When they introduced the new body style (68) they did away with "Stingray". It was brought back the next year (67).. 68's arent a Stingray as far as Chevy's conserned. Seems like thats what matters..

 

STINGRAY
Some Corvette history & knowledge is helpful to ID a Stingray.
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/gan...Y/stingray.htm
STINGRAY has a fine history & a meaning. STINGRAY refers to the body style. The new smaller body & chassis w/ I.R.S was introduced in 63.
Maybe this will help some. The new smaller Sting Ray body in development.

It applies to the 2 STINGRAY body styles 63-67 & 68-77.

63-67 In 63, the new smaller body & chassis w/ I.R.S. was called a Sting Ray.
68-77 When the body was redone in 68 called Sting Ray in ads & then used Stingray emblems in 69. Emblems are for identification & some can not identify w/o the emblem. Seems some place far more importance on emblems than the factory ever did. The factory wanted to change the new car so that it could be identified as new at the time.

Stingray has a meaning & is not an option or emblem, some are unmarked. Remember an unmarked police car is still a police car.

Stingray- BB hood on 65-66, tail on 63-67 coupes, wings extended from roof 68-77 Stingrays.
Chassis essentially same from 63-77, body essentially same 68-77 & interior essentially same from 68-77.
There can be no question that 68-77 are Stingrays.

 

I 2ND THAT MOTION. END OF DISCUSSION

 

Since 63, for 15 years Corvette & Stingray were synonymous. 63-77


78- 25th anniversay of the Corvette- not Stingray. Many changes including bubble glass rear & new interior. It could have been continued as the 78- rear glass is reminiscent of the 63-67 coupe.
They were already working on the C4 & McLellan had said the styling would be reeled in. 84 induction & 700R4 were in production in 81. So the focus was on the C4. Some consider all C3s to be Stingrays.
CORVETTE says it all anyway.

Evidently many are not familar w/ Mako Shark I show car for C2.
Mako Shark II show car was for C3. It seems to me it was made public in 65.
Manta Ray - Mako Shark II was redone after C3 introduction- the back is similiar to 74-77.

GM watched what was being done to show cars. George Barris removed the bumpers & Sting Ray emblems on his custom 63. Another ex. is the 68 El Camino was influenced by Harry Bradley's custom El Camino.

 

Is that it then?

 

no way, that magazine says "Sting Ray" not "Stingray" !@#
my life is in chaos now

 

It was well accepted practice for Chevrolet to have several names to a vehicle:

Chevrolet --> Chevelle --> Malibu

Chevrolet --> Chevy II --> Nova

Chevrolet --> Corvette --> Sting Ray

In the case of most vehicles, it was a distinct model difference. In the Corvette, there wasn't any other. They were all Sting Rays from 1963 to 1968. Yes, '68. Chevrolet sales books all call it the Corvette Sting Ray. I used to have a picture of the '68 sales book with it clearly stating Corvette Sting Ray but I can't find the .jpg right now.

Badging does not determine the car model.

In '69, they went to a new script and Stingray as one word on the badging. I believe the '69 sales book still called it a Sting Ray.

In '77, the Stingray badging was left off. Simply it cleaned up the look and it reduced costs. No holes drilled, no badges made, no time for installation.

What does this all mean? Nothing but to make long threads like this. And get people upset at car shows when some old codger walks by and says "I used to have a Stingray" to the guy with a '78 or '82.

Back in the '60s, it was more common to hear people call them Sting Ray.
"I was cruisin' in my Sting Ray late one night..."
"A fuel injected Sting Ray and a 413, Revving up their engines ..."

Some of this was to distinguish the new Corvette (1963 and up) from the old, dated, clunky-seeming truck based '62 back. Or at least that is how many looked at '62 and older, even if they really were still great cars, they were a big difference between them. Just look at the picture Ganey posted.

But by the '70s, few called them Sting Rays or Stingrays. They were Corvettes. Corvette clubs, not Sting Ray clubs. National Council of Corvette Clubs, Corvette News, Bloomington Corvette Corral, and even this new club - National Corvette Restorers Society.

No Sting Ray or Stingrays. "Corvette Summer" played up Stingray in big letters across the back, because it was going to be titled "Stingray" but another movie "Stingray" with Chris Mitchum beat them to the punch. And "Stingray" is a virtually unknown movie today.

So the next time some guy comes by at the show and says he used to have a '79 Stingray, smile, nod, and say something like "yeah, they were great cars" and let it go.

I've wasted more time than any of this is worth.

 

I would like to see the sales brocure that states the 68 is a Stingray. I just watched a documentary on the history of the Vettes and they said since they restyled the Vette in 68 Gm dropped the name Stingray and after the outcry and less than expected sales they added it back to the 69. Maybe their investigators and the GM guys on the show were wrong..

 

 

I'm just glad my '74 says Stingray on the side of it so I don't have to worry about whether I am a man or not.

 

The caption at the top of the pic "Corvette Sting Ray", also in the first column of text.


Caption above ad "Corvette Sting Ray Convertible and Camaro SS Convertible"

 

It was a common custom trick to remove emblems. Emblems are an inexpensive way to differentiate a new model esp. the low volume (for GM) Corvette. The 68 was obviously new.

 

Guess that solves that question. Thanks..

 

So THATS why the sales were poor, no 5 dollar emblem on the fender.

Thanks for clearing up that 39 year old mystery.

 

I wasnt clearing up a mystery. I was only passing along info I had heard. Whats the point of your comment?.

 

Only a few thousand 77s were shipped without any side badges. The crossed-flag side badge was introduced pretty early in 77 production - well before the alarm switch was moved to the driver-side door lock.

 

I have to disagree. A Malibu is a Malibu and a Chevelle is a Chevelle. I have never seen a Chevelle having both Chevelle and Malibu badges on the car and vise versa. The Stingray or Sting Ray emblem is just like the SS, SC or Z28 emblem. It’s just an emblem that tells you what type of corvette it is. Just like the Pace cars, Z06, Grandsport and Anniversary corvettes. My 76 says CORVETTE on the back bumper and Stingray on the front fenders just like it did when it rolled off the assembly line. As for the Chevy II and Nova thing I can't comment on that because I dont know much about that car. I have seen both names used but im not sure if both names were used on the same car or if they are two different models sharing the same body.

 

Except that SS, SC, Z28, Pace Car, Z06, Grand Sport and Anniversary were all different trim/performance packages available above and beyond the standard vehicle. "Sting Ray" or "Stingray" meant nothing, as all Corvettes had the badge - no matter what was on the inside.

 

 

Mine too. On the phone to GM right now, Getting my team of lawyers ready! ............

As for the Nova/Chevy II, the change was for the spanish speaking market mainly,, "Va" means go.. ie no-go. not good if your trying to sell a car.