A soft folding top was included with convertibles, while an auxiliary hardtop with a glass rear window was offered at additional cost. As before, the car was available in either coupe or convertible models, but coupe was now a notchback fitted with a near-vertical removable rear window and removable roof panels ( T-tops). GM had tried their best to keep the appearance of the upcoming car a secret, but the release of Mattel's die-cast Hot Wheels line several weeks before the C3's unveiling had a certain version of particular interest to Corvette fans: the "Custom Corvette", a GM-authorized model of the 1968 Corvette.įor 1968, both the Corvette body and interior were completely redesigned. The "Shark" has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox-and unintended-fashion. It was intended from the beginning that the rear window and that portion of the roof above the seats to be removable. The C3 also adopted the "sugar scoop" roof treatment with vertical back window from the mid-engined concept models designed by the Duntov group. The concept car's name was later changed to Manta Ray. The resulting lower half of the car was much like the Mako II, except for the softer contours.
Once the mid-engined format was abandoned, the Shinoda/Mitchell car was sent to Chevrolet Styling under David Holls, where Harry Haga's studio adapted it for production on the existing Stingray chassis. Executed under Bill Mitchell's direction, the Mako II had been initiated in early 1964. The Corvette C3 was patterned after the Mako Shark II designed by Larry Shinoda.
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