Jeff Benham readies himself in the cockpit of the only Pro Mod Corvair.
n the history of drag racing, Chevrolet’s swoopy little Corvair's accomplishments are generally a footnote. When Chevy introduced the mid-engined, flat-six-powered coupe, it was viewed as a cool car. I had one myself. I believe they came with just a couple of cubic inch options, but Chevy did offer a variety of horsepower options by offering everything from a couple of carbs to a turbocharged version. With a four-speed trans, IRS suspension, and a pretty peppy engine, it was a neat car in the middle Sixties. I believe that a turbocharged version actually at one time was a certified hitter and record holder in the NHRA’s Stock Eliminator division. But, thanks to Ralph Nader using it as a political hammer and in part because sometimes the engine mount bolts would fail and the engine would just drop out on the ground without warning (I can personally attest to that happening), the Corvair became just a footnote in automotive history.
Now blown front motored ‘Vairs aren’t new. Tom Sturm and perhaps a few other racers campaigned Corvair Funny Cars back in the late '60s and early '70s, but they have become a rarity at the racetrack these days. So you can imagine that when I saw a blown, big block-powered, all metal bodied Corvair Pro Mod at the ADRL race in Houston, I just had to do a feature on the car for DRO.
This Texas-based Corvair was built on the weekends by a group of South Texas racers led by chassis builder Neal Burgin in his Houston chassis shop.
They built the car to compete in a Texas Top Sportsman circuit that runs on eighth-mile tracks and has a 4.70 index. They’ve had some success with the car competing on that circuit with a driver whose name you might recognize. The driver is Jeff Benham who is the youngest son of the late Crawford Benham. Crawford Benham is a NHRA Division 4 Hall of Famer and was a hitter in the NHRA Modified Eliminator class during the 1980’s. He won the 1960 U.S. Nationals, defeating the legendary Dave Hutchins in the Wayne County Speed Shop Opal.