This is a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Turbo, the turbocharged 180 bhp version of the rear-engined flat-six American production car that would pre-date both the Porsche 911 and the later Porsche 911 Turbo.
The Corvair was just the second turbocharged production car in American history, after the Oldsmobile F-85 Turbo Jetfire which was released a few months earlier in the same year. Today, the surviving Corvairs have become increasingly popular, with the Corsa turbocharged models typically fetching the most coin.
Fast Facts – The Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Turbo
- The 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Turbo was one of the first turbocharged American production cars, featuring a 180 bhp, 2.7 liter flat-six engine. It was a revolutionary vehicle, predating the Porsche 911 by a year, and became highly collectible, especially in its turbocharged Corsa trim.
- The Corvair’s development was led by Ed Cole, who saw the market for compact cars largely abandoned by American manufacturers. The car featured a rear-mounted, air-cooled flat-six engine, independent four wheel suspension, and innovative for the time unibody construction. It was designed to compete with foreign compact cars like the Volkswagen Beetle.
- In 1965, the Corvair received a major update, including revised styling, a redesigned rear suspension, and an upgraded engine. The top-of-the-line Corsa model featured the turbocharged 2.7 liter engine, boosting output to 180 bhp.
- The specific 1965 Corvair Corsa shown is finished in PPG Teal metallic paint, with a black vinyl interior and rally wheels. It features a turbocharged engine and optional 4-speed manual transmission. The car will be auctioned by Mecum on March 20th, 2025.
The First American Turbocharged Flat-Six
The Chevrolet Corvair really isn’t as well known as it should be, it was a revolutionary car when it was released back in 1962, and it represented a major gamble by General Motors to turn the age-old front-engined-rear-wheel-drive-American-family-car formula on its head. The Corvair was powered by a rear-mounted, air-cooled, aluminum flat-six – and it debuted two years before the Porsche 911 in 1964.
The 1965 update of the Corvair would be the single largest update in its history, significantly modernizing both the styling and the engineering underpinning the car. Image courtesy of General Motors.
In the late 1950s the major American automakers had largely abandoned the compact car market, with their vehicles seeming to get ever larger, heavier, and more adorned with fins and chrome. The General Manager of Chevrolet at the time was Ed Cole, a brilliant engineer known for consistently pushing forward with major engineering and design advancements in Chevrolet vehicles.
Cole was heavily involved in the development of the Corvette, he’s been nicknamed the “Father of the Small Block Chevy V8,” and he was the major driving force behind the Corvair.
As the market for true compact cars had been largely abandoned, many American consumers had been turning to foreign cars from companies like Volkswagen, Renault, and Fiat, which offered inexpensive automobiles that were cheap to run and cheap to maintain.
The Development Of The Corvair
Seeing this underserved market for compact cars, Ed Cole and his team set about developing the Corvair, with the process beginning in the late 1950s. They designed a new unibody/monocoque chassis for the car rather than the more conventional (and heavier) body-on-frame construction technique that was still in widespread use.
The Corvair would also feature independent front and rear suspension, wider, low-profile tires, and an unusual (for an American manufacturer) aluminum flat-six engine mounted in the rear, sending power to the back wheels through a transaxle. Perhaps even more unusual was that a turbocharged version of the car was available, almost unheard of in the United States at the time, though commonplace today.
The Corvette and the Corvair Corsa were two of Chevrolet’s quickest cars in the mid-1960s. Image courtesy of General Motors.
From the outset, the Corvair model family was intended to include both two and four-door versions, as well as four-door station wagons, a two-door convertible, as well as van and pickup truck variants that used the same fundamental underpinnings and drivetrain.
The 1965 Model Year Upgrades
In 1965 the model series received its largest single update, with completely revised and modernized styling, upgraded rear suspension to improve handling and address some earlier issues, an improved engine, and a number of other updates.
The top-of-the-line model for 1965 was the Chevrolet Corvair Corsa which was a two-door powered by the 2.7 liter Corvair flat-six that was given a turbocharger, boosting power from 140 bhp to 180 bhp – a heady figure for the time.
Today, these Corvair Corsas are highly collectible, and they’re seen by many as America’s parallel to the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) that would debut 10 years later in 1975.
The 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Shown Here
The car you see here is finished in PPG Teal metallic paint over a black vinyl interior including black upholstery, black door cards, black carpeting, and a black-fronted dashboard. It has a wood-rimmed steering wheel with chrome rally-style spokes, and a Delco AM/FM radio.
As a Corvair Corsa this car is powered by the turbocharged 2.7 liter flat-six producing 180 bhp. This model was given the optional 4-speed manual transmission, an upgrade over the standard 3-speed manual box.
Chevrolet Corvair Corsa is powered by the 2.7 liter Corvair flat-six with a turbocharger, boosting power from 140 bhp to 180 bhp.
This Corvair rides on rally wheels with spinner centers fitted with Yokohama tires and chrome dress-up rings.
It’s now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 20th of March and if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
