Chevrolet Concept Cars: Ten Of Our Favorites

1962 Corvair Monza GT, 1963 Monza SS
Bertone wasn't the only company working on transforming the frumpy Corvair into a sexy sports coupe. General Motors itself was hard at work on the same task, and may have created the most attractive Corvair spin-off of all time. Chevrolet's R&D group was hard at work adapting the Corvair's flat-six-cylinder for use in a front-engine, front-wheel-drive vehicle, but its customized powertrain package - which placed the engine just ahead of the transaxle - sparked Mitchell's imagination. Why not place that configuration behind the cockpit and create a compact, mid-engine sports coupe? The idea was kicked into motion when engineer Jim Musser suggested he could have a running chassis built for Mitchell within months - just in time to exhibit at an SCCA race in Elkhart Lake. Thus, the XP-777 was born. While Musser set about crafting a steel monocoque chassis, Larry Shinoda and Anatole Lapine labored in secret on the car's shape. The duo created a timeless shape that blended cues from both the C2 Corvette and period Porsche racing coupes. A low, slim nose curved outwards to sensuously flowing fenders, and also housed headlamps beneath clamshell doors. Like the Testudo, entry to the cockpit was by way of a flip-forward canopy, which was integrated with a large wrap-around front window. Access to the engine was likewise gained by hinging the rear bodywork aft of the axle. The next year, GM followed up with the Monza SS, built atop yet another iteration of the XP-777 chassis, but with some significant mechanical differences. The car still employed torsion bar suspension and Corvair-based powertrain, but adopted a true rear-engine configuration instead of the Monza GT's mid-engine setup. At the time, GM was considering pushing both the Monza SS and GT into production as low-cost alternatives to the Corvette, and it was felt the rear engine configuration improved serviceability. GM had started developing both the SS and GT into production cars, but it's largely believed slow sales of the 1965 Corvair -- to say nothing of Ralph Nader's campaign against the Corvair's reputation -- forced the demise of the program. Still, some good came of all that work: the XP-777 encouraged Chevy R&D to pursue further research into suspension development. Better yet, the GT caught the eye of Jim Hall, who would cooperate in secret with GM to develop and evaluate his string of Chaparral racers throughout the remainder of the decade.

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1966 Chevrolet Turbo Titan
The triad of Firebird concepts may have added a dash of sex appeal to GM's experiments with gas turbine powerplants, but the majority of the automaker's turbine pursuits actually involved commercial vehicles. In fact, GM's first turbine-powered vehicle was a dowdy transit bus built in 1954, nearly two years before the jet-shaped Firebird I made its way to the Motorama stand. Some of the Firebird's whiz-bang styling and gimmickry managed to find its way into at least one of GM's commercial vehicles. While earlier Chevrolet Turbo Titan prototypes simply shoehorned turbines into existing heavy-duty vehicles, the 1966 Turbo Titan III looked like nothing else on the world. A chiseled cab incorporated a massive, panoramic glass windshield, while two nacelles helped feed air into the turbine. Gimmicks included gullwing doors, pop-out headlamps and turn signals, and a plush interior. The most unusual feature was the steering. Instead of a conventional wheel, the driver made steering inputs through one of two large dials. Beneath the skin, the Turbo Titan's chassis was rather conventional, save for its powertrain. GM's new GT-309 turbine was mated with a six-speed Allison automatic transmission. GM claimed the engine produced 280 hp, but its true selling point was low-end torque. As the engine's power turbine and output shaft approached stalling speed, it could produce yield as much as 875 lb-ft of torque. A new power transfer function, which mechanically connected the engine's gasifier and power turbines, provided for increased engine braking. Although engineers ran the truck from coast to coast several times, the truck itself was little more than a promotional vehicle, and was ultimately scrapped when deemed irrelevant. GM's gas turbine program suffered a similar fate. GMC promised to offer a gas turbine in its Astro 95 cabover and several transit coaches between 1971 and 1973, but the turbine's thirst for fuel, along with rising oil prices, forced GM to scrap the idea altogether.

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1965 Mako Shark II/ XP-830
Just because the 1963 Corvette was a styling home run didn't mean designers could sit about and rest on their laurels. The seeds of what would turn into Mako Shark II - and, subsequently, the third-generation Corvette - were planted in 1964. Mitchell tasked Larry Shinoda's group to develop a mockup for a single-seat, open-wheeled sports car into a fixed-roof, two-seat coupe - or, in other words, something that could become the next Corvette. Introduced at the 1965 New York auto show, the Mako Shark II was a dramatic departure from previous production and conceptual Corvettes. The low nose and arching fenders were reminiscent of the Monza GT and SS show cars -- as were the retractable headlamp covers -- but exaggerated to almost cartoonish proportions. A large bulge rising from the low hood wasn't for show, but necessary to provide room for a big-block V-8. Mitchell insisted the body taper to a rather narrow passenger cabin, which further empathized the wild fenders. The Mako Shark II's shape was equally radical out back, where its roofline narrowed to a triangular point, and its rear window obscured by adjustable louvers. A ducktail rear fascia swept upwards towards the car's beltline, and also housed a retractable lip spoiler and extendable thin bumpers. These were far from the only fanciful features on the car; the interior incorporated digital instrumentation, turn signals hidden behind opening, gill-like louvers, adjustable pedals, a rectangular steering wheel, and a roof panel that raised to aid entry and egress. Though it bore emblems indicating a 396-cubic-inch V-8 was installed, the Mako Shark II didn't actually function until several months after the fact. By the time GM showed the car at the Paris motor show later that year, it bore a 427-cubic-inch V-8, and was operational -- but it did do without the side-exit exhaust pipes and rectangular steering wheel. In typical Mitchell fashion, the car was modified again in 1969, a year after the third-generation Corvette it inspired launched. Renamed the Manta Ray, the car received a new, pointed tail, a revised rear window treatment, exposed headlamp fairings, and the mighty aluminum-block ZL1 454-cubic-inch V-8.