The most distinguishing engineering feature of the 1960-69 Chevrolet Corvair was its rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. But my uncle Jeff, who’s been tinkering with hot rods for longer than I’ve been alive, chose to do something a bit unconventional with his latest project car: He installed a small-block V-8 in the front of his 1965 Corvair Sport Coupe.
Now that I think about it, I’ve already introduced you to Jeff. He gave me a hardbound book not long ago that chronicled General Motors’ history.
Recently, Jeff’s Corvair made history at a racetrack in Lewistown, Montana, where it ran a 6.8-second one-eighth-mile finish time. Lewistown Raceway has been in continuous operation since 1957. It sits at 4,200 feet in elevation and is located about 100 miles east of Great Falls.
Under the Corvair’s hood (which, of course, was previously the trunk) resides a naturally-aspirated first-generation small-block Chevrolet connected to a Turbo 350 three-speed automatic transmission. Here are pictures of Jeff’s build when it was in progress.
Jeff made the trek to Lewistown for the ET Summit Series Points Race on Saturday, September 26, 2026, where he achieved the 6.8-second ET. He was awarded “The Wally” for his strong performance.
If you haven’t heard of The Wally before, it’s a coveted trophy in the sport of drag racing awarded to every category winner at National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national and divisional events. The award was introduced in 1969, named after NHRA founder Wally Parks.
I’m sure all this well-deserved hardware will be displayed proudly in Jeff’s garage along with a number of other trophies he’s taken home over the years.
Below is a video of several of Jeff’s eighth-mile runs for your viewing (not to mention listening) pleasure. The car looks and sounds great!
Whether or not the Corvair purists approve or disapprove of a front-engined Corvair, you have to admit it’s impressive what Uncle Jeff has done with his car. Congrats to him on building a race-winning ride, and we look forward to seeing where it takes you next.
Heck, maybe we can get him to line up next to my brother’s turbocharged Lexus IS300 and see who gets to the finish line first? Nothing like a little bit of family rivalry at the dragstrip!
