Larry A. Pipes is an automotive expert qualified by more than thirty years of first-hand automotive racing machine design experience, and technical department, personnel and management experience. He has personally inspected and evaluated more than 10,000 automotive vehicles since 1965, and has supervised and instructed on the inspection of more than 150,000 motor vehicles.

He has held numerous national records in various NHRA, AHRA, IHRA quarter-mile acceleration classes, and has fabricated and constructed many complete race cars since 1960. Experience has included frame design, brake, steering, suspension design and construction, control linkages design, exhaust system design, engine, transmission and differential modifications, machining, redesign, installation and mounting, as well as the design, layout and makeup of electrical transmission systems.

He has served as an automotive consultant to numerous law firms, insurance companies, police departments, and business owners regarding fire losses, improper repairs, accident causative defects investigations and inspections.

He trained and motivated technical personnel for AAA for more than twelve (12) years, in automotive diagnosis and troubleshooting. He created, developed and taught "TRACERS" and "RESCUERS", two training programs for AAA technical staff.

He has more than twenty-five (25) years experience as an automotive mechanic, machinist, designer, fabricator and welder. He has first-hand repair experience on passenger vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, road tractors, trailers, off-road and farm equipment, over this time period.

He is a National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (was N.I.A.S.E., now A.S.E.) Certified General Automobile Mechanic, Certified General Heavy Duty Truck Mechanic, and a Certified Body Repair Mechanic.

He has written professionally for "Motor" magazine, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and for the "Midwest Motorist", as well as a column entitled "Smokey Pipes Auto Advice" in a publication for widows.

He has served as an automotive consultant to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including its Bureau of Consumer Protection, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has testified before the United States House of Representatives subcommittee on Consumer Protection concerning auto repair problems resolution.

He was appointed to membership in the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in 1974 to serve on a Transportation Research Board subcommittee on vehicle inspection, regulations, and emissions. He was appointed to member status in the Society of Automotive Engineers that same year. He holds a BS in Business Management and a BS in Public Administration from Tarkio College, St. Louis, MO.