit project was around
$10,000. That's why not many kits were sold. In the early '90s, all
regular Corvettes were under the shadow of the ZR-1. Extra money
usually went under the hood. Shinoda pitched the kit to Chevrolet as a
1992 RPO option. They passed.
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