(August 7, 2013) TACOMA, WASH. — Three of the most significant concept cars in Corvette history — the 1959 Stingray Racer, the 1961 Mako Shark and the 1969 Manta Ray — will make an appearance at the LeMay-America’s Car Museum — Aug. 9-11) to help kick off the museum’s new exhibit celebrating the fiberglass sports car’s 60th anniversary.

The original 1959 Stingray, a personal race car project for Bill Mitchell built by Larry Shinoda, Peter Brock and Chuck Pohlman, used a tubular space frame from a Corvette SS race car and a body fabricated out of aluminum-reinforced.

1961 Mako Shark

The 1961 Mako Shark was another of Shinoda’s creations while he worked for Mitchell and foretold the styling of the mid-year Corvette, though many of the show car’s embellishments were toned down on the 1963 production machine. Based on a modified production Corvette chassis, a 1969 vintage all-aluminum ZL-1 427 with a single four barrel currently powers the car.

The 1969 Manta Ray started out as the 1965 Mako Shark II and was the progenitor to the 1968-1982 Corvette. It, too, is currently powered by a ZL-1 and incorporates a number of novel features, including a power adjustable rear wing, a power retractable rear bumper, a digital speedometer, and stereo speakers mounted in the headrests.

After appearing at LeMay, these concepts from the GM Heritage Collection will head south to California’s Monterey Peninsula for display at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Aug 18.

Other kick-off celebrations for the Corvette display at the museum include an appearance by the “500 Corvettes” enthusiast group on the museum’s Haub Family field from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday (Aug. 9). On Thursday, there will be a cruise-in on the museum’s Anderson Outdoor Plaza, as well as a special showing of the movie Corvette Summer.

The Corvette exhibit at the LeMay will run through December. For more information, visit LeMayMuseum.org.

Sources: LeMay Museum, Hemmings Blog