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The Impala, one of Chevrolet’s longest-running nameplates, retired in February 2020.
We’re not surprised, the writing has been on the wall for years, but its demise serves as a stark reminder that even the most popular cars can lose their sparkle over time. At its peak, the celebrated Impala enjoyed annual sales that topped the one million-mark and it stood proud as the best-selling car in America. In 2019, its last full calendar year on the market, less than 50,000 buyers took one home.
Here’s how the Impala went from an upmarket Bel Air to a mainstream hit to an also-ran:
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The Corvette Impala concept (1956)
Chevrolet first used the Impala nameplate on a concept car created for the 1956 General Motors Motorama, a traveling auto show that stopped in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. Named Corvette Impala, the design study explored what a stylish, spacious version of Chevrolet’s flagship sports car could look like. Show-goers loved it but it remained a concept.
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The original Impala (1957)
Although the Corvette Impala didn’t reach production, it struck a chord with motorists so Chevrolet retained part of its name for a high-end variant of the Bel Air released in 1957 for the 1958 model year. It was available as a coupe and as a convertible with a 145 hp, 3.9-liter straight-six as its standard engine. Upgrades over the Bel Air included model-specific emblems, a two-spoke steering wheel plus a lot of bright trim pieces inside and out.
Chevrolet charged $2586 (about $23,000 in today's money) for the coupe model in 1958, a figure that made it one the most expensive members of its range.
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The second-generation Impala (1958)
The original Impala’s success proved buyers were more than willing to pay for the comfort and image of an upmarket Chevrolet. Executives decided to make the nameplate a standalone model in 1958 for the 1959 model year, though it was still related to the Bel Air, and they expanded the range with a pair of sedans. True to its flagship positioning, the Impala offered niceties like an electric clock and sliding sun visors. The 3.9-liter six continued to come standard but its output dropped to 135 hp.
Chevrolet charged $2592 for the six-cylinder Impala sedan, which was the entry point into the range. At the other end of the spectrum, the two-door convertible cost $2967 with a V8. Those figures represent about $23,000 and $26,000, respectively, in today's money. It was a range-topping model, and Chevrolet styled it accordingly, but it remained attainable; this was its recipe for success.
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The third-generation Impala (1960)
The third-generation Impala released in 1960 for the 1961 model year wore a toned-down look that previewed the decade’s prevalent design trends. It was boxier than before and its rear fins were gone. Still positioned at the top of the Chevrolet range, it remained closely related to the Bel Air and its popularity showed no sign of diminishing. Chevrolet reached a major milestone when it sold its 50 millionth car in 1963; predictably, the model in question was an Impala. PICTURE: 1963 model
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Chasing performance (1961)
While the Impala had been available with large-displacement engines since its introduction, Chevrolet seriously began opening the horsepower tap when it launched a dealer-installed package named Super Sport in 1961. It included power brakes, power steering, a beefier suspension, a specific tachometer, new-look wheel covers and a handful of SS emblems. The package cost $54 (about $500 today).
Enthusiasts who ordered the SS package with the 360 hp, 6.7-liter V8 got one of the first muscle cars in America. Chevrolet manufactured 142 units in this configuration during the 1961 model year. PICTURE: 1964 model
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The fourth-generation Impala (1964)
Chevrolet made visual changes to the Impala almost annually during the 1960s and it launched the fourth-generation model in 1964 for the 1965 model year. Its styling evolved in a sharper direction.
Motorists who wanted a top-of-the-line model had two variants to choose from. The two-door-only high-performance SS offered up to 400 hp from a 6.7-liter V8 priced at $320 (about $2600 now). New for 1965 was an option package named Caprice Custom Sedan that added a stiffer frame, black accents, specific trim pieces, full wheel covers and a handful of emblems inside and out.
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At the top of its game (1965)
1965 was an excellent year for the Impala and for Chevrolet in general, at a time when parent General Motors (GM) controlled a mighty half of the US car market.
Chevrolet sold a total of 2,382,509 cars during the model year and 2,587,487 units during the calendar year. The first figure included 803,400 examples of the standard Impala, 243,100 units of the performance-oriented Super Sport and 72,800 convertibles. These extremely impressive numbers made the Impala the best-selling car in America in 1965 and saw it at the peak of its popularity.
The company's manufacturing footprint was giant during the 1960s. Factories in Texas, Georgia, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, New York, Delaware, Ontario and Quebec ensured supply of the fourth-generation model kept up with demand.
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The fifth-generation Impala (1970)
Chevrolet prepared for the 1970s by giving the Impala, which still sold spectacularly well, a major overhaul. Released in 1970 for the 1971 model year, the fifth-generation model became even bigger and heavier than its predecessor to keep up with rivals. It was still offered in a variety of body styles ranging from a relatively basic sedan to a nine-seater station wagon but it no longer stood proud at the top of the Chevrolet range. That honor went to the Caprice, which morphed into a standalone model in 1966.
The Impala remained Chevrolet’s most popular full-size model. 427,000 units were sold during the 1971 model year, including 425,400 equipped with a V8. It outsold the Biscayne, the Bel Air and the Caprice by a wide margin but its success faded during the 1970s. The oil crisis took a big toll on Impala sales as motorists flocked to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars; Chevrolet sold 176,376 examples in 1975. All of them were fitted with an emissions-choked 5.7-liter V8 rated at 145 hp. PICTURE: 1971 model
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The sixth-generation Impala (1976)
Executives hoped the new, downsized sixth-generation Impala released in 1976 for the 1977 model year would turn the model’s career around. It was about 11in shorter, 4in narrower, 2.5in taller and a full 700 lb lighter than its predecessor and it wore a much boxier design. The straight-six returned as the entry-level engine and a 5.7-liter V8 was available at an extra cost. Interestingly, Chevrolet installed a diagnostic connector that allowed mechanics to run up to 35 engine diagnostic tests.
The 1980 model year brought significant mechanical changes. Chevrolet made a 3.8-liter V6 standard in a bid to improve fuel economy and it gave buyers the option of paying extra for the often unreliable V8 diesel built by Oldsmobile and offered in many GM models in this era.
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The Impala’s first demise (1985)
Impala sales embarked on a free-fall during the early 1980s. In 1979, when the model was available in five body styles including a wagon (pictured), Chevrolet easily sold 270,915 units. The range gradually shrank to a single model, a four-door sedan positioned as a cheaper, fleet-friendly alternative to the Caprice Classic, and sales fell accordingly. Only 53,438 examples found a home in 1985 and most went to fleet buyers across the United States.
In contrast, America’s best-selling car in 1985 was the Chevrolet Cavalier, which was $3042 (about $7000 in today's money) cheaper and a full 38in shorter than the Impala. Times had changed, the market had moved on and the Impala was beginning to look like a bad hangover from a different era. It retired for the first time after the 1985 model year, though the Caprice carried on with only minor changes until 1990. PICTURE: Impala (background), Caprice Classic (foreground)
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The Impala SS 510 concept (1992)
Chevrolet chose not to revive the Impala nameplate when it introduced the new Caprice line-up for the 1991 model year but it unveiled a close-to-production concept named Impala SS 510 at the 1992 Detroit auto show. Based on a Caprice Classic LTZ, it received black paint, a subtle body kit, a sportier suspension setup and, significantly, a mammoth 8.0-liter V8 engine later replaced by a 5.7-liter eight borrowed from the Corvette. The heritage-laced design study was largely the work of Jon Moss.
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The Impala’s comeback (1994)
Performance was making a comeback in the 1990s, and the Impala SS concept sent enthusiasts into a frenzy everywhere it went, so Chevrolet added it to its range in 1994. It looked a lot like the 1992 design study but it received a 5.7-liter, 260 hp V8 shared with the Camaro Z28, though it made an additional 15 hp in the coupe. While it weighed 4200 lb, it could reach 60mph from a stop in an impressive 6.5sec.
Chevrolet charged $21,920 (about $38,000 today) for the SS, a figure that put it in the same ballpark as the Z28. In comparison, the Corvette started at $36,185 (about $63,000 now) that year.
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The eighth-generation Impala (1999)
Chevrolet ended production of the Impala SS in 1996 after making 69,768 units. Here again, the nameplate retired without a direct successor waiting in the wings. It didn’t return until the eighth-generation model arrived in 1999 as a 2000 model and this time it shared little more than a name with its predecessor. It had morphed into a smaller, front-wheel drive sedan with unibody construction.
This was the beginning of the end for the Impala. Chevrolet had decades of heritage to lean upon but it instead reshaped the Impala into the lowest common denominator of sedans; it was inoffensive and bland. The only highlight was the SS model, which arrived in 2004 with a 3.8-liter V6 supercharged to 240 HP.
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The ninth-generation Impala (2005)
The ninth-generation Impala introduced at the 2005 Los Angeles auto show picked up right where its predecessor left off. It wore a new look that fell in line with Chevrolet’s then-current design language but it remained a big, cushy sedan developed with family-friendly comfort and value in mind.
Fleet buyers loved it, especially after Ford stopped making the Crown Victoria in 2011, and its target audience gave it a warm welcome, too. Chevrolet sold 311,128 units in 2007, a figure that made it America’s fifth-best-selling car that year. That was also the last time Impala sales crossed the 300,000-unit mark.
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The final Impala SS (2006)
Starting in 2006, the SS emblems denoted the presence of a 5.3-liter V8 rated at 303 hp. It sent the Impala from zero to 60mph in a surprisingly brisk 5.6sec but straight-line speed wasn’t enough to lure enthusiasts into showrooms. Chevrolet axed the SS in 2009, seven years before the rest of the range.
While the SS nameplate lived on, notably on the Camaro and on a short-lived rear-wheel drive sedan made by GM's Australian arm Holden, it never again appeared on an Impala. The V8 was gone for good, too.
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The 10th-generation Impala (2012)
Chevrolet introduced the 10th and final generation of the Impala at the 2012 New York auto show, and it launched the model for the 2014 model year. Bigger and more stylish than its predecessor, it arrived with an attractive interior and an available mild-hybrid drivetrain called eAssist tuned with an eye on efficiency. Motorists not interested in electrification had a four- and a six-cylinder to choose from.
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The Impala’s decline (2010s)
In hindsight, Chevrolet waited far too long to breathe new life into the Impala. Annual sales began dropping in 2011, when they fell to 171,434 units, and the redesign didn’t turn around the car’s career. The slow-selling eAssist model was discontinued after the 2014 model year, leaving only the four- and six-cylinders on the engine roster.
Sales fell under the 100,000-unit mark in 2016 and slid to 75,877 units in 2017. In 2019, it fell behind even the Camaro – a low-volume model by design – with 44,978 sales. It’s an aging model Chevrolet had stopped investing in that competes in a shrinking segment of the market. Everyone saw its demise coming, especially after Ford ended production of the Taurus in early 2019.
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The Impala’s final model year (2020)
For 2020, the Impala’s last model year, Chevrolet dropped the entry-level LS trim and the 197 hp four-cylinder engine, leaving only the V6-powered LT and Premier versions. The company explained the two aforementioned trims represented about 90% of sales so the move made sense. There were no other significant changes, meaning the Impala offered 305 hp and cost $32,495. Enthusiasts hoping for a commemorative edition to send off the nameplate were sorely disappointed.
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What about the factory that builds it?
No longer scheduled to close, the Detroit-Hamtramck factory that manufactured the last-generation Impala will be completely retooled after production ends in February 2020. It has been re-configured to build electric trucks, including recently revealed born-again Hummer that will slot in the GMC range when it arrives in 2022. One era ends, and now we're at the start of a new one.
Production of the Hamtramck-built Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6 and Chevrolet Volt has already ended.
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The Impala in 2020
Early versions of the Impala rose to prominence during the 1990s as the lowrider scene’s poster child. Inspired by rappers like Dr. Dre, many owners turned unsuspecting 1960s models (preferably two-door variants) into wild, custom creations that commonly graced the cover of car magazines. As of 2020, car culture has largely moved on and left lowriders in Los Angeles but classic Impalas remain popular among collectors because there were so many made in such a dazzling selection of variants ranging from humble wagons to few-off high-performance coupes. Its ubiquity keeps it relatively affordable.
Super Sport models with the 6.7-liter V8 represent the holy grail; they often trade hands for over $100,000. RM Sotheby’s sold the 1962 lightweight model shown here, which Chevrolet built in strictly limited numbers using aluminum parts for high-profile clients who wanted to race, for $151,520 in 2014.
There’s no need to spend exotic car money to put a vintage Impala in your garage. Fully stock 1960s examples in good condition are worth approximately $20,000 while projects from that era hover in the $10,000 range. Cars made in the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s are considered less desirable than earlier models so they’re also in the vicinity of $10,000. If it’s a seventh-generation SS you’re after, however, we’d suggest getting one before they shoot up in value; decent ones are currently around $20,000.
Broadly speaking, the last three versions of the Impala are seen as disposable used cars that are as bland as they are dependable and priced accordingly. SS models will likely gain value in the 2020s, though.
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