original window sticker to prove it.
The heart of the Corvette is the biggest
and baddest engine available for 1966:
the 425-horsepower 427ci big-block. If
you’re really savvy with your Corvette
options, you’ll recognize this as an L72,
which added $312 to the original sticker
price of $4,295. 1966 was only the sec-
ond year Chevrolet offered a big-block
in Corvettes and it was the first year for
427ci engines. It was also the only year
the L72 was offered, making it pretty
rare with just over 5,000 total Corvettes
ever produced with this engine. Stevens’
coupe was also ordered with the K66
transistor ignition to deliver a stronger
and more reliable spark to the high-
horsepower engine. The final piece of
the power puzzle for the coupe was the
N14 side dual exhaust, a $131 option
worth every penny.
The rest of the drivetrain was no
slouch either. While it wasn’t ordered
with the holy grail, ultra-rare M22
heavy-duty, close-ratio manual—only
15 vehicles were sold with this option
in 1966—it was equipped with the M21
close-ratio four-speed. Pair that with
the Chevrolet Positraction rearend
and it’s clear that this Corvette was
built to perform.
The performance-oriented option
list doesn’t stop there. Stevens’ Corvette
was ordered with every brake and sus-
pension upgrade available for 1966,
including the rare J56 heavy-duty brake
option. Only 382 of the 27,000-plus
Corvettes built in 1966 were equipped
with this option. Other factory handling
upgrades include vacuum power brakes
and F41 special front and rear suspen-
sion. Put all those performance options
together in the lightweight and short
wheelbase Corvette and you can imag-
ine that no other factory vehicle could
even come close to keeping up with this
car back in the day.
The exterior of Stevens’ Corvette still
wears its original color: Mosport Green.
Like other aspects of the car, the hue
is yet another rare option adding to its
collectibility because it was a one-year-
only color for 1966. The other standout
exterior feature of the car, not forget-
ting those iconic side pipes, is the P48
cast-aluminum knock-off wheels. This
was a carryover option from 1965 withThere’s certainly
something to be said
for the experience of a
50-year-old running and
driving piece of history
that remains just as
Chevrolet designed it
over a half-century ago.
32 VETTE 19.07[FEATURE]
THE STAR OF ’66.
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