Is this a GM prototype or aftermarket?http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Body-...ayphotohosting

 

Looks very after market to me. Someone spent a lot though!

 

i dont like most the customs i see on ebay, but that one looks amazing.

 

It is an amazing looking show piece, but what I don't see is a single photo documenting it's authenticity. One would think such a car would have written record of it's origin.

 

Aftermarket. There only one of the real thing and GM still owns it. Nice work, though.

 

Definetely aftermarket.. Someone spent a lot of effort to recreate the MAKO Shark II /Manta Ray.. Very well done, but for sure not an original!!

 

Few mods on there I don't like.. If it looked more like the original mako/ manta I'd love that car.. Also, not a big fan of the fake side exhaust...

 

Hmm.........very interesting but I thought 1969 was the MAKO Shark II /Manta Ray prototype

 

It's a well-done custom, but the interior parts are obviously stock production.

 

If that car is a prototype, then my blue white '68 is a real C3 Grand Sport - the only one made

 

That is an owner built copy of the GM prototype. Nicely done and I would love to own it but the price is too rich for me. Thanks for the link.

-Mark.

 

I'll give him an A+ for effort, but it looks funny from the side, and so does the front end of it. On a side note, whoever built it has some serious talent. Compare it to the real one in this pic...

 

The "real Mako" is much different.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sdFcRQSfBIg

 

Mike Yeager has an earlier Mako prototype that is rear engined. It has a small block chevy with the firing order reversed and runs backwards since the engine faces the rear. It is currently in the back shop at Midamerica being restored. If you get a chance to go there ask to see it, it is a very cool car.

 

The guy told a good story, and certainly has a nice car. The vin indicates its the 24,875th Corvette made in 1974, and the 5th digit, J = ZQ3 350-cid V8, 195-hp, 4-barrel, or a base motor car. The front and interior of the car looks very well done, and you can see the car is BID to a high level compared with the standard 74 Corvette. The work required to do this costs more, so its not a moneymaking proposition unless you get a tired custom cheap, which seems to have happened here. There is a website for guys that only have Mako replicas, sometimes referred to by the body manufacturer as Maco Sharks. In any case the car will go to a good home.

Now the original Mako Shark II started as soon as the 63' split window was finished, and publicly debuted at the 1965 New York Auto show in April. It was a 65 chassis I would guess with a 396/427 Mk IV when it initially showed. Fully functional it was driven worldwide by VIP's. In the fall of 1967 with the impending release of the 1968 Corvette, the Mako Shark was restyled, and technically lost forever. The new car was called Manta Ray, and was much longer and less edgy in a few ways. Powered by a ZL-1 427 it was shown again for a short time before restyled again during the winter of 69/70 with sidepipes and more badging changes. The car itself allegedly originally cost 2.5 million dollars, and was one of the LAST, if not the last big one off show cars GM showcased. (If you don't count the Camaro of 2005 or whatever.)

SO there was one, it was modded and its now in the GM Museum. There was never another....but I would love an accurate Mako Shark II...

 

The vin number kills it. GM would have had a specfic number for a proto type vehicle. Not a 74 assembly line sequence numberl

 

the main reasons that the mako didnt make it was because "its too hard to see over the huge fender flairs" and it had a ton of unwanted fron end lift (obvious sourses)

he did however make it in great detain even making the side exaust non operational, he prob made the hood vents dummies like the Mako IV 396, cool replica though

Miles

 

Actually there were two Mako's. The first, a non running mock up displayed at a few major shows then a second running prototype that had all the cool gizmos Bill Mitchell could think of. That car became the donor for the Manta Ray. So as a functioning vehicle, the Mako Shark II no longer exists. Stories persist about bodies made from GM tooling and put on production cars for GM bigwigs. Remember, Mitchell drove the Stingray racer to work for years as his personal car before it became a museum piece. These things were cars first, nobody gave a crap about their furture collectability back in the day. Might this be one of those? Maybe, but it's a long shot. I'd bid on it if the exhaust came out the sides

 

If it were a real prototype I would think it be stored indoors but from the rattle can paint on the frame covering bolts, washers, cables, etc... It seems this car has spent some time in wet storage. Although It is a very nice looking car.