Everyone claims they were soooo great and GM should have made them longer. Well I talked to someone close to the situation for a better understanding. Turns out the cars sold like hell the first year and good after it was announced they would be killed. In between that though sales were very flat. GM even had to put incentives on them at one point to get them to sell. Just a little point that if GM builds cars with just the enthuiast in mind they would go bankrupt.

 

I think we should remember that the modern Impala SS lasted just 3 model years. In the first year, production was strictly limited production, hence buyers were frustrated, gouged, etc. In the second year they turned out the same car, but forgot about the "limited production" crap and turned the spigot on. By the final season, they actually had color choices other than black, and a console shifter. Combine these common sense changes with the leaked news of the end of production, and demand dwarfed the standard Caprice model.

The real lesson to be learned from the Impala SS is that vehicles directed towards older buyers don't have to be dowdy and grim. It turns out that a disproportionate number of today's enthusiasts aren't exactly kids by any stretch of the imagination. It also seems as if the kids aren't exactly automotive enthusiasts these days. The Impala SS was a success because it was bargain performance car being sold to enthusiasts who could well afford it.

I just wonder what would have happened to the sales of entire Caprice line if all of the full-sized Chevys had been fashioned after the Impy for 1995. Maybe its just as well that GM learned nothing from the SS. After all, if B-body sales had rebounded, they wouldn't have had enough Tahoe capacity!

 

Formula...actually your production numbers are incorrect. Sales steadily rose from the intro in 1994 through 1996.

Here are the numbers:

1994: 6,303
1995: 21,434
1996: 41,941

Obviously demand increases when enthusiasts fear the end is near....but it DOUBLED from 1995. The 2002 Camaro didn't DOUBLE from the year prior. Actually, it barely went up considering production was so short in 2001 and 2002 was alot longer.

Does anyone know what the anticipated production would be of the 94-96 Impala SS prior to release from GM?

I've actually made the decision that a black 1996 Impala SS will be my next car to add to the SS fleet. I already began looking for one and will purchase one by the end of the year.

-Rich

 

Speaking of adding colors to the Impala SS...

I know they added the Greyish Green color , and I think I've seen a greyish purple, like Purple Haze on the early 4th Gen Camaro....(and obviously the original Black)

What were all the color choices available when they expanded the colors?

 

Thats it---you just mentioned all colours. I hate the purple---like the green/grey and the the black.

Funny thing I notice is how the Impala SS whupped the Maurder for acceleration---despite have 40 less hp.

I am sure this SS was way above expectations as well. Too bad we never saw an LS1 or beter let a 6.0 variant--345hp woulda been sweet

 

I like the 94-96 Impala SS but...

I hope they don't make the new 2006 RWD Impala as big as the 96, that car was a boat, I hope they keep the RWD Impala the same size as the current one. It should be a 3400lbs. car not a 4000lbs.

 

I always thought a nice, deep, Battleship Gray color would look cool on the Impala SS... kind of like the Corvette's current Spiral Gray Metallic, but maybe even deeper...

 

Here 1994 1995 1996s the breakdown with the proper colour names.
94 95 96

Standard Onyx Black 6,303 9858 19,085 Dark Cherry Metallic (DCM) (BBB) 0 7,132 12,180
Dark Grey-Green Metallic (DGGM) 0 4,442 10,676

I've never driven one or even had a ride


but I still get whiplash looking at them in traffic

 

Here 1994 1995 1996s the breakdown with
the proper colour names.
94 95 96

Onyx Black 6,303 9858 19,085
Dark Cherry Metallic 0 7,132 12,180
Dark Grey-Green Metallic 0 4,442 10,676

I've never driven one or even had a ride
but I still get whiplash looking at
them in traffic

 

Hey all, been a memeber for quite some time now, albeit a quiet one.

Black, Dark Green Grey Metallic and Dark Cherry Metallic were the colours available on the SS for both the 1995 and 1996 model years.

Back to lurk mode...

 

Here the breakdown with
the proper colour names.



Onyx Black 6,303 9858 19,085
Dark Cherry Metallic 0 7,132 12,180
Dark Grey-Green Metallic 0 4,442 10,676

I've never driven one or even had a ride
but I still get whiplash looking at
them in traffic

sorry for the crappy chart thing--It won't display the way I type it in. Read diagonoly--it goes 94, 95, 96.

Damn I was beat to it while I was editing my post
Lurk mode? 1 post...yeah thats lurk mode allright!

 

Production numbers wasn;t what i was getting at...in the middle of the cars run they had trouble moving them from the lots and had to put incentives on them. Saturn cam make a million ION's, but that don;t mean they sell them all at sticker...same exact thing is happening to the T-bird

 

I see what ya mean. Didn't mean to come off like I thought you didn't know what you were talking about.

I actually love the dark cherry metallic color...I liked it so much I painted my 87 Monte Carlo SS that color.

Here it is: http://www.fordvschevy.com/ermca/gal...Monte-Carlo-SS

and here:

http://www.fordvschevy.com/ermca/gal...Monte-Carlo-SS

-Rich

 

The incentives were on B-bodies in general, of which of course Impala SS was a part of. Impala SS was the ONLY B-body model that saw it's best sales in it's final year, and the ONLY B-body that showed a steady increase in sales in the 90s!!!

Fact of the matter is simply this: Impala SS had NO trouble being moved off the lots (as anyone...including me... who was intrested in buying, or actually bought one in 1996, will attest to).

Those incentives were often accompanied by some terrific markups in California!

 

Yup, a car like that is needed again. I talk to SO many people that like them and wish they could buy 1 new. Not that V6, FWD, import sized car with the Impala name on it. I actually know a dude that bought a new Impala, and when I said, " You ever see the 94-96's??" he said, "YES, I would have rather bought 1 of those, I wish they were still making them new!!" Then I told him that he could get 1 used, (1 of those people that will not buy used cars) and he said nah I don't wanna go through the used car thing, but what are they selling for anyway?? When I told him what some of the go for he coudn't believe it and said wow I wish I was able to buy 1 when they were new. Many people act this way when I bring up the Impala SS to them and laugh at the new 1.