Henry Covington, an industrial designer from St. Petersburg, Florida, aimed to construct a vehicle based on the aerodynamic principles of Dr. Augustus Raspet, a prominent aerodynamicist. To develop his prototype, Covington worked with Glenn Gums, a fiberglass specialist at Glenn Industries. Six coupes were created by Caccicraft of Tampa, Florida. Unfortunately, Henry Covington passed away in May 1962, and production came to a halt.

Despite this setback, Glenn Gums proceeded to produce the Tiburon with a few alterations. He transformed the coupe body into a roadster, added doors, and exposed the headlights. From 1962 through 1965, five roadsters were built. Both the Tiburon coupe and roadster were designed to take full advantage of the available aerodynamic knowledge and incorporated a belly pan that was nearly as large as the car. This design ultimately earned Road & Track magazine’s recognition in 1966 as the most streamlined car in the world at that time.

The sleek, road-hugging design and highly advanced underbody ground effects give it a resemblance to a catfish rather than a shark. Nevertheless, naming it after the latter was likely a more strategic marketing decision. Still, only around two dozen of this Shark variant were ever produced.