Bill Mitchell’s 1961 Mako Shark Corvette | Shark Month Pt. 1

This is Shark Month at Corvette Report: A three-part look at Bill Mitchell’s Shark Corvette Obsession

Ever since The Discovery Channel’s “Shark Month” debuted on July 17, 1988, every summer the media features “shark” stories. But the one shark story they never talk about is Corvette Sharks. That’s exactly what we’re doing at Corvette Report this Shark Month.

From today’s perspective, when you talk about “Shark” Corvettes, everyone thinks of C3 1968-1982 Corvettes. But the Corvette “shark” thing didn’t start in 1968, or 1966, or 1965, or even 1961. The genesis of the Shark Corvette goes back to 1957 with Peter Brock’s Q-Corvette body design!

Over the next three episodes, we’ll follow the evolution of Bill Mitchell’s Shark Corvettes—from the 1961 Mako Shark-I, to the 1965 and 1966 Mako Shark-II concepts, and finally to the 1969 Manta Ray.

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Mitchell loved racing as much as he loved styling, so he bought the 1957 Corvette SS mule chassis and had Larry Shinoda create an open roadster version of Brock’s Q-Corvette. This became the 1959 Stingray Racer.

Mitchell had two objectives:

First, he wanted to go racing. Second, he wanted to see how the public reacted to Peter Brock’s radical new shape. Named “Stingray” and raced with Mitchell’s funding, the car won the SCCA C/Modified Championship in 1960. The public loved the new design, and by early 1960 it was decided that the 1963 Corvette would use the styling theme of the Sting Ray racer.

After the Stingray Racer won the championship, the car was refreshed and put to work on the show car circuit. This smart move kept the Stingray design in the public’s eye while designers and engineers were working out the details for production as the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.

Mitchell decided to take things further

Designer/Stylist Larry Shinoda worked out the details of translating the Stingray Racer’s shape into a real car that could be mass-produced. Mitchell then tasked Shinoda to take a 1961 Corvette and graft many of the design features of the upcoming 1963 Corvette.

Even the production 1961 and 1962 Corvettes hinted at what was coming. Chevrolet was already introducing styling cues that would soon define the revolutionary 1963 Sting Ray.

Back in the day, Detroit loved “dream cars”

With the 1963 Sting Ray still two years away, why not build a concept car that hinted at what was coming? Shinoda’s job was to blend design elements of the production Sting Ray, on a 1961 Corvette chassis, with Stingray Racer elements.

The only design element left from the 1961 production car was the windshield structure. From the windshield forward, the nose was taken directly from the Stingray Racer. Front bumpers and grille work were added to the pointed front end, along with shark gills just ahead of the front wheel wells.

Corvette Generational History

Our 1953–1962 C1 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

The center hood bulge had vents directly over the engine. In place of the Stingray Racer’s hood grate vents, the hood had recesses with lights that went on when the turn signals were used. Mitchell’s 1960 XP-700 dream car had side pipes that ran along the lower edge of the car’s sides. The Mako Shark-I went a step farther. The 327’s tube header exhausts routed through the front fender, angled down into a collector, and side-mounted mufflers.

The Mako Shark’s Jet Age roof

The Mako Shark’s roof was shaped like the 1961 production car, but made of clear Plexiglas. The periscope rear-view mirror used a prism to see over the top of the car. This trick feature didn’t make it into production.

Somewhere in the Mako Shark’s life cycle, the bubble top was replaced with a convertible rag-top. In recent years, the Mako Shark-I is mostly presented as an open-top roadster. The Mako Shark’s interior featured a stock dash with tight-holding bucket seats and a Ferrari steering wheel that was a gift from Enzo Ferrari.

The rear deck had pop-up mirror brake lights that went up together when braking and individually when the turn signals were engaged. At the back end, the Stingray Racer’s triple taillights on both sides were used, and small bumperettes and a license plate trim piece completed the back end.

It was around this time that Mitchell caught a Mako Shark fish while deep-sea fishing off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic. His “designer’s eye” was captivated by the shark’s coloring: steel blue gray fading to light gray to white on the belly.

Mitchell loved horsepower as much as he loved flash and pizzazz

Mitchell didn’t just want the Mako Shark to look fast. He wanted it to sound and perform like an exotic. Under the hood was a 327 fitted with a GMC 4-53 Roots-type supercharger and four Carter side-draft carburetors. The supercharger was tucked down inside the small-block’s V shape, between the insides of the cylinder walls. Nearly 50 years later, the C6 ZR1’s supercharger and intercooler were packaged the same way.

At all four corners, the Mako Shark wore chromed Dayton knock-off wire wheels for that European sports car look. Halibrand magnesium wheels were tried but rejected. I liked them better than the wire wheels because they were closer to the Stingray Racer.

Then there was the paint job

The Mako Shark-I’s distinctive paint job captivated Corvette fans for decades. The story goes that after Mitchell caught his Mako Shark fish, he had it stuffed, mounted, and hung up in his office. His direction to his painters was to make the Mako Shark Corvette look like the fish in his office. After several unsuccessful attempts, one weekend, the painters took Mitchell’s shark from his office and painted it to match their latest version. When Mitchell saw the latest paint job on the car, he said, “You guys really captured it!” The paint design was so striking that the Mako Shark-II and the Manta Ray featured the same paint design.

The public went wild!

In June 1961, the Mako Shark made its first public appearance to senior staff of the Design Staff at Road America raceway in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Everyone loved the bridge from the Stingray Racer to the upcoming Sting Ray. It wasn’t just the public. GM executives were just as captivated. Later in 1961, Chevrolet general manager Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen liked the Mako Shark so much, he had Chevrolet engineering make a copy of the show car as his daily driver. Then in April 1962, just six months before the debut of the production 1963 Sting Ray, the Mako Shark-I was shown at the 6^th International Auto Show in New York City.

Life after the production 1963 Sting Ray

The Mako Shark-I fulfilled its purpose after the 1963 Sting Ray was released to the public in the fall of 1962. For a few years, the car showed up for special events. So, what becomes of corporate show cars, experimentals, and mule cars? Often they go off to the crusher, but Mitchell kept his first shark around for a few upgrades.

Unlike most concept cars, the Mako Shark wasn’t frozen in time. Mitchell continued experimenting with it for years. It received an updated, Ferrari-like dashboard, several different experimental engines—including an experimental Rochester 327 Fuelie set-up, an experimental dual-quad intake, a 427 big-block—and eventually the all-aluminum ZL-1 that remains in the car today.

Other special features that were not available in 1961 were installed, including air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes. Later, Chaparral-style alloy wheels with wider tires were installed.

Where is the Mako Shark-I today?

The good news is that the Mako Shark-I is alive and well and is part of the GM Heritage Collection. It is periodically loaned to museums for special exhibits, including the Saratoga Automobile Museum in 2025 as part of its Corvette exhibit.

Coming up Next…

Corvette Report’s Shark Month will continue with a two-fer. Next, we’ll look at both versions of the Mako Shark II—the 1965 non-running show car and the fully functional 1966 version. This is the concept show car that did for the C3 Corvette what the 1959 Stingray Racer did for the C2 Corvette.

Plus, we’ll present a Mako Shark-II bonus that even many longtime Corvette enthusiasts have never seen! – Scott Teeters

Did you know the Mako Shark appeared on Route 66?

Before the Mako Shark captivated crowds at auto shows, it made a rare television appearance on CBS’s Route 66.

In the October 27, 1961 episode, “Once to Every Man,” Prudence “Prudie” Adams, played by Janice Rule, drives the futuristic XP-755 Mako Shark while Tod and Buz continue their cross-country adventures in their Corvette.

It was one of the public’s earliest opportunities to see the car that helped preview the upcoming 1963 Sting Ray. The Mako Shark-I appears at these points in the TV show: 14:13, 25:12, 32:37, and 39:54.

Think about the timeline:

• June 1961 — The Mako Shark I debuts internally at Road America.
• October 27, 1961 — It appears on national television in Route 66.
• October 1962 — The production 1963 Sting Ray is introduced.

That means millions of viewers may have seen the XP-755 a full year before they ever saw a 1963 Sting Ray in a Chevrolet showroom. They probably thought, “What on earth is that car?”

And then, 65 years later… Corvette Report finds it for you!

Corvette Generational History

Our 1953–1962 C1 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

The 1962–1967 C2 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

Also, 1968–1982 C3 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

The 1984-1996 C4 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.

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