Don't Forget "The Last Sting Ray" Sneak Preview Nov 24th
The documentary is scheduled to begin airing Dec. 7 on SPEED TV.
Labels: Muscle Cars
“The Last Sting Ray”, part of the popular American Muscle Car programming lineup, is written and produced by Stan Rarden of Restoration Productions LLC and is tentatively scheduled to air November/December 2006. The documentary consists of six episode miniseries that tell three parallel stories – the history of the Sting Ray, the life and times of Sting Ray, America’s most beloved automobile, and the discovery and loving restoration of this automotive icon, “The Last Sting Ray.”
Labels: Muscle Cars
It was born on July 12, 1967. That makes it one of the last “baby boomers.” It was Pearl Silver, and it was a real rich kid. Behind its tinted windows were black vinyl bucket seats, power steering, a telescoping steering wheel, air conditioning and an AM/FM radio.
But it was also a bad boy. Red-stripe tires tried to hook all its power to the road, sent to them through a positraction rear end and a Muncie M-21 close ratio 4-speed transmission. But they had no chance, since that power came from Chevrolet’s best… the 390-horsepower 427 big-block engine. All 427 cubes of this monster barked through side-mounted exhaust pipes. That bark was sweet music to the driver, and a warning to everyone else on the street that the big fella was coming out to play.
There were thousands of Corvettes built, and hundreds of them were just like this one… except for one thing. This one was the last one – the VERY LAST STING RAY ever built. This car marked the end of an era, and the last of what Corvette enthusiasts and automobile historians all over the world have called the greatest American car ever built.
Starting with the split-window coupes in 1963 and continuing through 1967, the Sting Ray was the jewel in Chevrolet’s crown, and the most beloved and respected American car worldwide. When Chevrolet redesigned the Corvette in 1968 they changed forever the way Corvettes would look, sound, feel and handle. The Corvettes from 1968 to today are magnificent automobiles, but none have ever captured the imaginations and the hearts of an entire generation of car lovers like those original Sting Rays. Sting Rays were successful on the race track, they were the “to die for” car on the street, and they were some of the most profitable cars General Motors ever sold. There seemed to be nothing the Sting Ray didn’t do well. But all too soon they were gone, including the Pearl Silver bad boy with the 427, the 4-speed and the Red-stripe tires. Almost as fast as they came, they disappeared, victims of hard driving and planned obsolescence.
But a miracle has happened, and the automotive world is rejoicing. This car, this amazing piece of history, has been found! The Last Sting Ray now sits in the restoration shop of Pro Team Classic Corvette Collection, awaiting a full ground-up restoration. This car will live again.
Restoration Productions is proud to present THE LAST STING RAY, a 2-hour show that celebrates the legend of Sting Ray, set against the decade of the 60s. It’s a story that tracks the history of Corvette, the life and times of Corvette and the epic journey of one particular Corvette… THE LAST STING RAY.