The muscle car craze was in full effect for 1966’s new models, and Chevrolet’s offerings were no exception as seen with the restyled 1966 Chevelle.

Chevrolet had stepped up to the increasing competition in the muscle car market, not just from rivals at Ford and Chrysler, but from within other GM divisions as well. This would be the first year of the new body style, which would continue through the 1967 model year before once again changing for 1968.

The Chevelle was completely revamped for the 1966 model year while building on the successes of the previous incarnation. This would also be the official introduction of the SS396 model designation, as this package was simply known as an SS in previous years. The 1966 Chevelle was available in several trim levels, such as the Chevelle 300, 300 Deluxe, Malibu, and SS396. SuperSport models received blackout grille treatment, special rocker panel moldings, and exclusive badging.

Additionally, several body styles were available for the platform: 2 door hardtop coupe and convertible, 2 and 4 door sedan, 4 door wagon, and 2 door sedan pickup (El Camino). The iconic “coke bottle” shape made its debut here along with a more aggressive roofline, and hood ornaments were included on the SS396, which would go on to become a staple feature of the trim. Exterior dimensions remained roughly the same as the previous year despite the vastly different styling.

Interior vinyl color choices were black, bright blue, blue, red, bronze, fawn, turquoise, or white.

A front bench seat was standard, but optional strato-bucket seats were available, as was a center console. Special gauge instrumentation could be optioned on any 66 Chevelle or Malibu. A tachometer would be included in this package for any V8 equipped Chevelle regardless of trim level, but the RPM range varied depending on engine choice. These tachometers could also be ordered separately of the gauge package on any of the V8 Chevelles.

Standard engine choices included two Turbo-Thrift inline six cylinders, a 194 cid / 120 hp and 230 cid / 140 hp offering, as well as two variants of the 283 cid Turbo-Fire V8 with 195 hp and 220 hp and two or four barrel carburetors respectively.

Those who needed more power could opt for the 327 cid Turbo-Jet V8 rated at 275 hp. There were three big block 396 engines available under the SS396 designation; the base engine option for this package was the L35 396 cid / 325 hp Turbo-Jet big block, but savvy buyers could choose either the L34 360 hp or L78 375 hp variants if they desired and were willing to pay the premium. However, the 396 engine option could only be ordered on the SS396 2 door sport coupe or convertible, or the El Camino. The L78 could also only be ordered being paired to one of the available manual transmissions, including the infamous M22 heavy duty “rock crusher” Muncie.

Transmission choices consisted of a 3 speed Saginaw as standard, with 3 variations of the 4 speed Muncie (M20, M21, M22), and an optional Powerglide 2 speed automatic transmission as well. Transmission availability was directly affected by the chosen rear axle ratio, of which there were many options. By far the most common transmission for 1966 was the Powerglide with nearly 300k units sold, while the heavy-duty M22 “rock crusher” reportedly was only optioned on 12 L78 examples.

While the El Camino could also be had with the available 396 engines, it would not officially be classified as an SS 396 in any capacity that would normally identify the trim on a Chevelle. Aside from a pair of 396 Turbo-Jet flag emblems that could be found on the front fenders, there were none of the distinguishing features present.

For the Canadian market, the Malibu could be ordered with the A51 RPO to transform it into a Malibu “Sports Option”, their equivalent to a US Chevelle SS model.

This RPO would simply option bucket seats and commonly paired with RPO D55 center console on US models, but Canadian Malibus would also receive 1965 Malibu SS emblems and ’66 SS396 rocker panel moldings.

There was a total of 72,272 Chevelle SS 396 models, and 1,865 known L35 equipped El Caminos, sold for 1966. The optional L34 396 production totals 24,811 Chevelles, and a paltry 3,099 L78 396 Chevelles were produced, as this option became available midway through 1966. Approximately 447,000 Chevelles in total among all sub-models were produced for the ’66 model year.