Collectible Classic: 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS

Is this the closest thing to a four-door Corvette?

Today, we’re just cruising. The Impala SS wouldn’t outrun a modern Honda Accord V-6, and Leahy is more interested in catching up with friends along Woodward than laying rubber at every stoplight. Yet in its heyday, the SS was a bonafide muscle car, and thanks to its subdued looks and four-door body, it didn’t attract as much attention as its performance merited.






After a hiatus of 25 years, the Chevrolet Impala SS returned for the 1994 model year with all the hop-up parts needed to justify its final two letters. Based on a Chevy Caprice sedan, the SS had a beefed-up LT1 V-8; a lower, heavy-duty suspension derived from the Caprice cop car; larger brakes; a limited-slip differential; and dual exhausts. To help passersby tell the Impala SS apart from plebian Caprices, it wore special five-spoke aluminum wheels and a rear spoiler and all its exterior chrome trim was deleted. The majority of the cars were painted black, which was the only choice in 1994 until dark cherry metallic and dark gray joined the palette for ’95 and ’96.



The Chevrolet Impala SS was far meaner than any standard Caprice, able to run to 60 mph in 7.0 seconds and through the quarter mile in 15.4 seconds, scorching contemporary four-door muscle machines including the Ford Taurus SHO and the supercharged Pontiac Bonneville SSEi. Not that it was a sprinter off the blocks. “[The engine] doesn’t exactly catapult the 4,200-pound car from a dead stop,” we wrote in October 1993, “but it does provide plenty of power for passing.”
Leahy certainly enjoyed the Impala’s straight-line performance on Woodward, terrifying his wife with full-bore launches and even tagging along on the 2001 HOT ROD Power Tour. “I call it my four-door Corvette,” he says. He bought the car, after all, because he ended up selling his 1979 Corvette after marriage and kids arrived, but he still wanted a car that would be fun to drive.




Leahy also appreciated the Impala SS’s spaciousness and comfort, whether for road trips or just for cruising around Michigan. The trunk is enormous (at 20.4 cubic feet, it’s more spacious than the trunk in today’s Mercedes-Benz S-Class), and the back seat has enough head- and legroom to easily accommodate 6-foot passengers. My scalp doesn’t come close to touching the cloth headliner.



As we leave the Detroit suburb of Clawson, I adjust the power seats and quickly acclimate to driving the big sedan. The four-gauge instrument cluster is plain and legible, and both the climate-control ***** and the sound system use large controls that are handily within the driver’s reach. The 260-hp V-8 speaks softly and the four-speed automatic glides between gears gently when we pull away from lights in traffic, though you’ll find plenty of torque on tap when the road clears and you dip deeper into the throttle. It’s a quick car, but we won’t risk our pride—or Leahy’s immaculately preserved car—by racing anyone on Woodward this time.



A large-diameter steering wheel and light-effort power steering make it easy to maneuver the big Impala—it’s longer than a modern Chevy Tahoe—although even with the performance-oriented shocks and relatively stiff anti-roll bars, the Chevy wallows around corners. The upshot of the suspension tuning is that the Impala SS is remarkably comfortable for a performance-oriented car. Large 255/50R-17 tires help cushion driver and passengers from pothole impacts; engine and road noise are reasonably subdued; and the wide, flat seats are as plush as leather couches. It’s no wonder Leahy enjoys taking this car on multiday road trips.
“To me it’s a performance car, and it’s comfortable and handles nice,” Leahy says. “As long as I can, I think I’m going to keep it.”




The Impala SS still attracts attention because stuffing a high-performance engine into a family sedan remains a pretty unusual formula. Today’s Chevrolet Impala is far less cool than this one, although the idea of a big, comfortable sedan with a hot V-8 under the hood lives on for a little while longer in the shape of the Australian-engineered, 415-hp Chevrolet SS. But this type of car is going the way of the fax machine as buyers turn to front- or all-wheel-drive sedans with smaller, turbocharged engines. The days of packing a 5.7-liter engine into a big, cushy family sedan are long gone.



The Impala SS still attracts attention because stuffing a high-performance engine into a family sedan remains a pretty unusual formula. Today’s Chevrolet Impala is far less cool than this one, although the idea of a big, comfortable sedan with a hot V-8 under the hood lives on for a little while longer in the shape of the Australian-engineered, 415-hp Chevrolet SS. But this type of car is going the way of the fax machine as buyers turn to front- or all-wheel-drive sedans with smaller, turbocharged engines. The days of packing a 5.7-liter engine into a big, cushy family sedan are long gone.
The Info

• Years Produced 1994-1996
• Number Sold 69,096
• Original Price $25,495 (1996)
• Value Today $10,000 (NADA AVG)

Why Buy?
Although the Impala SS is relatively young to be called “classic” and was sold in pretty high numbers to count as a “collectible,” it’s a very special formula that has resonated with gearheads for decades. As fewer and fewer of these tire-shredding sedans remain in stock condition (the LT1 engine is easy to hot-rod for more power), and as rear-wheel-drive full-size sedans with V-8s become ever rarer, a well-maintained example like this becomes ever more unusual. It offers a genuine slice of the American muscle-car experience, but it has enough space to bring your buddies along for the ride. There is clearly demand from buyers, too. A stranger inquired about buying this car while we photographed it, an occurrence Leahy says is surprisingly frequent. But as much as the idea of a comfortable sedan with big power seems to resonate among enthusiasts, the concept has almost disappeared from the new-car marketplace. And for that reason, the Chevrolet Impala SS won’t soon be forgotten by enthusiasts.

 

Definitely strikes a cord with me. I've always vowed to own one someday, and I've been very close a few times.

The first car I learned to drive on was a 92 Caprice 5.0L. I spent my entire year with my learner permit driving that car, and drove it multiple times after getting my license when I needed some serious people hauling space. When my parents got rid of it, it didn't make any sense to try and save it - the car had 265k miles and was still on the original engine, transmission, and rear end. Plus it had a few spots of minor body rust from the salt in the winter.

From that point forward, I've always wanted an Impala. It has the same basic feel and look of the Caprice, but is just a little more sporty and hopped up. It would fulfill nostalgia and fun categories at the same time.

My first time coming close to buying one was in college. I needed another car, and came down to a 99 grand prix gtp 2 door or a 95 impala. The impala was about double the price of the gtp. Ended up going with the gp mainly because the impala got a service engine light on the test drive, and because I was mid l67 build on the monte, so it made sense to keep common engines between the cars.

The second time was probably 4 or 5 years ago. One came up for sale here for $2500. Being that their values had stayed so high for so long, I was shocked to see one this low. When I saw it, it just needed too much work. The interior was shredded, it had minor body damage in multiple spots, and needed a lot of repair work. I'm definitely not looking for basically a full restoration job, so I walked away.

Most of what I've seen since for sale is either super low mileage garage queen for insane money (I want a driver, not a show car), or they're super high mileage and rough shape.

What I'd ideally like one day is to get one with good interior and body condition with reasonable mileage. Do an LS swap (nothing crazy, something like a stock LS2 would be perfect), add a t56, lowering springs, tint, and exhaust and call it done.

We'll see, hopefully someday I'll come across a good deal at the right time!

 

MORE DETAILS

• $3,000
• $8,461 below average
• CONDITION
• Used
  • MILEAGE
  • 69,000 Miles

For Sale By Owner

• Listed today

https://www.carsforsale.com/1996-che...r-sale-C125107 < Click


http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-...#resultsPage=1 < Click

Sorry Chad : )

 

If I found something like that for that price around here, I'd buy it tomorrow. However $3k for a good mileage impala with no issues is out of line by quite a bit so something must be wrong (salvage title, flood car, mechanical issues, etc).

 

yes, some things are 2 good 2 `be true, but sometimes they are not

I know if it was close, I'd be there in a heartbeat to check it out. It's great to see on the 3 links I posted that there's still some super super Impala's out there to consider. Prices do vary from high to low!

I'd like to put a 6 Speed Manual in one + a few mod's or supercharger also! A kid in Cocoa Beach got a old Impala Police car & it has over 500000 miles on it before he replaced the engine with a new crate engine from `Jegs. He's running in the low 13's @ the drags.

I'll try & find pic's to post. He did a pro job on it.