King of Muscle Car

The 1970 Impala looked significantly different than their 1969 predecessors, but the only real differences were changes to the front and rear ends of the car. While 1969 models featured recessed front headlights in a combined grille and bumper setup, the new separate grille brought the lights back to the front and made the car look more similar to the 1968 Impala. But all body shapes were the same as they had been in 1969. There were also some shake-ups under the hood – most notably with the introduction of the bigger engines. The new 454 V8s replaced the 427 CID V8 that was discontinued after the previous year. This was more of a move to adhere to changing emissions standards than it was to increase power. In fact, maximum power stayed exactly the same at the year before, with the top 454 V8 producing 390 horsepower. The other version of the engine was rated at 345 horsepower. The base engine stayed the same as it had been the previous year and was a 250 CID six-cylinder engi

The 1969 Impala continued a long-standing trend of continually making the body style more and more squared off – and the new version did have a distinctive and bolder look that complimented the car nicely. Buyers must have thought so, too, because sales were once again on the rise. But the sales of the Super Sport package were once again in decline. The sporty and luxurious option package had proved so popular throughout the early 1960s that Chevy had made the Impala SS its own model. But after a sales high in 1965, sales of the model had been falling drastically every year. In 1968, the SS designation was returned to an option package for the Impala rather than its own model, and sales continued to fall following the move. It makes sense, then, that Chevy opted to only allow the package to be sold with the most powerful engine it had available – to be the true sports version of the Impala. That engine was the 427 CID V8 that produced 390 horsepower, so Impalas with the SS p

When the 1968 Impala lines rolled off the line, they were very similar to the 1967 models. Other than the aforementioned changes, Chevy opted to leave the car pretty much as is, despite the fact that sales had been falling for the past two years. Fortunately, sales would once again pick up for the Impala line as a whole. Unfortunately, the same would not be true for the Super Sport versions of the car. In 1964, the SS option package that had been available as an addition to the Impala was made into its own model, as sales of the package had been continually increasing. But by 1968, sales of the Impala SS had fallen so drastically that Chevy decided to revert the SS distinction back to an options package. The package added $179 to the price of the car, and could be added to coupe and convertible Impalas. This did not, however, increase the sales of the SS. Beginning in 1967, the SS model was very similar to the regular Impala. It added black accents to the grille and rear fen

Other than during years when new Impala generations were introduced, Chevy appeared to work with the modus operandi that the best way to improve the Impala was to make small changes to the car over a number of years. The results led to an ever-evolving car, and nothing was different in 1967. With the a few small-scale changes, the most noticeable was the new, flowing roofline for the Sports Coupes and Impala SS models. The sleek new look gave the cars a similar shape as the pony and muscle cars that were all the rage in 1967 – though of course it was still bigger than all of those. Other than this roofline, Super Sport (SS) models were probably the most changed. They became less decorated than the other Impala models, and were distinguished by a black grille accents and black body-side and rear fender accents. These models also lacked the bright wheel well trim of other Impala models. Now that the Caprice had become its own model after being introduced as an option package in 

After the Impala sales high of 1965, which has yet to be topped by any car company, there was unfortunately nowhere for the car to go but down. And while sales of the Impala line as a whole remained relatively high, the Impala suffered the worst fate as its production was cut by more than 50 percent. The reason for the sales decline had to do with a number of factors, not the least of which was Chevy’s decision to make the Caprice– introduced as an upgrade package for the Impala the previous year – into its own model this year. A luxury model of the car, the Caprice replaced the Impala SS as the top-of-the line Chevy full-size car, and Impala SS sales would never fully recover. But there were still many high points for the car, including the 427 CID V8 introduced for the year. There were two versions of the engine, one rated at 390 horsepower and another “special performance” option rated at 425 horsepower due to its aluminum manifold and heavy duty four-bolt main block. The p

The newly restyled full-size Chevys, including the Impala models, grew even bigger than they had been before during the 1965 restyle that ushered in the fourth-generation of the car. After four years of growing progressively more boxy, the 1965 models featured more rounded sides. Additionally, curved window glass, and new hood and a brand new front end help further distinguish the model from those that came before it. Sport coupe models of the car received the newly fashionable semi-fastback roofline, and the instrument panel was completely redesigned as well. For the second year in a row, the Impala SS was its own distinct model rather than an optional upgrade package. Chevy had realized that car-buyers were pining for more and more power in sportier car models, and answered by making a sports version of its full size models. This would prove a good idea as sales of the SS would also reach all-time highs. Along with the restyle came a few changes under the hood. Among the most

With the growing success of the SS package as an option on the early-1960s Impala’s, Chevy decided to make the package into its own distinctive model with the 1966 Impala. Production options were just about the same as they had been the for the SS packages the previous year, but with car-buyers growing demand for more power, it made sense to further distinguish the real sports option of the Impala. In fact, 1964 marked the first year since the third generation of the Impala was introduced in 1961 that there weren’t significant performance increases in the available engine options. But sales numbers were continually reaching toward all-time highs, so it appeared that this fact didn’t bother Impala buyers. At the top of the performance heap were two versions of Chevy’s now famous 409 CID V8 engine. By 1964 the engine had already worked its way even into the pop music scene as it was immortalized by the Beach Boys 1962 hit, “The 409,” but performance enthusiasts were more conce

In 1962, the sporty Impala with the SS package likely lost quite a few customers to the lighter Bel Air sports coupe that had also been available with the now famous 409 CID V8 engine. But the Bel Air Sports Coupe was discontinued for 1963, and the SS sold even better than ever. This was probably helped by the fact the every engine in the Impala lineup saw horsepower increases over the previous year. At the top of the line were two versions of the 409 engine. The single 4-barrel version was rated at 400 horsepower, up 20 from the year before. And the 2x4-barrel version of the engine was up to an astounding 425 horsepower, which represented a 16 horsepower increase from the year before. The aforementioned 427 CID V8 was actually the top performer, and though it was officially rated at 430 horsepower, most critics agree its output was actually at least 500 horsepower. However, the engine was only put in cars made for factory approved customers, and only around 55 Impalas actua