Just about everyone recognizes the fabulous 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray who quickly became an icon of American pop culture. Since its introduction, the Corvette has ignited the imagination with its sleek design marked by hidden headlamps, peaked fenders, and a neat “ducktail” aft section. It was famous for its powerful engine and considered the best Corvette yet and has since become one of the most sought-after collectibles ever to come from Motor City, aka Detroit.

Pure Motor City muscle, the Stingray was the name used for several model years of Corvettes from the first concept cars in 1959 to the seventh generation Stingray in 2014. The first-ever production Corvette coupe sported a fastback body with a long hood and a raised wind split that ran the length of the roof and continued down the back on a pillar that bisected the rear window into right and left halves. The second-generation Corvette design introduced in 1963 was inspired by several contrasting sources: the radical concept car Stingray Racer designed in 1959, the contemporary Jaguar E-type, and a Mako shark GM chief stylist Bill Mitchell caught while deep-sea fishing.

And in my view it is this 1966 version of the second generation Corvette that had all the defining Stingray design features in place: Hidden headlamps creating a sharp edge over a rectangular front grille and the newly designed vertical side vents, all combined creating that menacing open mouth shark look…

When it comes to power, in 1966 the Corvette Stingray also had outgrown puberty, and following the “more is always better” rule, General Motors powertrain engineers bored the 396 V-8 out to 427 cubic inches, which was conservatively rated by Chevrolet at 425 hp. Those in the know, though, realized that further up in the rev range, the motor was making more like 450 hp helping it to an impressive 0-60 sprint in 4.8 seconds.

The early astronauts were so infatuated with this space age-looking sports car that almost all of them owned a Corvette. How much more iconic can you get?

Well, you can certainly own an iconic piece of automotive art, reminiscent of the same inspired design and styling which marked the Corvette Sting Ray, available for all those American muscle car lovers, from our Online Store.