Few Corvette designs have quickened the pulse and captured the imagination, like the XP-755 concept car known as the Mako Shark. The legendary Mako was designed by Larry Shinoda, working for Bill Mitchell, the head of GM Styling and Design.
The Mako Shark may be the most influential Corvette prototype ever produced.
Only two models were ever made, one of which was a $3 million “pusher” that couldn’t move under its own power. In April of 1965, this awe-inspiring show car made its debut at the New York International Auto Show.
Many thought the Mako Shark II concept would make its way into the upcoming generation of Corvette. In 1968 they were disappointed to find out GM chose to put out a toned-down C3 design in hopes of wider appeal.
This decision by GM led John Silva and Joel Rosen to bring to market the first total body kit for the C3 inspired by Bill Michell’s Mako Shark II design. A kit-car package they conveniently called the Maco Shark to avoid GM entanglement.
This brief synopsis of the Mako history serves as a connecting rod to this heart-warming “field-find” story. A story of a young man’s desire to own a Mako Shark one day.
Decades later by sheer luck he spots a replica lying in a field as he drives through North Carolina’s countryside. He gathers what’s left and proceeds to build his dream Corvette.
This story is one of those urban myth field-find tales that we just had to bring to you.
What follows is the edited transcript of our conversation with John Martin and how he found a Mako Shark replica and brought it back to life. Enjoy!
Rare Field Find
Rod Worley – Editor – John, when did you first start with Corvettes? Have you always admired Mako Sharks?
John Martin – Owner – Rod, my first car I ever worked on was a 1961 Corvette. My stepfather also had 1971 454 that we worked on as well.
I remember seeing a picture of the Mako Shark II in an early car magazine and just fell in love with it. At one point, I even considered building one out of reproduction parts.
So, years later, my wife and I were taking my daughter to college in North Carolina. On the way back, we’re driving in a rural area outside Red Bridge, North Carolina, when I spotted this car in a field.
It was scattered with a bunch of other cars in a field between a large cinder block building and a house.
We got out of the car and ran into the field to check it out. Sure enough, it was an original 70s Mako replica!
After some research and phone calls, I found out the Locklear family owned the property. Come to find out, the father who owned the property had just passed away about the same time I first spotted the car.
They told me that people had been trying to buy the Mako off their father for 20 years, and he wouldn’t sell it. In the end, they agreed to let me have the car if I promised to restore it.
Hidden In The Tall Grass
Rod Worley – Editor – What kind of condition was the car in when you saw it? How could you tell whether the fiberglass was period correct?
Is it a Silva & Rosen original? If I remember correctly, Joe Silva created the fiberglass panels and essential components.
Joel Rosen handled the mechanical, chassis, and suspension upgrades.
John Martin – Owner – Well, it had the one-piece rear clip. I could tell it was an early original and not a later reproduction because it was extremely thick, solid fiberglass.
It didn’t have a rear-end under it. The frame was sitting buried in the ground, rusted.
I didn’t immediately find the front-end but eventually spotted it barely visible through the tall grass. It was pretty beat up, but we did get the front-end and the other salvageable pieces back to Atlanta.
What makes the car unique is the rear tail light panel. Very few people have seen this treatment with the single tail light.
The debate is still ongoing, whether it’s a Silva/Rosen rear fiberglass clip. Though, I have yet to see another original 70s Mako with this tail light treatment.
You can tell the rib rear tail light panel was actually molded in that fashion and not created with Bondo when you look at it.
Bringing It Back To Life
Rod Worley – Editor – With so much of the original Corvette rusted away; you literally had to rebuild the car from the ground up. What were some of the components you used in the build?
John Martin – Owner – The frame we’re using now is from a 1973 big-block Corvette with the matching birdcage and cowl. It was an SCCA frame set up for racing, which was convenient.
We took the VIN off of the original cowl and put it on the new one. The build is a homogenization of parts because so much of it had rusted away in the field.
It’s got a 1973 454 engine under the hood, though obviously, it’s not a matching number. The transmission is a Muncie M22 Rock Crusher.
The rear end is from a 1997 Corvette because I was not too fond of the original trailing arm. The front suspension lowers are from Global West and were custom dropped so that the coil-overs would lower the control arms. The uppers are fully adjustable.
Whenever you build a Mako, the hardest part is getting the front suspension right because there is a large opening in the front wheel well.
You have to play around quite a bit with the front suspension to get the nose to drop down in the wheel well without hitting the air cleaner or ruining your oil pan. There is a lot of trickery involved in getting the stance right.
We decided to build it with some modern conveniences, so it has a vintage air conditioner, hydraulic clutch, and hydro-boost from the power steering to give it power brakes. I did away with the fan and shroud because we have electronic fans on it now.
Because rust had destroyed so much of the car, we were left with a blank palette to make the changes we needed to make.
Restoration Expertise
Rod Worley – Editor – John, there aren’t many people with the skillset to pull off a Corvette restoration of this magnitude. With many pieces missing, you’ve got to have the expertise to essentially build this Vette from the ground up and make it look right in the end.
I’m sure you searched across the country for the right shop. Who did you choose, and how many working hours do you think they have in this project?
John Martin – Owner – Off the top of my head, I don’t know exactly how many hours we’ve got into the project.
We stuck to 25 hours of labor per week for about a year and a half. That comes out to about 1,750 hours, which seems right.
As far as who to thank for the restoration and fabrication?
That’s easy. The first is Corvette Restoration at 12265 Glass Overlook Rd SE, Elizabeth, Indiana.
The second is Checkered Flag Automotive right here at 900 Sun Valley Dr #1, Roswell, Georgia.
Dream Becomes Reality
It’s rare when a third-generation Corvette field-find gets a chance at a second life. It’s rarer still when that field-find turns out to be a Mako Shark replica.
Feasting your eyes on John Martin’s beautifully detailed Corvette is a sensory treat. The unmistakable contours and body lines take you back to the original 60’s era Mako Shark II.
It was a time when Larry Shinoda and Bill Mitchell set the automotive world on fire with their bold, futuristic styling. A time when a young man’s imagination was captured, and now, decades later, finally brought to life.
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