Forgive my ignorance, I am jumping from the ZR-1 board to ask a question. I will state what I heard back then and then you can correct me.
In 1985 I had a friend who had just sold a 1973 corvette for $6500. I saw it and was sick that I missed it. It appeared to have some kind of body kit on it and sidepipes. The hatch (rear window) was louvered fiberglass that appeared to be molded into the body. I'm sure the sidepipes had nothing to do with the kit but the creases above the front tires seemed to be "sharper" if that makes any sense. The lower part of the body under the doors seemed to be shaped a little different (possibly to fit the sidepipes). All in all the whole body of the car seemed a lot more aggressive than normal. Kind of like if a body builder who was not in training was a normal '73 corvette ~ then this one looked like a body builder who went on a water loss program and sucked all the water down to just show the muscle definition better. My buddy told me it was a "MAKO" corvette. Now that I am a little more educated about corvettes in general (a little :o , not much) I know that the Mako corvette was an entirely different car altogether. Although this '73 was very aggressive looking, it was definitely not a real Mako (wrong yr + wrong body style). Was there ever a body kit put out by Eckler or someone that fits the description? I know I have given very sketchy details but it has been many years and I have never seen another like it. It is a long shot but can someone enlighten me on such insubstantial information. What was this car?

 

I suppose your buddy had Mako Shark II bodykit in his car! Mako Shark 2 prototype was created in 1965. There was a bodykit about that prototype, but I do not recall who made that kit.

After Mako Shark II there was MantaRay (in 1969 I think), that was pretty much similar to Mako Shark 2.

Here is few pics of that Mako Shark 2: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z1867/default.aspx

 

I think in the past there were add on parts for groups of years (68-73) and the Mako Shark II kit form the mid 60's etc. but nothing specifically made for a 73...I may be wrong... some have added fender flairs, air dams, ground affects for that look. Just personal preference, some do it tastfully, others just add on stuff and take away from great look of the 73. IMO the best changes to do are just lower the height, do some suspension work, add some nice wheels, maybe change the hood and the Check Vanacors for fiberglass add ons and kits...........

 

May have been one of the many Greenwood/Ecklers widebody conversions. There is a huge gallery of different ones at the Greenwood Corvette's history site.

http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/Streetcars.html

Here's a widebody CanAm with sidepipes, louvers etc as you describe

 

The pic in the bottom is a car from Virginia..I know the owner....It is a CAN AM 2 kit, with the 3 taillights across the back. The CANAM 2 kit, only has the 2 taillight option.

Go to www.makoshark2.com

You will find your answers on that Custom Corvette forum.

Could have been a MAko car, a baldwin motion or even a greenwood

Andy

 

Did it look anything like this?

GUSTO

 

Sounds like your firned's car had some Mako panels on it. If memory serves, there was an aftermarket kit one could purchase to make C3s resemble the Mako Shark show car.

 

Thanks for all the info. Through this thread I not only found a dedicated forum for these cars, but also connected to one for sale. Wow you guys are on the ball. To get all that from such little info is amazing to me. If anyone wonders, this is obviously what my friends car was. It is not exactly like the one posted here but it was similar to the one for sale. The front end was like the one posted but the louvered window in the back was more triangular. Again, Thanks and much respect for your knowlege.