To say that the Sting Ray's arrival caused a sensation would be grossly understating its impact on the North American sports car market. Indeed, such was its runaway success that the St. Louis factory hired a second shift but still could not build cars fast enough to meet demand. Styled in General Motors' Art and Colour Studio under Bill Mitchell, the new Corvette featured radical styling pioneered on Mitchell's successful Stingray sports-racer. Beneath the skin was an all-new ladder-frame chassis with independent rear suspension, the adoption of which enabled the center of gravity to be significantly lowered, improving both road holding and ride. This new frame was the work of Corvette Chief Engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov who said, "For the first time I have a Corvette which I am proud to use in Europe." Now recognized as representing a 'golden age' for the Corvette, the Sting Ray was manufactured from 1963 to 1967 and has since gone on to become a highly collectable modern classic.