The name of Chevy’s incredible sports car was taken straight from the small, fast class of naval warship bearing the same name. Today, the Corvette is synonymous with Chevrolet. In fact, this entire list could easily consist of nothing but Corvette concepts, like the forgotten CERV III concept known as the “first functional, electronic high-tech Corvette concept car.”
A few years later, the vice president of GM’s Styling Staff (now General Motors Design Center) caught a Mako Shark while deep-sea fishing off the coast of Florida. He thought its sleek appearance and pointed nose would look great on a Corvette, and in 1961, the experimental Mako Shark Corvette show car (known as XP-755 internally) was created.
They took the shark idea so far that the car was painted with various shades of iridescent blue that gradually gave want to white sides and lower body, mimicking the colors on the Mako. The menacing nose, “gills” acting as lights below the front bumper, and the four-into-two side pipes all made it look very much like a shark.
During its tenure, the Mako was fitted with various experimental engines, including a fuel-injected engine, a V8 with two four-barrel carburetors, and even a supercharged engine with four side-draft carburetors. According to GM, the engine currently sitting in the Mako only has one four-barrel carburetor attached to a 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) ZL-1 V8 from 1969, kicking out nearly 425 hp. The block, heads, and intake manifold are all made from aluminum.
