Twas the Night Before Christmas - Corvette Style - Description ...

After the ‘68 Mako-styled production Corvette came out, the show car was somewhat of an unwanted
child. In ‘69 GM’s chief of design, Bill Mitchell decided to take the Mako Shark III farther with a revised nose,
and a long tapered tail with a sugar scoop-styled rear roof design. The revised car was called the “Manta Ray”
and made its appearance in 1970. Unfortunately, the 1966 running Mako Shark II was cut up to make the Manta
Ray, meaning that the running car that inspired Silva’s Maco is no longer. The Manta Ray is still around, but
the Mako Shark II running version is history. Too bad the ‘66 running Mako wasn’t kept in tack and the Manta
Ray build as its own car. Oh well, you can’t keep them all, I suppose.
So, “hat’s off” to Rich Walker for preserving a piece of Corvette history when most sane cars buys would
have let a throw away old Corvette go back into the ground.
Corvette Timeline Tales: August 26 – 28, 2011
30th Anniversary of Corvettes at Carlisle Show!
Corvettes here, there, and everywhere. CORVETTES as far as the eye can see!
It all began on September 26,
1974 when friends Bill and
Chip Miller rented the
Carlisle Fairgrounds for
their first old car parts swap
meet. Some 600 vendors
rented 800 spaces and over
13,000 car enthusiasts paid
$1.00 each to attend. Year
after year, Chip and Bill
kept improving their
operation. In 1981 the
Millers bought the 82-acre
parcel of land and not only
created a local landmark,
but established an enterprise
that brings in $97 Million dollars to the local economy. Carlisle, Pa has never been the same since!
Being Corvette enthusiasts to begin with, Chip and Bill didn’t need much coaxing to launch a Corvetteonly
show in August 1981. Over 25,000 Corvette lovers attended to see over 2,000 Corvettes, and a new
Corvette tradition was born. Since then everyone who’s anyone in the world of Corvettes has been to the
Carlisle show: Zora Arkus-Duntov, Dave Mclellan, Dave Hill, Larry Shinoda, Wil Cooksey. race car
drivers including, John Fitch, Mario Andretti, Dick Guldstrand, Tony Delorenzo, artists including Dana
Forrester, Dan McCrary, and the list goes on and on.
If you have never been to the Carlisle, let me describe the facility. The first thing that you are aware of is
that the place is HUGE! Carlisle is located in the rolling hills of south east Pennsylvania in what is known
as “Pennsylvania Dutch Country.” The town of Carlisle dates back to 1751, but is most known for the
Carlisle War College that dates back to 1904. Carlisle is also known for the Carlisle Indian Industrial
School that was started in 1879. After you enter the fairground, if you look around, you’ll see that the
facility is situated in a very large bowl-shaped area. For the Corvettes show, Carlisle productions only
allows Corvettes to park in the infield. So, when you are inside, all you see are CORVETTES. Aside from
a few trucks and support vehicles, everywhere you look, you see CORVETTES. After four or five hours,
it’s sensory overload. “Oh look! Ah, just another ZR1!”