Today's Classic Car Finds 10/19/2022

1966 Chevrolet Corvair

The Corvair is a compact car produced by Chevrolet from 1960 to 1969 across two generations. It was deemed a popular car with total production of around 1.8 million. The “Corvair” name was a mesh of “Corvette” and “Bel Air”. The “Air” referenced the engine’s cooling system. This car was ground-breaking and is the only American made passenger car with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. Time magazine put it on the cover and Motor Trend named it the Car of the Year for 1960. The first generation of Corvairs had four-door sedan, two-door coupe, convertible, four-door station wagon, passenger van, commercial van, and pickup body styles and two-door coupe, convertible, and four-door hardtop bodystyles for the second generation. The engine initially was an overhead-valve aluminum, air-cooled 140 cu.in. (2.3L) flat-six that was later increased to 145 and 164 cu.in. The 1966 model was part of the second generation. Changes of note for the start of this generation was the removal of the middle roof pillar and the fully independent suspension. There were many new refinements for the 1965 model year that carried over to 1966, with a few minor additions. The one notable change was a new four-speed synchromesh transmission.

Corvair’s history was tainted with the legal issues surrounding crashes due to its suspension and handling of the earlier models. The controversy brought about the new National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966. Subsequent independent testing showed that the Corvair compared favorably with other vehicles used in the tests.

See Corvair Society of America (CORSA) for Corvair enthusiasts. For all the specs for the 1966 model and links to other model years, see here at Conceptcarz. Also, on Conceptcarz is the production history. For a detailed history and description, check out this article on Hemmings. For a full ratings guide, see Caaarguide.

Hemmings Average Asking Price: $19,056