Shinichiro Sakurai

Shinichiro Sakurai
桜井 眞一郎
Shinichiro Sakurai in 1953
Born(1929-04-03)3 April 1929
Died17 January 2011(2011-01-17) (aged 81)
NationalityJapanese
EducationYokohama National University
OccupationEngineer
Engineering career
ProjectsNissan Skyline
AwardsJapan Automotive Hall of Fame (2005)

Shinichiro Sakurai (桜井 眞一郎, Sakurai Shin'ichirō, 1929–2011) was a Japanese engineer inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame[1] who originally worked for Prince Motor Company then later moved to Nissan. After graduating from Yokohama National University, Sakurai worked for the Shimizu Corporation before he was given the opportunity to work in the Japanese automotive industry, which was his first intent. He later joined Prince as a chassis engineer in 1952, and was heavily involved in the development of the first generation Nissan Skyline (also called the Prince Skyline). He continued to head the Nissan Skyline project long after the Nissan takeover, headed the Nissan MID4 project, and was appointed President of Autech (a Nissan subsidiary) in 1986. He continued to work in the automotive field up until his death.[2]

Sakurai died of heart failure on January 17, 2011.[3][4]

  1. ^ The History and the Biography of Shinichiro Sakurai Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (Japanese) - Japan Automotive Hall of Fame
  2. ^ Sakurai and the Skyline
  3. ^ 桜井真一郎氏死去 元「スカイライン」開発責任者 Archived 2011-01-23 at the Wayback Machine Kyodo News January 20, 2011 (Japanese)
  4. ^ Shinichiro Sakurai, Father of the Skyline, 1929-2011 japanesenostalgiccar.com January 23, 2011