Corvette Sting Ray
The Chevrolet Corvette is a treasured sports car. It has been produced by Chevrolet since 1953 and was the first sports car built by an all-American car manufacturer. There are currently six generations of Corvette, usually referred to as C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6.
The first generation, C1, started in 1953 and ended in 1962. The introduction of the first Corvette Sting Ray coupé took place in 1963 and it belongs to the second generation Corvette, the C2. This generation was designed by Lawrence Kiyoshi Shinoda, more commonly known as Larry Shinoda, and styled by Bill Mitchell. The second generation Corvette was produced from 1963 to 1967, and is also known as the mid-year Chevrolet Corvettes.
The Corvette Sting Ray is still an extremely treasured and popular car, and it was for instance included as number five when Sports Car International compiled their list of “Top Sports Cars of the 1960s” in 2004. The designers behind the Corvette Sting Ray had many great cars around them to seek inspiration from when working on the Corvette. Bill Mitchell did for instance own a Jaguar E-Type that he loved to drive. There was also the factory racing car named "Mitchell Sting Ray". Another, less expected, source of inspiration came from a fishing trip. One day when Bill Mitchell was out deep-sea fishing, he caught a beautiful, streamlined Mako shark.
The Corvette Sting Ray coupé from 1963 had a characteristic split rear window and phoney hood vents. There is also an independent rear suspension and the power was at 365 hp (272 kW). If you wanted to, you could get the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray with air conditioning and AM-FM radio.
In 1964, the split rear window design was discontinued since it was suspected to be unsafe. That same year, the phoney hood vents was also discontinued since Chevrolet felt that they made the overall design too busy. The power was increased from 365 hp (272 kW) to 375 hp (280 kW).
In 1965, the Corvette sting ray got four-wheel disc brakes which improved the braking capacity and made the car safer to drive. Another new feature was the so called “big-block” engine option, the 6.5 L V8 (6.5 L =396 in³). The new model also got side exhaust pipes, a design that continued until the 1970s. If you were prepared to pay extra, you could get the 1965 Corvette sting ray with telescopic wheel.
The 1966 Corvette sting ray is one of the most popular Corvettes ever and it still has a huge group of admirers and collectors world wide, over 40 year after its introduction. The engine in the 1966 Corvette sting ray was a 427 in³ (7 L). This was also the year when Chevrolet decided to offer its customers head rests.
The following year, a L88 version of the 427 in³ (7 L) was offered. This version was officially rated at 430 hp (321 kW), but most experts hold for true that it was actually capable of at least 550 hp (410 kW). Only 20 L88 versions were ever sold and the cars are today much sought after and extremely high priced. Throughout 1969, the 427 in³ (7 L) Corvette Sting Ray was offered with a 1282 cfm Holley triple two-barrel carbuetor.
