Chevy set to reintroduce the Impala, a 1960s icon
By Michael Ellis
DETROIT, Dec 30 (Reuters) - It was the top-selling car in
the United States in the 1960s, it set the standard for
affordable luxury and performance, and it even was the
inspiration for a Beach Boys song.
It was the Chevrolet Impala and soon it will be back.
On Monday at the North American International Auto Show in
Detroit, General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet unit will
unveil its new Impala, a 1960s icon that has been redesigned
for the coming millennium.
"Teaser" pictures showing parts of the new car have already
been posted on the Chevrolet Web site
(http://www.chevrolet.com), hinting at the sleek design of the
1960s Impala. But judging from the preview shots, the new
version will bear little resemblance to the chrome-encrusted
boats that topped the sales chart every year of that decade.
Still, Chevrolet promises that Impala fans will recognize
the performance delivered by the car's V6 engine, smaller but
just as powerful as the V8s from 30 years ago, even if purists
grimace at the new front-wheel drive.
"The Impala lines were dressed to the max in chrome, and
they always had a distinct look," said Bob Snowden, vice
president of Late Great Chevrolet, an Orlando, Fla., seller of
car parts and publisher of two Chevrolet magazines.
"It will be interesting to see if the new Impala is
distinct enough. I'm still one of the die-hards that unless
it's a rear-wheel drive, I don't want anything to do with it,"
he said.
The Impala made its debut in the 1958 model year as a
fancier version of Chevy's full-size Bel-Air, offering the
luxury of a Cadillac, room for six passengers and sports-car
power.
In 1959, Chevrolet broadened the model line with two-door
and four-door versions, and Americans liked what they saw.
The Impala's key distinguishing features were its jumping
African antelope logo, three taillights on each side, compared
with two for the less-expensive Bel-Air, and sleek lines
tapering to seagull-like tailfins.
Production in 1959 jumped to 473,000 units, easily enough
to make it the best-selling U.S. car today, but Impala would
have to wait until 1960 to claim the sales title.
With the Beach Boys praising the Impala's prowess in their
early 1960s song "409" -- a reference to its powerful engine --
sales of the car continued to climb. In 1965, it set an
all-time single-year sales record of 1.1 million units.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as small-sized imports
made inroads into the U.S. market, the Impala grew in length,
but it remained the most popular full-size car.
Al Gore, now the vice president, and his wife Tipper drove
their Impala to the Grand Canyon in 1971, a tent in back.
By 1972, when its all-time sales passed the 10 million
mark, the car stretched more than 18 feet (5.4 meters).
And then the oil embargo hit in 1973. Gasoline prices
spiraled higher, sales plummeted and car sizes shrank.
The Impala never really recovered. By the early 1980s, the
Caprice replaced the Impala as Chevrolet's upscale full-size
car, and in 1986, the nameplate was dropped.
"They were a top-of-the-line car for a middle-class
consumer," Snowden said. "The guy who couldn't afford a new
Cadillac could afford a top-of-the line Chevrolet. They always
had some unique characteristics."
Chevrolet brought back the nameplate in the Impala SS
(short for 'Super Sport'), a hot-rod version of its boat-like
Caprice in the 1994-96 model years. Demand for the rear-wheel
drive car far outstripped its limited supply.
"This car was such a sleeper. It had performance," said
Troy Willrick, president of the National Association of Impala
SS Owners in Bunnell, Fla. "It handled like a squad car."
The new Impala, to be built in Oshawa, Ont., will arrive in
showrooms in the second quarter next year and Chevrolet
officials are confident it will be a success.
Kurt Ritter, Chevrolet's new general manager, said in early
December that the Impala could eventually become Chevrolet's
biggest-selling car, ahead of the Cavalier, on pace to sell
about 250,000 units this year.
((Detroit newsroom, 313-870-0200)) |
