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.
