2008 Chevrolet Impala 50th Anniversary Edition....Yawn!
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,574
From: Arlington, Texas
Wow, using the base LT as the 50th. Why not use the SS? Or better yet, if it's a color/trim package, make it available across the board for all trim levels?
This would have been like GM celebrating the Camaros 35th anniversary w/ a V6 model w/ SS wheels. I don't mind minimal anniversary packages like this, but I'd prefer them on across the board, or on the top model only.
Last edited by CLEAN; Dec 21, 2007 at 10:16 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 13,713
From: The Golden State
I have to say... I'm completely stunned.
Impala is one of the longest running names in the auto industry... not just the US, but the world. There's some places you go to on the planet, and mention the word Impala, and if the person doesn't think of a Gazelle-like creature, they think of either a 50s or 60s era Chevrolet. With a V8.
General Motors Corperation places such a high regard for that nema that they not only brought it back as a special and pretty dramatic performance version of a Caprice, but they booted a name that had built alot of reputation at the time (Lumina) and named it's replacement Impala.
I expected a 50th anniversary edition to at least have the pizzaz over regular Impalas that the mid 90s Impala SS had over the Caprice. A unique grille (I like the metalic wiremesh idea) and based on the V8 Impala SS would have been cheap, tasteful, and in Chevrolet fashion, typically minimalist.
I don't understand why GM didn't go for a little more umph for a 50th anniversary model for such a historic nameplate. It wouldn't have cost very much.
Impala is one of the longest running names in the auto industry... not just the US, but the world. There's some places you go to on the planet, and mention the word Impala, and if the person doesn't think of a Gazelle-like creature, they think of either a 50s or 60s era Chevrolet. With a V8.
General Motors Corperation places such a high regard for that nema that they not only brought it back as a special and pretty dramatic performance version of a Caprice, but they booted a name that had built alot of reputation at the time (Lumina) and named it's replacement Impala.
I expected a 50th anniversary edition to at least have the pizzaz over regular Impalas that the mid 90s Impala SS had over the Caprice. A unique grille (I like the metalic wiremesh idea) and based on the V8 Impala SS would have been cheap, tasteful, and in Chevrolet fashion, typically minimalist.
I don't understand why GM didn't go for a little more umph for a 50th anniversary model for such a historic nameplate. It wouldn't have cost very much.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,030
From: Frankfort, KY U.S.A.
I have to say... I'm completely stunned.
Impala is one of the longest running names in the auto industry... not just the US, but the world. There's some places you go to on the planet, and mention the word Impala, and if the person doesn't think of a Gazelle-like creature, they think of either a 50s or 60s era Chevrolet. With a V8.
General Motors Corperation places such a high regard for that nema that they not only brought it back as a special and pretty dramatic performance version of a Caprice, but they booted a name that had built alot of reputation at the time (Lumina) and named it's replacement Impala.
I expected a 50th anniversary edition to at least have the pizzaz over regular Impalas that the mid 90s Impala SS had over the Caprice. A unique grille (I like the metalic wiremesh idea) and based on the V8 Impala SS would have been cheap, tasteful, and in Chevrolet fashion, typically minimalist.
I don't understand why GM didn't go for a little more umph for a 50th anniversary model for such a historic nameplate. It wouldn't have cost very much.
Impala is one of the longest running names in the auto industry... not just the US, but the world. There's some places you go to on the planet, and mention the word Impala, and if the person doesn't think of a Gazelle-like creature, they think of either a 50s or 60s era Chevrolet. With a V8.
General Motors Corperation places such a high regard for that nema that they not only brought it back as a special and pretty dramatic performance version of a Caprice, but they booted a name that had built alot of reputation at the time (Lumina) and named it's replacement Impala.
I expected a 50th anniversary edition to at least have the pizzaz over regular Impalas that the mid 90s Impala SS had over the Caprice. A unique grille (I like the metalic wiremesh idea) and based on the V8 Impala SS would have been cheap, tasteful, and in Chevrolet fashion, typically minimalist.
I don't understand why GM didn't go for a little more umph for a 50th anniversary model for such a historic nameplate. It wouldn't have cost very much.
Excellent post, and my feelings exactly.
Even though the W-Body is on its last leg, it wouldn't have cost that much to jazzed up the SS model for the 50th Anniversary.
I bet we will see these Impala LT 50th Anniversary models mostly on rental lots.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 124
From: Jacksonville, FL
All they needed was the Bilstein Shocks and PBR Brakes from the GXP, a Caddy V-like wiremesh grill and maybe a performance oriented exhaust or some few little things and people would be drooling over it. I honestly can't fathom the amount of stupidity needed to create a 50th car this crappy.
hehehe
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,000
From: TX Med Ctr
All they needed was the Bilstein Shocks and PBR Brakes from the GXP, a Caddy V-like wiremesh grill and maybe a performance oriented exhaust or some few little things and people would be drooling over it. I honestly can't fathom the amount of stupidity needed to create a 50th car this crappy.
West South Central Moderator
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,371
From: Kilgore TX 75662
A fully loaded 08 Imp SS is just over $32k. A Grand Prix GXP is about a grand less.
An 08 Imp SS with a 50th Anniversary option could have been over $35k (with dealers charging as much as, if not more than, $40k)
GM is missing a chance to make money. Pretty sad indeed.