1966 Corvettes, with the exception of minor styling changes like a slightly redesigned interior, new rocker panels, and a new gas cap, were more or less the same as the 1965 Corvettes. There were a number of technical changes, though, which were more significant. First of all, and strangely, back-up lights were standard (before they were on most other cars), and drum brakes, less surprisingly, were no longer available. Hazard lights were now an option, however, as were shoulder belts (another high-tech feature for the time), and special heavy-duty J56 disc brakes. None of it mattered, though, as Ralph Nader probably still never forgave Chevrolet for the Corvair. In the area of performance, engine options were slashed back to a more modest four. The standard engine was now the L75, with 300 horsepower with the L79 still available with 350 horsepower. The 396 was gone, though, after only one year. In a way, it had been a strange choice of engine for the Corvette, as it wasn't the big block favored by race drivers and hot rodders. Ever since 1963, when the original 427cid Z11 "Rat" V-8 had been developed by stroking a 409, the Rat had been the favorite, starting at 425 horsepower with the Z11, and then being upgraded to 435 horsepower with the L71 in 1964, and to 560 horsepower with the L88 of 1965 (although the official rating was 430, and initially the L88 never left Chevy's possession). It was, however, a conservative but powerful street engine that proved the feasibility of putting a big block engine into the C2, a car that Duntov had originally said was best powered by the lighter 327 "Mouse." In 1966, it was still possible to buy an L71 crate engine, and the L88 finally became available in 1966 too. In fact, a small elite handful of people even managed to order C.O.P.O. L88's directly from Chevrolet, with the first going to Penske Racing, although all but Penske's were stealthfully classified as "HD 427" Corvettes, rather than L88's. Normal people, however, now had the choice, for the first time, of ordering an R.P.O. L36 or L72 427 on a regular, production Corvette. The L36 was the basic one, with "only" 390 horsepower, which was actually less than the L78 396, but the L72 had a larger Holley 780CFM 4bbl, a performance cam, four-bolt main bearings (surprisingly not standard on the Rat) and numerous other performance enhancements, including aluminum pistons. At first I fretted that my L72, recreated for Redline, was too fast, until I read that actually it had more than 425 horsepower, and had been underrated by Chevy to avoid high insurance costs and political problems (i.e. Ralph Nader)! For transmissions, the Saginaw was still standard (in contrast to the rest of the car, which was quite advanced already), the ancient Powerglide automatic was still optional, the M20 4-speed was still around, as was the M22 Rockcrusher, but in 1966 you could also buy an M21 close-ratio 4-speed, which was a cheaper alternative to the M22. For this Redline version of the L72, I've included the side pipes, alloy spoked wheels, L72 engine, the M22 transmission, and the 4.11 POSI differential for monstrous acceleration with decent cornering...oh yeah...it still has a radio...but I should stop talking about that before I get you annoyed.