Mega-Rare Baldwin-Motion Corvette Mako Shark II

Brash and extroverted, this is one classic Corvette you’re unlikely to see at your local cruise night.

While poring over auction results (a common pastime here at Corvette Forums), we found one of the rarest C3s ever built. It sold last month at Mecum’s Kissimmee, Florida sale, and, frankly, we’re embarrassed that we somehow missed it then. It’s time to fix that mistake.

Balwin Chevrolet’s Baldwin-Motion Supercars need little introduction around these parts. At the height of the muscle car era, this New York dealership built and sold the hottest dealer-prepped muscle cars around. In addition to Camaros and Vegas, they built some seriously fast Corvettes.

We’ve covered the Baldwin-Motion Corvettes here on Corvette Forum before. However, we’ve never had a chance to talk about their wildest creation, the Baldwin-Motion Corvette Mako Shark II, until now.

A Concept Car for the Street

As evidenced by its name and general appearance, the Baldwin-Motion Corvette Mako Shark II is based heavily on the Mako Shark II concept car. Chevrolet debuted the Mako Shark II concept car in 1965. Not only did it forecast the style of the upcoming C3 Corvette, it also had some futuristic features as well.

The production C3 was a kinder, gentler, and altogether more production-friendly design. Baldwin-Motion stepped up to the plate with their take on the wild Mako Shark II.

Very little information is available online about these machines. From what we’ve seen, Baldwin-Motion built just six Corvette Mako Shark IIs. They were expensive, high-dollar machines then and now. Like all Baldwin-Motion creations, they also packed impressive horsepower under the hood to back up their wild appearance.

Motive Power

In this case, the “motion” part of the famous Baldwin-Motion name comes from a 427 cubic inch big block. Specially prepared by Motion Performance, it’s good for a whopping 520 horsepower. It breathes through a massive 950 CFM carburetor and sends spent gases through a custom set of side pipes.

All of that power is sent through a four-speed manual transmission fitted with a rare rare Hone-O-Drive overdrive unit. With its steep 4.88 rear gears (with Positraction, naturally), it certainly needs help keeping those revs low on freeway cruises.

Of course, the Baldwin-Motion Corvette Mako Shark II wasn’t all about show and go — it was about comfort and convenience, too. This one has power steering, power brakes, power windows, and an AM/FM stereo (kind of a big deal in those days).

With a car as rare and over-the-top as this, you’d expect that the original owner was just as interesting as the car they drove. You’d be 100% right in this case. This blue-on-blue example was built specifically for Reggie Fountain, the owner of Fountain Power Boats.

If you know your boats, you know the Fountain name well. They’re one of the oldest and most respect names in go-fast off-shore hardware. Suffice to say that Mr. Fountain’s thirst for speed and performance was quenched both in the water and on land. You can thank his Baldwin-Motion Corvette Mako Shark II for the latter.

Photos: Mecum Auctions

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