Editors Note: This was a English Comp. I paper I wrote in October of 1999. Don’t recall the grade, but I am sure it was pretty poor. I have corrected the grammatical and spelling errors I found. Funny how I now have a 2003 Impala that I bought new.
When most people heard the phrase “Chevy Impala” in the fifties though the mid-eighties, they thought of a car that is big, power-full, as well as stylish. Chevrolet treated their Impala fans once again in 1994 to “The New Impala SS” and produced these cars for two years. Chevy sold out every order and could not handle all of them. Almost six years has passed, and now Chevrolet has introduced the 2000 Impala, and the cars are not selling as Chevy anticipated.
The Impala was created in 1958, as an added option on Bel Airs. The cars were so popular that Chevy made the Impala a separate car the following year. The basic theme on the car was “a sporty car with all the luxuries of an expensive car.” In 1962 an added option, Super Sport (SS for short), that was the real take off for the Impala. Chevrolet keep this pace up until 1970 when they dropped the SS option, and made the Impala more of a luxury car, like the Caprice, than a sports car. In 1977, Chevrolet redesigned the car and toned down the power for the gasoline crises and stripped the car of many options.
Chevy continued to do this until 1985 when they ceased production of the Impala for the first time.
Chevrolet gave the Impala a chance once again 1994 through 1996, and ceased the car for a second time along with the Impala’s sister car, the Caprice. Chevy took the standard Caprice body (like in the past), put in all the neat options (unlike in the past), and added a LT1 engine (high performance engine found in Corvettes, and police cars) in and made everyone jet black, and called it “The new Impala SS.” In 1996, Chevy improved this car by getting rid of the digital dash, and moved the shifter from the column to the floor for an added sporty look. Chevy also added two colors to the standard jet black; forest green, and maroon. These cars kept the previous Impala spirit alive with the luxury of a Cadillac and the performance of a Camaro. These cars were also the most expensive Impalas in history, running around thirty thousand apiece. In December of that year, Chevy announced that there would be no more Impalas this century.
Just two months ago, the 2000 Impalas were available for sale at select dealers. Now they are at all Chevrolet dealerships. When the public caught eye on the 2000 Impala, they were both impressed and let down by this car. They were impressed by the car being downsized in size, however still being able to hold six adults with ample elbow room (not on the LS model to be described later). Chevy also shocked some people when they put a 3.4 liter six cylinder engine in as apposed as a V8, yet the V6 put out almost as much power as a small V8 would but no where near close to what the LT1 produced. Chevy also offered an LS model that has all the optional equipment on the base model standard as well as a 3.8 liter V6 that puts out twenty-five percent more power than the 3.4. Chevy also added the round real taillights that was popular in the sixties, and killed off in the seventies. People were let down when they saw the price. These cars are being sold at around twenty-three thousand, when they should only be sold at around eighteen thousand. The public noticed this when you could buy a Chevy Lumina (a car of similarity to the Impala) for around sixteen thousand, and get all the goodies that the Impala has, as well as the performance.
Chevrolet could be in big trouble if their “flagship car of the millennium is not selling as they had hoped. Though the new Impala has a few themes from previous Impalas, and a nice look, they will not sell at the price that Chevy has set for them. If Chevy would of keep the Impala as big and bad as they had achieved in the mid-nineties, then I believe they would be selling as good as they were then, if not better.