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Here's the story:
lllustrated Corvette Series No. 38 - 1969 Manta Ray Show Car Corvette
The
1965 Mako Shark II may well have been the most exciting Corvette show
car of all time. This one show car had more direct impact on future
production Corvettes than any other. The car was a world traveler as GM
trotted the Mako Shark II all over the automotive globe, wowing car
lovers everywhere it went.
By 1968, with the debut of the new C3 Corvette, the Mako Shark was old
news. But when your pockets are as deep as GM's, why not make a great
thing even greater? Even though $2.5 million had been spent on the Mako
Shark II, the General spent almost another $3 million on the Manta Ray!
The biggest change was the long, tapered tail, a 'la the Astro Vette
Show Car. Endura bumpers gracefully covered functional metal bumpers.
The roof line featured a beautiful, sweeping, tapered style, similar to
a Sting Ray roof, but scooped out with a small slot for a rear window.
For hard braking and turn signaling, flip up lights popped out of the
rear deck. Four taillights were fared in under the rear bumper line
with a center-located license-plate holder.
An awesome show car should have an awesome engine. The Manta Ray used
the new, all-aluminum, ZL-1 engine with a special air cleaner. Side
pipes were beautifully crafted into the side rocker panels and sounded
great. This was part of the Bill Mitchell trademark.
The nose of the car was basically unchanged, except for an extended
bumper ring around the air inlets and a small chin spoiler. Normal
sideview mirrors were deleted in favor of small, bullet-shaped mirrors
that were attached to the top of the A-pillers. Like the previous Mako
Shark cars, the Manta Ray was painted dark blue with pearl white
fogging along the lower edges. Special badges and Corvette
crossed-flags insignias completed the car.
This may have been the last "pure" show car Corvette. Later show cars
were serious engineering studies. Cars like this sure got a lot of us
juiced up for the "next" Corvette. Ah, the stuff of daydreams!
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