Pete Mole was responsible for the first commercially produced high riser Sting-Ray type bicycle in 1963. He had a rather tenuous relationship with Huffy-Azusa (Huffman Manufacturing Co) which ended shortly after it began due to Huffy's change in policy. See the complete story by John Brain on his very informative web site BikeRod&Kustom (click here).
If you are interested in reading about the history of the Schwinn Sting-Ray, and other interesting stuff about Muscle Bikes & Kusom Bikes, visit & browse John's web site (click here).