Track-Abused MX-5 Miata Goes Head-To-Head Against Tim Allen's 1966 Corvair Corsa

Of course, that was only after the safety issues were resolved, and the company even topped the series with the turbocharged version of the Corvair Corsa that went all the way up to 180 hp. It may not sound like much, but let’s consider that a standard version was running with 95 horses under the rear hood, and this compact car was quite lightweight.

Given its uniqueness among American-made cars, it’s no wonder some of the Corvair Corsa examples belong to automotive museums these days. One example would be the Petersen Automotive Museum. Its YouTube channel recently premiered a new series called “Ultimate Head-To-Head,” where a number of its prized possessions will go down the quarter-mile route against unlikely opponents.

Unsurprisingly, the first car to be featured is a crimson 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa, pitted against a rather abused 2008 Mazda MX-5 Miata. It’s actually not that of an apples vs. oranges race because the little Japanese roadster and America’s Porsche have rather similar masses and close-matched power ratios.

All the details are included in the video, which is neatly arranged in chapters. By the way, the most interesting facts regarding these two vehicles are that Tim Allen actually donated the ‘66 Corvair Corsa to the Petersen Museum, and the Miata has seen significant abuse during its career. That’s because the MX-5 serves double duties as a track car for events and as a school aid for people learning to handle its six-speed manual transmission.

Both go head-to-head in a couple of drag races, and we’re not going to spoil the fun of finding out who took the victory. Instead, we’re going to point out the Corvair vs. Miata isn’t the only action going around because Doug DeMuro makes a surprise guest star appearance for the second part, where he drives a 2021 Audi RS6 against the mighty Bugatti Chiron!