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Classic YouTube: Meeting The 1965 Mako Shark II, The Preview Of The C3 Corvette


Classic YouTube: Meeting The 1965 Mako Shark II, The Preview Of The C3 Corvette

One of the first concept cars I ever paid attention to was this exact car, the 1965 Mako Shark II. At a young age I could tell you that it was more or less the preview for the 1968 Chevrolet Corvette. I could tell you that the paint job, meant to mimic a mako shark’s dark upper/light lower body shading, looked absolutely bitchin’. And this is one of the few times that I fell in love with turbine wheels with tri-spoke knockoffs. But it’s what I didn’t know, or understand, that made this concept neat. First and foremost, it’s a 427 Corvette setup in the running and driving concept (there were two Mako IIs built, the other being a non-runner) and it showcased features such as hidden wipers, fiber-optic light warning systems, a power roof, and other trick features that for the time, were very radical. Then there’s simply the idea that they build a running, driving car in the first place. Corvette did not need to answer to anyone at this point in time. Corvette was the car of the astronauts, with several owning one. They were racing machines, they were style and substance and class in one shot. The gold-chainer jokes were years out, as was Cross-Fire Injection and 180-horsepower V8s. This was Chevy in full swagger mode…and it’s awesome to see. The running Mako Shark II concept got a makeover in 1969 and became the Manta Ray concept, which sported slightly different bodywork than it did as the Mako. Out of the two, I’d have to stick with the original…but either way you view it, you have to love seeing when GM had the fortitude to show off the goods on a television commercial!


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