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GM Trademarks “Corvette Manta Ray” and “Manta Ray” Names

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GM Authority is reporting that General Motors has filed two applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to register the terms “Manta Ray” and “Corvette Manta Ray” as trademarks.

GM's Corvette Manta Ray trademark application

GM’s Corvette Manta Ray trademark application

The automaker filed the applications earlier this month, on Thursday, June 18, 2015. The applications specify that the names will be used for “motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles, engines therefore and structural parts thereof,” which doesn’t tell us a whole hell of a lot, meaning that it’s time for everybody’s favorite automotive game—rampant speculation!

In 1969, GM debuted the Manta Ray Corvette Concept, which boasted an aluminum, high performance 427 cubic inch V8 engine. Could Chevy, nearly fifty years after the fact, be looking to revive the Manta Ray name for another Corvette concept car?

Or is this the name of the long-awaited mid-engine Corvette that fans have been pining for? The Manta Ray could be a mid-level performance car that would slot in between the 460 horsepower Stingray and the 650 horsepower Z06.

Of course, it could still be a mid-level performance Vette even with a front-engine design, as long as it still provides a bit more “oomph” than the current Stingray model.

Concept or production vehicle, mid- or front-engine—we’ll just have to wait a bit longer to know anything for sure about the Corvette Manta Ray.

News Source: GM Authority