After the Corvette SS program was dismantled, one of the remnants was the chassis for the "mule" car that had been used to test various components. GM Styling Vice President William Mitchell obtained the chassis, asked Larry Shinoda to design a new body, and created the sensational Sting Ray.

Dr. Dick Thompson, a.k.a. "The Flying Dentist," drove the handsome Sting Ray to a SCCA C-Modified championship in 1960. After its racing career ended, the car was refurbished for car show duty – and ultimately driven by its proud owner on the streets of Detroit. The original Sting Ray previewed key styling elements of the second-generation Corvette.

Billed as a car “built to test handling ease and performance,” the Stingray featured a 92-inch wheelbase and was nearly 1,000 lbs. lighter than a 1960 Corvette production car. It’s fuel-injected 283 cubic-inch V8 engine produced 315 horsepower at 6,200 rpm. The V8 boasted a Duntov camshaft and a compression ratio of 10:1 – nearly equal to today’s LS1 V8. The Stingray’s body style would influence the design of the next generation Corvette in 1963.