1955 Chevrolet Corvette - Bob McNulty

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Chevrolet Corvette owned and restyled by Satan's Angels member Bob McNulty of Castro Valley, California.






The Shark

Known as "The Shark," Bob's Corvette was built from a damaged wreck. All of the customizing was done in fiberglass. The grille was made from Corvette teeth and chromed bullets. The grille shell was modified and extended. The headlights were tunneled, and a new aluminum hood was made, with 270 louvers. The rear fins were formed with fiberglass, and custom Lucite lenses were fit in the fins. The bumpers were swapped in favor of a set of custom-made Nerf bars. The side scoop was louvered as well, and the chrome trim was removed. Lakes pipes and Plymouth hubcaps were installed. The car was painted white with blue racing stripes/scallops.[1]

Top Custom

In 1958 Bob's Corvette was shown at the 9th annual National Roadster Show. It competed in the Customized Sports Roadsters class and won an award for being the best in its class. Later on the same year, Bob's Corvette was also nominated as one of 28 "Top Customs of the Year" in Motor Life July 1958.[2]




Changes

Bob kept upgrading and changing the appearance of the car, and it didn't take long before he modified the grille-opening to accept a 1954 Kaiser grille. This iteration appeared in Hot Rod Magazine August 1959 without scallops. Later on it appeared in magazines with scallops around the grille-opening and headlights.



The Sharkamino

The trunk area of the car was later reworked into a pickup bed, and the car was rechristened the "Sharkamino."

Donated to the Petersen Museum

Bob was killed in a boat accident in the late 1960s. Bob's mother Lilian donated the Shark to the Petersen Museum as Petersen and Bob were close friends in the early years. By then the car was in a rough shape, and it required a major restoration.[3]



Sold to Kevin Bennett

In July of 2018 the Sharkamino was advertised for sale on eBay. The auction ended July 26, 2018 with Kevin Bennett as the highest bidder. The car received 49 bids, and the winning bid was US $35,100.00. According to the eBay-listing, the roof of the car was included in the sale, but it was in a poor condition. The car had overall paint loss/cracking and some rust. It had 237,780 miles on it, and it did not run.[4] In August of 2018 Kevin told Kustomrama that he is considering showing the car first in the last iteration, then working backward in time; "My idea is to paint the top orange, and put the lettering back on the doors like it last appeared in Popular Customs winter 1964."[5]




Magazine Features and Appearances

Motor Life July 1958
Car Craft January 1959
Hot Rod Magazine August 1959
Trend Book 189 Custom Cars 1960 Annual
Custom Cars January 1960
Car Craft November 1960
Popular Customs Winter 1964