Corvair Forum

I have an early production 66 Corsa 140 LOS built car with no options and a 3 speed trans, wedding band taillights. How rare is this?

Interesting. I'll bet it was a dealer "Price Leader" car. Even on the Corsa the four speed was an option.

Dealers would order a upscale model no option car to advertise a great price, then a prospective customer you'd get to the dealer and the salesman would go to work and ask you if you wanted a four speed and other options. Most folks would order an "optioned" car.

A buddies Dad once got a great deal on a "Price Leader" car. He just needed a "work" car and didn't mind the lack of options.

What a cool car. I think the LOS a cars are rare.I say that given I have a 66 500 coupe LOS car. There were unique production differences as to options.This 3 speed might be something a dealer ordered..agree with that theory.

I've got a '66 Corsa LOS, so I hope it's worth a million, lol.

TurboTurd is a LOS, date code 10B and #232, so one week and 74 Corsas prior to yours. I will admit it is very cool to see a "base model Corsa" without any extras at all

Mine is a 65 LOS Corsa.

County98 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2024 8:59 pm I've got a '66 Corsa LOS, so I hope it's worth a million, lol.

My Stinger clone is a LOS 66 Corsa 140 but I don't consider it anything special.
Motohead's Corsa is somewhat more special being so early in 66 production and a 3-speed with low options.

It seems that several years back on the other spot far far away the topic of the wedding band lights came up. I can't remember who posted the info but going by when the change over of the chrome ring happen and the production numbers of all of the cars to follow that 1/3 of the '66 and later tail lights had the wedding band rings. So those are not that rare. I would think that the 3sp would be the top of the list. Dave could you post a picture of the shift handle? A non Corsa would have a black handle for a 3sp but the Corsa's were supposed to be chrome.

RexJohnson wrote: ↑Sat Jun 08, 2024 7:51 am It seems that several years back on the other spot far far away the topic of the wedding band lights came up. I can't remember who posted the info but going by when the change over of the chrome ring happen and the production numbers of all of the cars to follow that 1/3 of the '66 and later tail lights had the wedding band rings. So those are not that rare. I would think that the 3sp would be the top of the list. Dave could you post a picture of the shift handle? A non Corsa would have a black handle for a 3sp but the Corsa's were supposed to be chrome.

Interesting. One nice thing about the 66 three speed I recall is first gear is synchronized unlike the 65 and earlier design that was not.

I believe its Chrome like the standard Corsa, Its at the ranch so next time I am there will look at it but think it's the standard Corsa shifter. It had a walnut 3 speed shift knob on it when I got it but think the white 3 speed knob is in the glove box. I got this car back in the 80's when people were giving them away! A guy paid me $50 to take this out of his back yard! LOL I brought it home and its been sitting in the shop in this same place since the 80's, Unfortunately he did not have any paperwork for the car but did write me a bill of sale! I never really paid any attention to it until recently as I sold the 38 chevy in the pic next to it to make room in the shop. Now that I know how rare it is I am going to restore it back to 100% Stock.

After all these years cars that are restored tend to be desirable models loaded up with a lot of options. Nothing wrong with that!! However, when I go to a show I do enjoy seeing something different like a 500 two door or four door, or a non-optioned CORSA. Good luck with the restoration.

I would guess for the '66 Corsa 3sp they would just use the standard 4sp chrome lever. In '65 with the different 3sp they had a spiecel shifter that gave you a shorter throw like some of the earlie 3sps did. I have seen some early 3sp with a long throw and others that didn't. So for a '65 Corsa with a 3sp the parts book lists a seperate part number and I believe that it says chrome. This would be a very rare shifter. I don't remember what the parts book had listed for the '66 Corsa 3sp.

I’d think it is fairly rare and would be cool to see it back on the road.

Just to add some info here, After some discussion with Larry Claypool it seems there were only 276 - 1966 Corsa's built with a 3 speed transmission and most were the "Value Leader" cars at dealerships. Also the Original shifter ball was the standard black shift knob with no shift pattern like all the other 3 speed Corvairs.

A side note, the 65 Corsa's with a 3 speed had the black round shift lever and not the chrome one the 66's had, also the 65 - 3 speed shift lever is the one everyone wants as when installed on a 4 speed car it becomes a short throw quick shifter.

So IMO 276 built makes this car very rare!

Thanks Larry for the info!

Didn’t some/most Corsa’s have the cove painted silver? Different than the body? Yours is all one color. Hoping to learn something here…