ALT-1 Chevrolet Impala
The muscle car era began with the introduction of the Chevy Impala in 1958. The Impala was Chevrolet's richest offering and top of the line model, quickly becoming a performance icon for automobile enthusiasts of the 1960's. Even in today's world of luxury cars, the Chevy Impala is the dream car for the person whole loves big cars with bigger performance.
In 1958, Chevrolet brought the Impala to life as the top option in the Bel Air line. This special Impala edition included luxury interiors, special trim, and a curvy body style that came at a high price. People loved this new edition and the performance options Chevrolet offered with it, and so 1958 began the era of the beloved Impala.
In 1959, the Impala held enough popularity to stand as its own model. These new models had wild tailfins, "bat wing" rear fenders, and "cats eye" tail lamps. The body style was curvier, lower, wider, and longer. Chevrolet introduced the availability of the of the fuel-injected 283, V-8's in small quantities.
1960 brought no advancements for the Impala, but only offered a toned down body style. Chevrolet produced around 204,000 sport coupe editions and almost 80,000 convertible Impalas during this less eventful year.
For all 1960 lacked, 1961 soon made up for it. This was the year of the first ultimate muscle car, the Chevy Impala SS, with the 409 cubic inch V8 engine. This powerhouse demon soon outshined Ford's 390 cid engine, which had been offering stiff competition on the dragstrips the year before. The Super Sport package was offered for $53.80 and included special interior trim, body trim, power steering, power brakes, full wheel covers with three blade spinners, a passenger grab bar, a console for floor shifting, and a tachometer for the steering column. That was a lot of bang for the buck in the world of musclecars!
The 409 engines became so popular that Chevrolet made it an available option in all full size Chevy's in 1962. A few improvements were added to the legendary engine, making it even faster on the drag strips. People continued to worship Chevrolet's sporty Impala style.
Popularity continued to increase through 1963 and Chevrolet decided to make the Impala SS its own series in 1964. Everything looked great for sales until the introduction of the Pontiac GTO, which gradually started a market shift towards smaller, lighter cars.
Chevrolet attempted a comeback with a complete redesign in 1965, giving the Impala a sleek, streamlined look in contrast to past harsh, boxy body stles. The almight 409 engine retired to make was for a new Mark IV 396 V8 engine, which would carry Chevrolet through the rest of the decade. 1965 also brought the new caprise option on Impalas, added to the four-door sedans, station wagons, and supersports.
In 1966, popular opinion drove the Impala from Chevy's spotlight. The new Caprise outshone the older Impala Super Sport, offering a new and improved image of luxury to the public. The 1966 Impala lost is rounded tail lights which had been its only unchanged attribute since 1958. Maybe this was the final nail in the Impala's coffin because the next year brought only more bad news.
1967 Super Sport sales continued dropping as the trend of smaller cars raged on. The once popular muscle car now had reduced engine choices and streamlined the look with of the Super Sport edition with other standard Impalas. In 1968, the Super Sport edition was reverted back to an option and ordered on only 38,210 Impalas. Sales continued to fall and 1969 was the last year of the famed Impala Super Sport.
After 1969, the Impala never recaptured its legendary performance image. It gradually evolved into a plain old full-size luxury car, with no special speed secrets to bring it fame. Though the Chevy Impala's reign in the performance world proved shorter than expected, it left a deep imprint in the history of muscle cars, setting standards for performance that would be challenged and held in comparison for decades to come.
