Overview
Don’t wait for stories to appear in the store when you can become a member of Wheelbase Media’s weekly news service and save more than 50 percent while gaining instant access to the new features as they’re produced. Click here to get started.
If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to read this and other feature stories from Wheelbase Media, visit www.shiftweekly.com to subscribe to Auto Shift Weekly newsmag, available for your Apple iPad or for your home PC or laptop in pdf format.
Description
The Impala nameplate dates back to 1958. Phased out in the 1980s, it returned as a muscular rear-wheel-drive model from 1994-’96, only to return again for 2000 as a replacement for the front-wheel-drive Lumina sedan. A thorough updating for 2006 included two new V6 engines, displacing 3.5 and 3.9 liters, and the return of the SS model with a 303-horsepower 5.3-liter V8. All three powerplants used four-speed-automatic transmissions. The SS lasted only until the end of the 2009 model year. A 3.6-liter V6 became the sole powerplant for 2012, a year before the big Chevy was relegated to fleet duty, where it currently resides. An all-new 2014 Impala is available for consumer purchase.