The History of the Legendary Corvette Model Names

Modern Corvette Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR-1 model names all have a storied history.

There is no question that the Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most iconic names in the global automotive world. Thanks to success as both a legendary street car and an unstoppable race car, Corvette has only one meaning around the world and it refers to the all-American sports car. Over the years, the Corvette name has been accompanied by a handful of trim level names that have become nearly as iconic as the car’s name itself.

Since their introduction in the 1950s and 1960s, names like Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR-1 have become a major part of Corvette history. Today, they are model names, but they didn’t start as such. Today, we bring you a look at the history of each of these current Corvette model names and how they were used when first introduced.

Corvette Stingray

Since the C7 era of the Corvette was introduced for the 2014 model year, the “base” model has been named the Stingray. Today, the Stingray is a mid-engine sports car with a 6.2-liter V8 mounted behind the driver’s seat, offering 490 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. When the Stingray name was first introduced by Chevrolet, it was back in 1959 on the Corvette Stingray Racer. Stingray Racer images courtesy of Wikipedia.

The 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer was, as you may have guessed, a race car. While it was technically a concept car, it did see some racing action with Dr. Dick Thompson at the wheel. The car made its racing debut in 1959, winning its class and finishing fourth overall.

After several revisions to the body, the dry weight was reduced down to just 2,000 pounds. When coupled with the 280-horsepower, 283-cubic inch Chevy V8, the Corvette Stingray Racer was quite quick, helping Thompson to win the SCCA championship in 1960. Of course, the biggest impact of the Stingray Racer was the exterior styling, much of which went into the production version of the C2.

The first production use of the Stingray name came in 1963, with the introduction of the C2 Corvette. From 1963 through 1967, the name Sting Ray in two-word form accompanied Corvette on all C2 models.

It would continue to be part of the Corvette name during the C3 generation, except from 1968 through 1976, it was featured as one word, Stingray. For the 1969 model year, the Stingray script logo was removed and it would not show up again until the 2013 debut of the 2014 C7 Corvette. C2, C3, C7, and C8 images courtesy of General Motors.

Of course, since the 2014 model year, Stingray has been the name of the base model Corvette. This continues with the C8 models for 2020 and is likely to continue into the future.

Head over to the NEXT PAGE to dive into some Grand Sport goodness!