It didn’t take long for potential Corvair buyers to demand more horsepower, and Chevy engineers were only too happy to oblige. In 1962, the Turbo-Air 6 became a self-fulfilling prophecy when the option of a turbocharger became available. The newly turbocharged Corvair, dubbed the Spyder, produced 150 horsepower, nearly double the 80 horsepower of the original 1960 model. It also found itself in rare company, being one of only two factory turbocharged vehicles in the world, the another was an Oldsmobile F-85 (later renamed Cutlass).
Buyers who did not opt for the optional turbocharger received a larger displacement consolation prize. By 1965, the naturally aspirated engine was capable of 140 horsepower and the number of carburetors increased from two to four to keep the thirsty engine fed. The turbocharged version was now rated at 180 horsepower, which the engineers saw as the upper limit of the engine design. Not only would the extra power require retooling the engine block, but it would also challenge the cooling system, or lack thereof.
As it was, air conditioning was no longer offered on certain emissions-controlled Corvair powerplants because the extra parasitic drag of the air conditioning compressor was thought to cause an overheating situation.
[Featured image by Daderot via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC0]
