CHEVROLET

Corvette C2

The Chevrolet Corvette C2, universally known as the Sting Ray, arrived for 1963 and transformed the Corvette from a stylish cruiser into a genuine world-class sports car. Its dramatic body was shaped by Larry Shinoda under the direction of design chief Bill Mitchell, inspired by Mitchell's earlier Stingray racer and a mako shark he had caught, giving the Chevrolet Corvette C2 its pointed nose, muscular haunches and razor-edged lines. The 1963 model is the most famous of all thanks to its split rear window, a styling feature so striking that it was used for one year only before being dropped for 1964, making the original split-window coupe one of the most collectible American cars ever built. Beneath the glass-fibre body the Chevrolet Corvette C2 introduced fully independent rear suspension, a first for the Corvette, transforming its handling and ride. Engines spanned the rev-happy 327 small-block V8 through to the fearsome 396 and 427 big-blocks introduced in 1965, culminating in the legendary aluminium-headed L88 of 1967, a barely disguised race engine. Disc brakes arrived in 1965, and across its five-year run the Chevrolet Corvette C2 was offered as both a fastback coupe and a convertible. Just 117,964 were built before the longer-running C3 took over for 1968, and today the Chevrolet Corvette C2 Sting Ray is the most coveted and valuable generation of the breed.