1961
CORVETTE MAKO
SHARK
: When Bill Mitchell, the head of General Motors, hooked
and landed a shark during a deep sea fishing holiday off
Bimini, it inspired the development of the Mako Shark
1 concept car. The aggressive look and graded coloration
of the mounted shark head set the styling motif for the
design by Larry Shinoda of a car that became known as
the Corvette Shark. From inspiration to realization took
no more than a few months, the aim being to debut the
Shark during a race weekend at Elkhart Lake in the summer
of 1961. Painted in an iridescent blue that blended into
a white underbody, the Shark, like its namesake, caused
a sensation when it toured the course at Elkhart Lake
and was officially displayed by Chevrolet for the first
time at the New York Show in April, 1962.
"The Mako Shark came with a Latham supercharger.
The Latham was quite an elaborate set-up, with the side
draft carburetors and all. So to show off this little
bit of exotica, we developed some very fine detail for
the hood bulge. The radial chrome fin arrangement let
you see the supercharger as you eye moved over the hoodline.
This feature got a lot of play in the mags.
