Welcome back to another blog! If you read my last post, I made a whole ordeal out of it being the last blog and how I had to pick the best car to write about. And yet, here we are with another post. That’s okay though it’s not like there is a shortage of automobiles in the world that I would have a hard time picking a subject. Today, we will be discussing a classic: the 1965 Mako Shark II. I’m not talking about the cool aquatic animal sadly, but rather a Corvette model that was said to be based on the “creatures of the deep”. The concept color was chosen to be gradient blue and gray to resemble the body of a shark.  

This car, designed by Bill Mitchell, made its debut in 1965 at the New York City Auto Show. Only two models were produced, as it was a concept car, and only one of the two was fully functional. The other was worth $3 million during its time, and you had to push it if you wanted it to go anywhere. Nevertheless, the importance of this concept car is that it pioneered the manufacturing of generations of Corvettes to come. I’d say it was the most influential concept car the company has ever produced. This version of the Mako Shark was a rendition of the original Mako Shark design by Larry Shinoda in 1961. The Mako Shark II had a rounder, slimmer, and sleeker design than its predecessor. It also provided a lower ride and a more compact seating area. 

Some of the unique features the concept car boasted were the reverse hinged hood and the flip-up convertible top. My personal favorite feature was the pop-up headlights. Some may describe this vintage style of headlights as gaudy or unnecessary, but they have a cool factor undoubtedly. Who wouldn’t want to press a button and have their headlights come out of nowhere? Unlike my previous posts, there isn’t much to say spec-wise about this car since it never “hit the road” in mass production. Instead, the Mako Shark II eventually gave way to several other Corvette models such as the Manta Ray and Sting Ray (I have no idea what they were trying to do with the sea animal theme at this point). The Manta Ray was a direct result of the Mako Shark II concept. What I mean is they changed the exhaust and slapped a front spoiler on before calling it something different. Production of this car only lasted a short time before being discontinued. The Corvettes currently being made are Stingrays (one word instead of two). The name was revived in 2015 after it left production in 1976. The 2022 Corvette Stingray has an MSRP of $60,900, a 2.9 second 0-60 time, and a top speed of 194 mph. But this summer look for a new Corvette model, the Z06. I’m not sure what the differences are, but I’ll be looking into it soon.

And before you go, I thought I might mention that Corvettes are a performance model by Chevrolet (I’ve realized a lot of people are unaware of this). So what I’m saying is that you could have a Corvette or you could have a Chevy Malibu. Either way, they are made by the same people. If you closely examine the Corvette emblem, the Chevy logo is hidden in it. Pay attention to the minor details.