GM finally does the right thing for Chevrolet.

Detroit. The revelation that GM is finally going to allow Chevrolet to get its mojo back - in the form of a rear-wheel-drive Impala for '09 - is huge news. The all-new car had been rumored even before the next-generation Camaro made its debut at the Detroit auto show last January, but the confirmation of it this week in a report in Automotive News was sweet victory for the long-suffering faithful within GM - and for Chevrolet fans across the country.

As longtime readers may recall, the previous generation front-wheel-drive Impala (which was introduced in 2000) was the car that managed to drive me out of the auto ad biz for good. I'll never forget when a small group of us from our ad agency (Campbell-Ewald) was ushered into the bowels of GM Design to be given a sneak preview of the "all-new" Impala - the one that would succeed the retired, pontoon-sided rear-wheel-drive Impala SS.

After being carefully herded together as if we were on some sort of elementary school field trip (heaven forbid we stumble upon any truly secret stuff) and wending our way downstairs, we rounded a corner only to be confronted by the "new" Impala, a car that will forever go down in history as the most egregious display of "committee-think" design ever to come out of GM, and the car that represented the absolute nadir of GM's foray with Brand Management - and the resulting castration of the Design staff. Even when you squinted, there wasn't a visibly cohesive line on the car, and the whole thing was topped off by four pie-plate-sized taillights that were supposed to conjure up memories of great Impalas from the past, but instead only served to remind everyone what an utter abomination this car was from nose to tail.

Here I was expecting a "milestone" Chevrolet - the car that would put Chevy back on the map. No, I wasn't looking for a "Yester-Tech" nostalgia-mobile or retro-rod, but a car that took the timeless, desirable ingredients of the '55 Chevy - great design, excellent performance and outstanding value - and translated them into a forward-looking classic for the new century. Instead, I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor as I was forced to wallow in the unbridled mediocrity of this car, a stupefying homage to everything wrong about Detroit at that moment in history - the summer of 1998.

GM's experiment with Brand Management turned out to be a disaster of incalculable proportions for the corporation, one they're still trying to recover from to this day. A busload of MBA-wielding, P&G doctrine-spouting, packaged goods-slinging lightweights were unleashed on GM in the heyday of the John Smale-Ron Zarrella Reign of Terror. Bristling with a boatload of impressive, non-applicable credentials and enough impractical knowledge of minute esoterica to make even your average political science major cringe, Zarrella's Zombies succeeded in almost running GM right into the ground. Never have so few done so much damage to so many in the name of "marketing" in the annals of the car business - and the Impala was a stunning display of their handiwork.

That car convinced me that GM - and Detroit - not only just didn't get it, but that they were never going to get it, and after having to pretend that the Impala was the greatest thing since sliced bread while working on the launch campaign for the car, I began to plan my escape from the advertising profession.

But enough about the old Impala. My moles deep within GM Design say that this next-generation Impala will be everything that the car should be, that my list of ingredients for a "milestone" Chevrolet will not only be met, but exceeded. They say it looks "right" and that it will elevate the brand's profile on the street as much as the new Camaro will.

That's quite a pronouncement, so I'll just have to hang a giant "we'll wait and see" sign out there until they show me the car.

But make no mistake, a rear-wheel-drive Impala that meets my criteria for a "milestone" Chevrolet would be just what the doctor ordered. It's one thing to launch the hot new Camaro into the arms of the waiting faithful; it's quite another to create "buzz" for a car that will have to be successful in a wide spectrum of variations, from "standard" trim all the way up to four-door Corvette mode.

I expect the new, rear-wheel-drive Impala to set a new standard for American design, deliver scintillating performance, and do it while offering a level of genuine value not seen since, well, since that milestone '55 Chevy. With this next-generation Impala, Chevrolet and GM will not only have a golden opportunity to restore the buzz with the bow-tie faithful; they have a one-shot chance at redefining the division for a whole new generation of buyers.

Anything less simply won't do.

Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday.