Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Buyer's Guide

Tom Ramirez here. I've spent two decades cataloguing Corvettes, and when people ask me which generation matters most, I always say the same thing: if you understand the Sting Ray, you understand what the Corvette was trying to be. Bill Mitchell's 1963 Sting Ray coupe — the one with the split rear window that Zora Duntov hated because it blocked rearward vision — is the most beautiful American sports car ever made. I don't say that lightly. That design is fifty years ahead of everything around it.

Two generations carry the Stingray name. The C2 Sting Ray (two words, 1963–1967) is the smaller, lighter, more sophisticated sports car. The C3 Stingray (one word, 1968–1976) is the wider, lower, more dramatic car that carried the Corvette through the muscle car era. Both deserve serious collector attention; both have specific years that represent peak value.

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