1966 Chevrolet Corvette

1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Convertible L79 327/350, 4-Speed, Silver over Black Leather


Why This Car Is Special

The 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray is widely regarded as the high-water mark of the C2 generation, and for good reason. The second-generation Corvette ran from 1963 through 1967, and by 1966 Chevrolet had worked out the early production kinks while still offering the full menu of performance options that made this body style famous. The hidden headlights, the sculpted rear haunches, the aggressive side vents all of it was carried over from Bill Mitchell's original design without the compromises that would come with the C3 in 1968.

This particular car is a convertible equipped with the L79 engine option, which is one of the more desirable powerplant choices from that era. The L79 was a 327 cubic inch small-block rated at 350 horsepower, fed by a single four-barrel carburetor and breathing through a high-lift camshaft. Chevrolet positioned the L79 between the base 300-horsepower 327 and the more aggressive fuel-injected options, but in practice the L79 delivered strong mid-range torque and a broad power band that made it highly drivable on the street. Road testers of the era recorded 0-60 times in the mid-6-second range with the L79 and a close-ratio 4-speed, which was genuinely fast by any standard of the time.

The VIN on this car confirms it is a 1966 model year Corvette convertible built at the St. Louis assembly plant consistent with all Corvette production of that era, as St. Louis was the sole assembly facility for the Corvette until the Bowling Green plant opened in 1981.

Total 1966 Corvette production came in at 27,720 units, split between coupes and convertibles. Of that number, convertibles accounted for the majority of sales buyers in 1966 still favored open-air motoring over the coupe. The L79 engine was a popular option, though not every Corvette left the factory with one, making this combination of convertible body and 350-horsepower small-block a legitimate performance specification from the factory.


Features List

- 327 cubic inch L79 V8, rated at 350 horsepower
- Muncie 4-speed manual transmission
- Four-wheel disc brakes
- Black convertible soft top
- American Racing wheels with knock-off centers
- Chrome bumpers front and rear
- Dual exhaust with chrome tips
- Corvette Sting Ray badges
- Wood rim steering wheel
- Black leather bucket seats
- Center console with 4-speed shift pattern plate
- Tachometer equipped
- Delco AM radio
- New exterior paint in Silver under warranty
- Clean undercarriage


Mechanical

The L79 327/350 is one of the most respected small-block Chevrolet configurations ever offered in the Corvette. It used a high-compression cylinder head, a mechanical lifter camshaft with aggressive timing, and a Holley four-barrel carburetor on an aluminum intake manifold. The result was an engine that ran cleanly at street speeds while still pulling hard through the rev range. With a Muncie 4-speed manual gearbox behind it, this drivetrain combination rewards a driver who knows how to use the gearbox short-shifting for mileage or winding it out for performance, the L79 has the flexibility to do both.

The undercarriage photos on this car tell an important story. The frame and floor are finished in black with no visible rust, rot, or patched sections. The independent rear suspension a feature Corvette introduced in 1963 and a genuine engineering accomplishment for an American production car of that era is intact and properly presented. The C2 Corvette used a three-link rear independent suspension with a transverse leaf spring and U-jointed halfshafts, which gave it substantially better handling than the solid-axle cars it replaced. Four-wheel disc brakes are fitted, which was a factory option on the 1966 Corvette and a meaningful upgrade over the drum setup