Corvette XP-700 show car; parted out?

[HistoryBuff]

I remember seeing pictures of the XP-700, a silver Corvette that Bill Mitchell had built on his own at first (painted red), when he was Harley Ear's protégé and then ol' Harley designated it a GM show car and it got a classic silver paint job, a bit more chrome and the double bubble roof. . Now I had been told by two people including Bill Mitchell that it was the basis for the Corvette Shark (later re-christened the Mako Shark I) show car but now I have seen a picture of the two cars side by side so that couldn't be true unless in the picture showing both cars one was a completely detailed clay model. Also I read in a Corvette forum somebody was at a big swap meet and saw a nose of the XP-700 for sale for a few thousand. Now I know there were replica XP-700 noses for sale but I have looked those up--they did not have the chrome and grille and all, so this makes me think the XP-700 was sold to a GM employee and later he cut the nose off and maybe brought it back to the '58 Corvette or whatever year it was Mitchell started with. Of course then he would have had to get rid of the ducktail tail.

[Larry Schramm]

Nice picture in front of the GM Design studio at the Technical Center in Warren, Mi.