Early 1960s at a car show with my new wife,one of my own cars was also in the show,but she fell totally in love with Jeffries' Manta Ray ! At the time it was painted peril Sea Foam Green,she super loved that color. Had me paint her car{used Studebaker 57 Golden hawk} the same color as soon as I could. The only green I ever painted that I like the way it came out.
The only more beautiful Corvette than the Mako Shark II is the Sting Ray racer. I love both the C2 and C3!! (oh, and the C1 too!)
gorgeous car! one of my heroes as a kid was Jacque Cousteau, i started diving when i was 15 here in lakes and ponds, then when i could drive we would take trips to long island sound. murky, dark and on a good day 20 ft of visibility. then i dove in the Caribbean........other than to help salvage a few sunk boats and items i have not dove up here since.
and Ryan, if you have ever had to give up your catch bag to a shark or barracuda, you realize how true this statement is
I still have one ... It's a 1/32 scale thought but it's still cool.... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It is in the Petersen, not sure if they own it, but it has been there for quite some time. It was really nice to finally see it in person still have the copy of Hot Rod with it on the cover. Bob
The Mako shark II and the many variants and homages that have come after have had a giant influence on my life and career. The man that taught me to draw a car and helped push me into the auto design field worked on the Mako Shark II back in the 60's. My first car in high school ended up being a 1979 c3. When I started my career at General Motors design the C7 concept car sat outside my studio. I loved walking past that for my first 6 months. And the first production part to hit the road that I made was the gauge cluster on the C7. Every once in a while the bring it back to the studios and I find myself taking extra long breaks to just hover around it. If not for that car, I wouldn't have moved to MI, met my wife or had my kids. So I guess to sum it up, yeah I kind of like it (First pick is Jerry Wolfe Alward, my mentor, and the second is 15 yr old me the day after I picked up my '79) Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Bill Mitchell was arguably the last great stylist at GM. He had a better 'eye' IMO than Harley Earl, eschewing Earl's penchant for gimmicks and garishness with more emphasis on basic form. He was also the responsible party for the first-gen Rivieras. But the one that got away was the Aerovette; it was actually approved for production in 1980, but Mitchell's retirement (along with Ed Cole and Zora Arkus-Duntov) before actual production left the car with no defenders and the design was unceremoniously dumped by the new GM CEO due to costs and concern about how well the rear-engine design would be accepted.
NOTE: (Edward) Dean Jeffries’ son Kevin Dean Jeffries was listed as the owner of the Manta Ray when it was shown at Pebble in August 2017.
This is a fine aspect in real time of why I always felt "our" world ended in 1971. Aside from this shark/ray inspired design study there's things the big 4 did that would rattle the cages of HAMB members worldwide. In a good way, not as in "WTF", although there's some of that too. One could argue this point for days on end, but even if we remove the aesthetics (beautiful as they can be, like this topic) and we look at the power train end of all that jazz there's no argument as to how "we" came to benefit from it. REALLY benefit, like the legendary 426 HEMI, the inimitable Mark IV BBC, who doesn't love a Cobra Jet (whether it be FE or Lima), even AMC stoked the fires with their high-zoot version of the 401. Of course the commercial side of things indeed gave rise to the muscle car, and that's not even a bad thing really, they're just too "store bought" among this crowd with few exceptions. At the end of all that the insurance industry pulled a gun on us, compression dropped, safety was enhanced (good for us, bad for the artists), tree huggers dug in too, then the Oil Embargo of the 70s disarmed all but the most hearty of car folk. But in clay studios up to those fateful years there was magic in the air we haven't even seen yet, some of it 50+ years old. Some of it ends up on the random concours field now and then and it takes a keen eye to spot it. Great topic, thanks... Edit: from the 'worthless w/out pics' dept, this little design study from the GM studios had the most flawless true candy red I've ever seen. EVER, even through polarized sunglasses. The blue one in the background didn't come out well but they all had similar exhaust, some had protruding F.I. plenums in chrome like this one.
Thanks Ryan for a cool thread. A {STORY} As a kid in the early sixties I was a Corvette NUT! My parents took me to the 64 - 65 New York worlds fair. I came home dreaming of the cars of the future. So when the Mako Shark hit the magazines and show circuits. I was in LOVE ! I thought it was the coolest and best designed car ever produced. I still think that. So in 1970 my dad helped me finance my first car, a 68 Corvette. I spent the first night in it, when we got home. lol I thought in years to come, that I would make a Mako Shark out of it some day. That never happen. But I did keep it to this day. Here's a picture of a toy Mako Shark, thatI picked it up at a five and dime store in the 70's. Also one of my date { now my wife} at a junkyard in my 68. I'm still a Corvette Nut, who loves Rods and Kustoms too! Ron...
I love these Corvette concepts. As far as Chevrolet copying the Banshee, the Corvair Monza GT and SS came out first.
The 'blisters' on the front and rear fenders of the 63-65 Riviera have always reminded me of the early 60s Corvettes. Considering the turbine wheel cover option in 63/64, I've always thought a first gen riv would look killer lowered over some of those turbine looking Kelsey Hayes Corvette wheels... too bad about the bolt pattern or I would currently have some instead of my western wire wheels.
Yes I did tell her. We had just seen the movie American Graffiti, with the scene where Milner was walking threw the junkyard. She liked old cars, and also going to the Drags. So I knew then that she was a Keeper. And we still have the Vette too.
This was an interesting one also.....the XP-755 Corvette Shark... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As a kid , I too was enthralled with the concept cars and Stingrays. Running neck and neck with old hot rods... I always knew I’d have a coupe. Along with a ‘68 BB roadster project, this ‘64 keeps that flame alive. Ryan I agree it’s all about stance in Vettland : IMG_3734 by bowie posted Aug 1, 2014 at 6:57 PM
Anytime the talk of the shark or ray design inspired Corvettes comes up I always wonder who "really" came up with this design. While Ray Shinoda is often given the full credit for the Mako Shark car that was the ultimate car that the design came from, I often wonder if that is correct. I wonder because of an obscure little car that has slipped by and is very seldom if ever mentioned. This was the Fitch Phoenix. John Fitch was a race car driver of some note in his day. he designed the Fitch Phoenix from plans he first drew back in 1959 as the story goes. If that is true that is long before the Mako Shark and the C3 Corvette which came along in 1964 I believe. Could the idea and the ultimate design of the Mako have come from ideas and drawings and from a man that never got the credit he deserved. I guess we will never know for sure one way or the other, but the Fitch Phoenix was built and still exist today. It was for a time considered by Chevrolet for introduction. It was a interesting car Corvair powered but no one can miss the styling ideas of this car. Food for thought I guess and little more...
Just thought I'd throw this one in the mix...it's got some Corvette styling... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Mako II. I loved them all, but the Mako II influenced many things in my life, including my first of many Corvette purchases.Also, in the late 70's I raced BMX and before I got a major sponsorship, I had a DG frame that I had our shop painter extraordinaire paint in a blue to gray fade.Mike, our resident artist, told me that dreamers will incubate a concept for long periods of time, until they have the money to override their common sense.....that pretty much explains me to a tee
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