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A Short But Sweet Stint
In 1994, Chevy relaunched the Impala SS as the top-of-the-line edition of the Chevy Caprice Classic, with an engine borrowed from Corvette.
Although the Impala SS featured a sports-tuned suspension, upgraded brakes, and a limited-slip differential as standard, due to the low availability of spare parts, sales picked up slowly, and GM decided to shut down the B-platform killing one of the greatest Chevy cars of all time.
The One And Only LT1
The 1996 Impala SS, an updated model, featured a 5.7L naturally aspirated V8 engine with a 4-speed automatic transmission that generated 256 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 330 lb.-ft of torque at 3200 rpm.
GM had some balls, fitting an engine from its flagship Camaro and Corvette into a relatively peasant sedan. The LT1 in the Impala came with Cast Iron heads with 2 bolts and a more street friendly camshaft.
Suspension duties were handled by specially tuned “De Carbon” Shocks and front and rear stabilizer bars. 4-wheels disc brakes were standard, along with ABS and LSD.
Despite all the handling gizmos, The Impala was notorious for handling like a boat. One Redditer even joked about the way it handled by saying, “the body stopped first and then the chassis”.
Is ’96 Impala Comfortable?
The Impala is a gigantic car, measuring 214 inches and had a 16-inch wheelbase. It was made for long haul relaxed cruising rather than all our strip applications.
The interior was only available in one color gray and had all the bare necessities, along with an analog gauge cluster, opposed to a digital one in the previous model year.
A $490 Equipment group was optional. It added power seats, automatic mirror and headlamps.
How Much do Chevy Impala SS cost Nowadays?
Back then, a full specced 1996 Impala SS would set you back around $26,000. Chevy only sold less than 50,000 before chopping the Impala nameplate. Only three colors were offered, black, dark green and cherry red.
Finding a used one requires some work but is attainable for around $20,000 to $45,000 with 8k to 20k on odometer.
If you are looking to get one of your hands, a used 1996 Chevy Impala SS will easily fetch around $40,000 if the engine is well maintained and interior is doing well in terms of plastics and electronics like heating and windows.
Did 1996 Chevy Impala SS has any serious problems?
The most common complaint regarding the Impala SS was the faulty remote key that used a raised chip, resulting in starting problems. Other known problems are rust, unreliable EGR and odometers and crappy plastics.
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