When the designers of the future Chevy sports car needed a name, they looked to the ocean for inspiration, and the name they came up with was Corvette. A small and fast kind of warship, the Corvette had a reputation for nimble speed (at least in relation to larger ships), but the name has since become synonymous with GM’s everyman sports car.
But engineers and designers never stopped getting inspiration from the ocean, delving into the briny deep to fetch names like Stingray, Mako, and Manta Ray. It’s that last moniker that we’re talking about today, as GM Authority reports that the Detroit-based automaker has applied for the “Manta Ray” and “Corvette Manta Ray” trademarks. You have to go back more than 40 years to find those names in the GM lexicon.
The Corvette Manta Ray Concept debuted in 1969 as a low, flat, and futuristic look at the next-generation of Corvettes, building off of the “Stingray” design that debuted in 1963 and evolved for the 1968 model year. But the Manta Ray was actually just a reworked concept from the mid-60s called the Mako Shark II, though it had a new front end and quartz-halogen headlights to show off. Then there’s what lie beneath the hood.
The 1969 Manta Ray packed the new all-aluminum, 430 hp ZL-1 427 ci engine. This engine would go on to be synonymous with GM’s drag racing performance, and would inspire the new Camaro ZL1 more than four decades later. The Manta Ray also packed a forward-looking, cockpit-inspired passenger compartment and a sloping rear deck that is a lot like today’s Corvette Stingray. But where would a Corvette Manta Ray fall on the hierarchy? With the new Z06 packing the same amount of power as the old ZR1, could the Manta Ray step things up to over 700 hp? Or might GM tone it back and take a different approach?
Then again, maybe there’s nothing really planned, as automakers often “camp” on old names to ensure they don’t lose the rights, or worse, a competitor picks them up. Here’s hoping the Corvette Manta Ray is more than just a bookmark.