Produced from August 1970, 1971 cars were virtually identical in appearance to the previous model inside and out. This was the final year for the fiber optics light monitoring system, the headlight washer system, and the M22 heavy duty 4-speed manual gearbox. For the first time, air conditioning was installed on most of the cars, with nearly 53 percent so ordered. Engines were detuned with reduced compression ratios to tolerate lower octane fuel. The small blocks available were the base engine, which dropped to , and the high performance LT-1, now listed at . The LS5 motor was carried over and produced . Offered in ‘71 only was the LS6 big-block featuring aluminum heads and delivering , highest of the 1970-72 MYs, and could be ordered with an automatic transmission. The ZR1 option was carried over for LT-1 equipped cars and the ZR2 option, offered this year only, provided a similar performance equipment package for LS6 cars, and restricted transmission to a 4-speed manual. Rare options: ZR1 special engine package (8), ZR2 special engine package (12), LS6 425 hp engine (188), shoulder belts in convertibles (677).