1966 Chevrolet Corvair Convertible

"The Chevrolet Corvair was an automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1960 to 1969. The Corvair was offered in a wide range of body styles, including four-door sedans and hardtops, two-door sedans and hardtops, convertible, and station wagon. In addition, it was built as a compact van similar to the Volkswagen bus, with styles including a pickup, panel van, and a passenger van called the Greenbrier. The cargo floor was raised above the rear engine, and the pickup featured an unusual side-loading ramp. The Corvair — like the Ford Falcon, Studebaker Lark, Nash Rambler, and the Plymouth Valiant— was one of the first of a new compact class. These were offered in response to the small, sporty and fuel-efficient automobiles being imported from Europe by Volkswagen, Renault and others. But the Corvair stood out with its significantly different engineering approach from other American offerings. The Corvair was part of GM's innovative A-body (""Z""-Body from 1965-on) line of cars, but this was by far the most unusual, due to the location and design of its engine. It was an air-cooled flat / opposed rear-engined vehicle inspired by the Volkswagen Beetle and the Porsche 356. The 1948 Tucker Torpedo had also used this layout to mixed reviews. Most other compacts such as the Chevy II / Nova and subcompact Vega were smaller versions of conventional automobiles with in-line water-cooled front-mounted iron 4 or 6 cylinder engines. But the Corvair's powerplant was an aluminum, air-cooled 140 in³ (2.3 L) flat-6 engine. The first Chevrolet Corvair engine produced as little as 80 hp (60 kW). Later versions developed as much as 180 hp (134 kW), comparable to V6 engines of the 1980s. The Corvair was initially marketed as a sporty sedan before the Mustang became popular in the compact segment. Its final design evoked the later Camaro, and is considered by many to still look contemporary in the 21st century."