The current understanding of the rumors is that Malibu goes to a new larger Epsilon and the current Malibu stays around for a while for fleets. And the Impala becomes the RWD Chevy sedan.

Caprice is not even in the picture.

 

well thats all fine and dandy, but i believe a rwd Impala has to be built at a different plant... via contracts... now this is just something i read, and i dont know where... but the impala had a similar contract as the f-body... as for rwd... soo...

thats where the speculation (not of mine, but other places many months ago) of an impala and a caprice come in...

but i did read that the impala is supposed to be a stretched epsilon II...

 

well they are built along side the monte carlo.

 

monte carlo is also fwd...

 

Why does a RWD Impala have to be built at a different plant? Oshawa is getting C-flex meaning it will be able to build multiple car lines in the same plant. Also with the W-body dying in a few years Impala will have to move to something else and logic dictates RWD is the logical evolution. I am not saying I know more than you or anyone else I am just going by the evidence presented.

 

won't be made much longer either.

 

from what i understand... if a rwd impala is to hit the market it is required by contract to be built at a previous plant... where it had a similar contract as the f-body... although i could be wrong...

 

Right. Guy said it earlier about having a name change if they want the car built elsewhere. So unless it stays in Oshawa (right?), it will be called something else.

 

No the contract says that future Chevrolet Impalas are to be built at the current plant until a specific year. It makes NO mention of FWD or RWD.

 

OK, if there is a straight-forward way for GM to circumvent the problem, why not name the car Lumina (or something else)?

If GM do decide on the Impala name, they had better wax lyrical about the fact the car is not a mundane FWD but a seriously well developed RWD. Generally, an entirely new vehicle gets a new name to announce the fact the car is all new.

At the moment, I think Impala is too close to Malibu in offering FWD... but in a slightly larger package. There should be a clear distinction between Malibu and Impala, IMO and reverting to RWD is a good start.

 

Anyone ever wonder what the B-body would have been like today, had it stuck around?

Imagine an Impala SS with an LS2. Maybe even with a 6 speed manual.

Wonder how big of a splash the Hemi LX cars would have made under the shadow of LSx equipped B-body Caprice/Impala.

 

I want to hear about how much of a change the B-body would have gotten in 98 had it still been around. I know a interior refresh would have come along with an exterior, probably with similarities to the 00 Impala. But I want to know if an IRS was really being considered, I have heard rumors but nothing substanciated.

 

LS1 for sure. There was even an Impala SS prototype fitted with a T56. Never heard anything about an IRS though.

 

I dunno. The updated Bbody would have to have been really good and not just a rehashed version of the same thing with an LS1 thrown in.