With the debut of the C7 2014-2015 Chevrolet Corvette, Chevrolet->ke199 revived the Stingray->ke4603 name, one of several menacing sea creatures that the Corvette->ke1280 shared a name with over the years. And word is that Chevrolet has just trademarked another one from the Corvette's past, the Manta Ray. Specifically, Chevy has trademarked both Manta Ray and Corvette Manta Ray, so we know that the name won't be applied to any other model. But that is unfortunately all that we know; we don't know what exactly the name will be applied to or even if it will be used at all.

One possibility is that it will be used as the name of a new trim level for the seventh-generation 'Vette, probably between the base Stingray and the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Another possibility is that the Manta Ray will be an appearance package for the Corvette, an updated version of the original; possibly even with a more modern version of the two-tone paint, difficult as that might be to imagine. There is a chance of it being the form that this mid-engine Corvette we've been hearing so much about finally takes. Although as with all things mid-engine Corvette, we'll believe that when we see it.

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Why it matters

The Corvette Manta Ray could also just be a concept car.->ke169 That's what the original was anyway. The Manta Ray was the culmination of a series of Corvette concepts that were built in the '60s. Actually, it was all one concept which got cosmetically updated as a way of showing off the direction the Corvette was going in the styling department. The first car was the Mako Shark, made largely to show how good the car could look with two-tone paint that mimicked the coloration on a mako shark. It was rebodied as the Mako Shark II, which was a more serious departure from Chevy's production styling at the time. Finally, in 1969, it was updated again and renamed the Manta Ray. All of the cars had influences on Corvette styling of the day, but that unfortunately isn't a big hint about what we can expect it to mean this time around.

2014-2016 Chevrolet Corvette

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