I love concept cars from the 60s and 70s. In many cases they still look futuristic today. As for this beauty, gorgeous. I wonder how much weight was added with the multitude of electric motors/solenoids that operate all the moving bits. Among many other old concepts, this is on my screensaver slideshow
Hidden wipers had been a nuisance, as a n owner like the headlights they would stick, usually closes, these operations are made via vacuum and man they used 100 miles of vacuum lines back then .. idea great execution not so much lol ......I agree car manufacturers are asleep at the wheel With iPad cars these days
"Wtf happened to car companies, man?" Outside of Tucker and Walt Disney corporate America has never had vision or courage. Just take a look at how they embrace the new religion of woke. Takes a brain-dead coward to embrace it, and corporate America is populated almost exclusively by those types.
@WaiWu The designers don't have the freedom that they had in the '60s. The cars are much better built and the engineering has improved greatly but I agree -- they're just not as imaginatively designed. It was a golden but wacky era. What manufacturer today would paint a car to mimic the colors of a shark the head of design caught?
Awesome video, Luv the Mako shark look, my dad worked for GM and bought home a book on Automotive History, there was a s full page picture of the Mako shark Vette and was I HOOKED, no punn intended..
Some of GM Designer Larry Shinoda's best work. Agreed, this should've been put into production...just another missed opportunity. It's missed opportunities like this which is why the car industry here in the UK is almost dead, please don't let it happen to you guys in the US!
1965 Mako Shark 2 (in Video) which GM made 2 copies; one a non-running display Mach-Up and the working model in the Video. It was restyled in 1969 as the Manta Ray which when it isn't on tour or at Car Shows resides in the GM Heritage Museum, usually parked along side the 61 Mako 1. BTW: The Mako 1's Chassis,some body parts, and Clear Bubble Top came from the 1958 XP-700 Concept Corvette which disappeared after 1959. Many people thought it had been wrecked and destroyed but was in the GM Styling Shop later becoming the 61 Mako Shark 1 ...
They only made one. It was remodeled (in about 1970-71) to make the Manta Ray show car. Which I thought was sad. I preferred the tail on this car. The Manta Ray looked much like the Mako Shark in the front, but had a long "dove" tail that Chevrolet used to modeled the 1974-79 rear end, but didn't really properly do that. I saw the Manta Ray at the Monterey Historic's about 10 years ago. I believe it's still owed by GM, but they need money. Maybe you can buy it?
If only the bean counters didn't control GM thru most of its post-war history. DeLorean was willing to take risks. But that type of personality didn't fit into the buttoned-up style of GM and he left. About the time he quit GM started losing market share and to this day they are still headed in the wrong direction.
Oh, OK. I stand corrected. I read that tidbit of info in a Corvette book (albeit a 45 years old book). Maybe Chevy realized they needed both cars and built up another one. PS, I'd like to go to that museum someday. Where is it?
@Supergungun while of course. :-P But honestly that car is the coolest Corvette I ever seen. The paint is just awesome! And I like the part where it says "Making it easy for anyone to drive" and then they show a women driving. :-P
True. But 3 years later Chevy would introduce the C3 corvette and many of the ideas (toned down of course) displayed here would show up on that car over its production life cycle.
@mrpitv Plus safety regulations... it's good for a car to be safe but they shouldn't tell designers how to be safe. The only company that have innovative concepts is BMW, too bad they don't intend to sell them anytime soon.
the painters of the car could never get the paint to match the mako shark that the head of design caught so they sneaked into his office one night and repainted the shark to match the car!
Some guy here in Norway built a couple of these with custom paint jobs. Sadly enough, the first one was incinerated in the 80`s buy some jealous loser(s). Nowadays it exists as the "Mako Shark III". Valsjø`s custom Corvette.
This car pretty much proves GM builds piece of shit cars. I'm an American and it hurts to say that, but no American car company really gives a shit whether their cars can stand the test of time, and whether they're built to last. there's no pride in the plastic tubs we call cars today :'/
