Shark Week, for those of you who are cocking an eyebrow at the headline, is a week on Discovery Channel dedicated to everything shark related. It's pretty much 168 hours of shark-related television that happens once a year and everyone goes crazy over it. I don't know if it was the week I spent in Florida, or the fact that I just bought a new betta fish today that prompted this list, I just hope this isn't another one of those "Oh look, Kyle found something American, let's all point and laugh" as is typical of most of my work, that being said, let's dive right in!

1. Chevrolet Mako Shark

1961 Chevrolet Mako Shark Concept / Photo Sourced from Pinterest 1961 Chevrolet Mako Shark Concept / Photo Sourced from Pinterest

Keeping up with our newfound love of the C8 Corvette, I thought it would make sense to shove some of that Corvette love into this list in the form of the Chevrolet Mako Shark. The Mako Shark, also known as the XP-755, is a concept that showcased future Corvette styling features. This 1961 Mako Shark showed the pointed nose that would become part of the C3 Corvette's styling. In 1965, Chevrolet unveiled the Mako Shark II, which basically looked like a production C3 Corvette, except with more exaggerated fenders and more pointed nose. In 1969, the Mako Shark II was redesigned and unveiled as the Manta Ray, which looks really cool, but isn't a shark, so it doesn't matter within the confines of this list. Go look it up though, it's pretty rad.

2. Hyundai Tiburon

2005-2007 Hyundai Tiburon / Photo Sourced from Wikipedia 2005-2007 Hyundai Tiburon / Photo Sourced from Wikipedia

I love the Hyundai Tiburon, I think it is the perfect sports coupe, it's punchy enough, and looks aggressive enough to play the part nicely, but isn't tear your face off quick, and it doesn't cost that much to own, or run for that matter. I love it so much, I basically wrote an obituary for it. The Tiburon's biggest engine was the 2.7-liter Delta V6, producing 172 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque. This resulted in a zero to 60 of seven seconds for this "Shark". By the way, Tiburon means Shark in Spanish, which will be important to remember for the next car on this list, not that you'll ever forget what its called after you see it.

3. El Tiburon Shark

El Tiburon Shark / Photo Sourced from Pinterest El Tiburon Shark / Photo Sourced from Pinterest

Ah, the El Tiburon Shark. Why. Just....why. This Tampa Bay beauty was built by Caccicraft from 1962 through 1965. The original designer, Henry Covington, wanted to build a car based on the aerodynamic studies of Dr. Augustus Raspet. Throughout the three years of production, eleven cars were produced, six coupes and five roadsters, all of the shells were fiberglass. Each Shark was powered by a Renault 4CV engine and transmission, so although the car is pure Americana, the heart is French. This particular car had the 4CV running gear replaced with the running gear from a Renault R10. Do with that what you will, I will simply avert my eyes and move on to our next undersea motor vehicle.

4. Monteverdi Hai

Monteverdi Hai 450 GTS and 450 SS replicas / Photo Sourced from Wikipedia Monteverdi Hai 450 GTS and 450 SS replicas / Photo Sourced from Wikipedia

The Monteverdi Hai is one of the few automotive sharks that packs some serious firepower under the hood. The Hai is powered by a 426 cubic inch Chrysler HEMI V8 with twin four-barrel carburetors, the result is 443 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque mated to a five speed transaxle made by ZF. Hai is German for the word "Shark", which makes no sense, because Monteverdi is a Swiss company and both credited designers of the Hai were Italian, but none of that matters because this thing is pretty sweet, and definitely Hot Wheels car material.

5. Chevrolet Nova Shark

1976 Chevrolet Nova Shark / Photo Sourced from CarDomain 1976 Chevrolet Nova Shark / Photo Sourced from CarDomain

The Chevrolet Nova Shark was a trim package for the Nova which was meant to reign in some sales from the movie "Jaws". This is most likely because of the amount of GM vehicles that were used in Jaws like the mayor's Cadillac Coupe De Ville and Officer Brody's Blazer, etc. Whatever the reason was, Chevrolet launched the Shark Edition, there is no true number of Shark Edition Novas that I could find, some forums are saying 300, while others are saying 3,000. The point is, is that it definitely exists, and they're out there, though if you find one and need to tow it home, you're going to need a bigger truck.

6. Ginetta Akula

2020 Ginetta Akula / Photo Sourced from Ginetta 2020 Ginetta Akula / Photo Sourced from Ginetta

Here's the newest shark in the sea, it's the Ginetta Akula. Akula, which is Russian for Shark, is a new supercar from Ginetta, a British racing car manufacturer. The Akula is powered by a 6.0-liter V8 designed in-house and is capable of producing 660 horsepower. It was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and looks like it's ready to devour entire race tracks with its aggressive aero kit.

7. Mahindra Marazzo

Mahindra Marazzo / Photo Sourced from The Unbiased Review Mahindra Marazzo / Photo Sourced from The Unbiased Review

Where would this list of sharks be without some sort of MPV/Crossover/Minivan thing that somehow manages to steal the show at the end? Marazzo means shark in Basque language, so I'm putting it on the list. Okay, this is about as much of a plot twist as The Meg had, but bear with me a little while longer. The Mahindra Marazzo is actually pretty interesting, because although it is sold in India, it was designed by Mahindra's in-house design studio with the help of Pininfarina. To make this shark even weirder, it is built in Troy, Michigan in the US and then exported to India. For anyone outside the US, Mahindra doesn't sell cars here, so the fact that we export this thing is hilarious to me.

HONORABLE MENTION: Chrysler Tigershark Engine

Chrysler Tigershark Engine / Photo Sourced from Paul79UF on YouTube Chrysler Tigershark Engine / Photo Sourced from Paul79UF on YouTube

The Chrysler Tigershark engine is the name given to the second generation of Chrysler's World Gas Engine. The World Engine was a project between Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai that ran in Chrysler products from 2005-2012, and after Chrysler was bought by Fiat, development began on the second generation World engine, that would later become known as the Tigershark. The best numbers that the Tigershark has seen so far is 184 horsepower and 179 lb-ft, currently in the Fiat Toro.

The Takeaway

While there are plenty of you that will get bent out of shape for not mentioning other fish-themed cars like the Corvette Stingray, or Plymouth Barracuda, sadly this isn't "Fish Week", it's Shark Week, darn it. If you're favorite aquatic animal named car isn't on this list, go yell in the comment section.

Did I miss any of your favorite automotive sharks? Comment Below!