Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray – Auto Motor Klassiek – magazine about vintage cars

The famous Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, with its unique style, is undoubtedly one of the distinct classics in the history of the world of car design.

The Sting Ray,

British sports cars were very popular in America. And the Americans thought that they could also find a model of income in it. British sports cars were designed to play along the most beautiful, hilly roads. For Americans, the jump start after the traffic light turned green was very important.

In the eyes of European sports car enthusiasts, Chevrolet Corvettes were updated trucks. Designed by General Motors head of design Bill Mitchell and head of styling Larry Shinoda, the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray immediately captured the public’s attention when it was introduced in 1963. Along with the Ford Shelby Mustang, this refined successor to the current Chevrolet Corvettes of ‘The The Fifties’ set a new standard for the American automobile industry.

The Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray was an instant sales hit

Finally, there was an American-built sports car that could take on its European competitors. At least: If the road was not too hilly. By the end of the 1963 model year, GM’s Chevrolet division had sold 10,594 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupes as well as 10,919 Sting Ray convertibles.

Under polyester

Beneath its revolutionary plastic body was an impressive range of V8 engine options to choose from. The most impressive of these was the L88 427 ‘big block’ series developed by tuning master Zora Arkus Duntov, which produced 467 hp and a top speed of 270 km/h.

He led badly

The only flaw in the design of the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray was its very blunt steering behavior in fast corners. European sports car drivers were shocked by this. There he asked for a strong director with a big heart. And something that is now considered very good was the split rear window in the 1963 models. By the way, the split rear window was a weakness.

For the successor model, the people at GM had learned how to make the window in one piece. The ‘split window’ made rear visibility a complete nightmare for the driver. Our advice: buy a 1965. Missing that bar. But it’s cheaper.

Luxurious interior

But the driver had a good time in his strange interior. It had a whole set of lap clocks which gave it a real racing car feel. For all Americans and for many Europeans, the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray was the most iconic, irresistible car of all time from the United States. And who are we to disagree?

We found our photo model a while ago at Venema Classic Cars in Drempt. The car has a 5.4-liter V8 and delivers 364 hp and weighs 1420 kg. Britain’s biggest, most brutal beast, the three-liter Austin-Healey produced 150 hp and a weight of 1180 kg.

Read also:
– Chevrolet Nova: Memories
– Chevrolet Chevelle SS396. Better than new after restoration
– Chevrolet Corvair. Finally recognized
– Chevrolet Corvette C3 – you can buy convertibles in the fall
– Chevrolet Camaro. Mustang Eater