Sting Ray to Stingray mistake or purposely done?
05-20-2013, 03:07 PM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Sting Ray to Stingray mistake or purposely done?
I did a search to see if this had been talked about before. I would assume that it has come up, but did someone at GM make a mistake on Sting Ray/Stingray. Were they copying the Boat's name or the bicycle. I assume that the Bicycle came after the the Boat and after the Car. Thus did Schwinn get it wrong also along with the C3 design team??? And now I have to log onto the C7 to see how they are spelling it! Also is the fish Sting Ray or Stingray?
05-20-2013, 05:38 PM
#2
Race Director
If anything Duntov, Mitchell and Shinoda; got it wrong in 63. The fish is spelled as all one word.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
05-22-2013, 01:14 PM
#3
Instructor
Stingrays
If anything Duntov, Mitchell and Shinoda; got it wrong in 63. The fish is spelled as all one word.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
05-22-2013, 04:49 PM
#5
Team Owner
Thread Starter
What!
The ocean fish had trademarked their name???????
If so, I guess we are lucky someone didn't acquire the rights to the name CORVETTE! or we would be driving something with a different name. Maybe Mako Shark was taken already!
If so, I guess we are lucky someone didn't acquire the rights to the name CORVETTE! or we would be driving something with a different name. Maybe Mako Shark was taken already!
09-02-2013, 07:28 PM
#8
AIR the 20" Schwinn chopper bike came out in the spring of '63 at the earliest, saw my first one that summer. Definitely appeared after thousands of the the cars were on the road.
Maybe Schwinn was warned, or just being cautious, but the spelling used on all the bike chainguards was and still is "Sting-Ray". You could argue if the dash makes it one word or two, but Chevy's never used that exact spelling AFAIK.
Maybe Schwinn was warned, or just being cautious, but the spelling used on all the bike chainguards was and still is "Sting-Ray". You could argue if the dash makes it one word or two, but Chevy's never used that exact spelling AFAIK.
09-02-2013, 09:19 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
On the sting ray front, they may have faced TM issues on Sting Ray at the time and switched to be safe. You would have to do so legal forensics to really figured it out. stingray would have been safe and not patentable.
09-02-2013, 09:54 PM
#10
Melting Slicks
Corvettes as a type of ship go back to at least the seventeenth century. They were usually coastal patrol or escorts for flotillas and fleets. Smallish, fast, and overlapping with sloops-of-war in design and capability.
09-03-2013, 12:33 PM
#11
Race Director
It goes back to 1959...........
Well, on the 1959 race car, it was "Sting ray", two words............
09-03-2013, 03:48 PM
#12
Safety Car
If anything Duntov, Mitchell and Shinoda; got it wrong in 63. The fish is spelled as all one word.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
In reality, it's just a name. What the heck is a Camaro, a Corvair or a Chevelle? My guess is that when the 68 was going through the marketing study groups, someone pointed out that the fish was spelled as one word, or maybe they just found that people thought the "Stingray" spelling was more pleasing??
If you want to have some fun, you should ask this question in the C3 General Section. It's amazing how hyper the 69-76 owners get. They're very possessive of the the Stingray name. God help you if you call a 68 or 77 a Stingray (this is in spite of the fact that the 68 sales brochure refers to the 68 coupe as a Stingray, multiple times!). If the badge isn't on that fender, you better not call it a Stingray,.......or Sting Ray.
From wiki:
Styling changed subtly throughout the generation until 1978 for the car's 25th anniversary. The Sting Ray nameplate was not used on the 1968 model, but Chevrolet still referred to the Corvette as a Sting Ray; however, the 1969 (through 1976) models used the "Stingray" name as one word, without the space.
09-03-2013, 05:55 PM
#13
Melting Slicks
You can blame the "Stingray" versus "Sting Ray" in part on Mercedes.
The story I was told, "Sting Ray" in 1963 was intentional, to differentiate a GM product from Bill Mitchell's privately funded 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer which contributed heavily to the C2 design.
"Why differentiate?" you ask. In 1955, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Mercedes 300SLR lost control and went into the spectators killing 83 people and injuring dozens more. In 1957, following that and some other deadly racing accidents, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) agreed to stop sponsoring racing teams. AMA thought it was bad for their safety image.
Unable to race their cars and test new designs, some corporate executives took on the role themselves.
Bill Mitchell did it personally for GM. Two words versus one word separated the cars, private versus corporate, as if the connection was ever really in doubt. By C3 the farce no longer mattered.
Bill Mitchell is an impressive guy. He climbed to VP of GM's Styling Section and his handiwork can be seen in many of GMs most iconic designs. Mitchell's 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer can be seen below. BTW - Look closely at the Stingray logo.
Cheers,
JB
The story I was told, "Sting Ray" in 1963 was intentional, to differentiate a GM product from Bill Mitchell's privately funded 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer which contributed heavily to the C2 design.
"Why differentiate?" you ask. In 1955, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Mercedes 300SLR lost control and went into the spectators killing 83 people and injuring dozens more. In 1957, following that and some other deadly racing accidents, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) agreed to stop sponsoring racing teams. AMA thought it was bad for their safety image.
Unable to race their cars and test new designs, some corporate executives took on the role themselves.
Bill Mitchell did it personally for GM. Two words versus one word separated the cars, private versus corporate, as if the connection was ever really in doubt. By C3 the farce no longer mattered. Bill Mitchell is an impressive guy. He climbed to VP of GM's Styling Section and his handiwork can be seen in many of GMs most iconic designs. Mitchell's 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer can be seen below. BTW - Look closely at the Stingray logo.
Cheers,
JB
09-03-2013, 07:55 PM
#15
Drifting
Stingray is an ode by current GM design chief Ed Wellburn to Bill Mitchell as explained in yestwrday's New York Times...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/au...e.html?hp&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/au...e.html?hp&_r=0
09-03-2013, 11:23 PM
#16
A New York Times typesetter or computer must have made the mistake, surely not John Lamm. A new '63 SWC listed for $1 more than a convertible???
No way, AIR it was between $100 and $200 more.
No way, AIR it was between $100 and $200 more.
09-04-2013, 11:34 AM
#17
Race Director
You can blame the "Stingray" versus "Sting Ray" in part on Mercedes.
The story I was told, "Sting Ray" in 1963 was intentional, to differentiate a GM product from Bill Mitchell's privately funded 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer which contributed heavily to the C2 design.
"Why differentiate?" you ask. In 1955, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Mercedes 300SLR lost control and went into the spectators killing 83 people and injuring dozens more. In 1957, following that and some other deadly racing accidents, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) agreed to stop sponsoring racing teams. AMA thought it was bad for their safety image.
Unable to race their cars and test new designs, some corporate executives took on the role themselves. Bill Mitchell did it personally for GM. Two words versus one word separated the cars, private versus corporate, as if the connection was ever really in doubt. By C3 the farce no longer mattered.
Bill Mitchell is an impressive guy. He climbed to VP of GM's Styling Section and his handiwork can be seen in many of GMs most iconic designs. Mitchell's 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer can be seen below. BTW - Look closely at the Stingray logo.
Cheers,
JB
The story I was told, "Sting Ray" in 1963 was intentional, to differentiate a GM product from Bill Mitchell's privately funded 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer which contributed heavily to the C2 design.
"Why differentiate?" you ask. In 1955, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Mercedes 300SLR lost control and went into the spectators killing 83 people and injuring dozens more. In 1957, following that and some other deadly racing accidents, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) agreed to stop sponsoring racing teams. AMA thought it was bad for their safety image.
Unable to race their cars and test new designs, some corporate executives took on the role themselves.
Bill Mitchell did it personally for GM. Two words versus one word separated the cars, private versus corporate, as if the connection was ever really in doubt. By C3 the farce no longer mattered. Bill Mitchell is an impressive guy. He climbed to VP of GM's Styling Section and his handiwork can be seen in many of GMs most iconic designs. Mitchell's 1959 Chevrolet Corvette "Stingray" Racer can be seen below. BTW - Look closely at the Stingray logo.
Cheers,
JB
Secondly, I guess you didn't see my post #11 above with the closeup of the car and logo itself, clearly showing the name as two words:
Sting ray
Other than that, nice post...............
09-04-2013, 12:11 PM
#18
Melting Slicks
Hmmm - well, according to everything I have ever read, including Peter Brock's new book on the subject, the 1959 Corvette Sting ray racer was funded by GM, not privately.
Secondly, I guess you didn't see my post #11 above with the closeup of the car and logo itself, clearly showing the name as two words:
Sting ray
Other than that, nice post...............
Secondly, I guess you didn't see my post #11 above with the closeup of the car and logo itself, clearly showing the name as two words:
Sting ray
Other than that, nice post...............
09-04-2013, 12:27 PM
#19
Race Director
All I know is what I read..............
Clarification - perhaps we are both right, to an extent. The costs of developing the car came from GM. The chassis was from the previous Corvette SS race car of 1957. The body was developed by Mitchell's GM styling studio out of his styling budget, albeit hidden from GM higher ups. The on track racing expenses were paid for by Mitchell personally, according to Brock's book.
Clarification - perhaps we are both right, to an extent. The costs of developing the car came from GM. The chassis was from the previous Corvette SS race car of 1957. The body was developed by Mitchell's GM styling studio out of his styling budget, albeit hidden from GM higher ups. The on track racing expenses were paid for by Mitchell personally, according to Brock's book.
Last edited by tuxnharley; 09-04-2013 at 12:47 PM.