Photo: Instagram | Jlord8
Certain car enthusiasts are still mesmerized by the Chevrolet Impala, though their favorite often varies from the original that came out towards the end of the 1950s to the famous donks made between 1971 and 1976 – with or without the ginormous wheels and other upgrades.
The GM-owned car brand made ten generations of the Impala before deciding to pull the plug on it altogether. The last one rolled off the line at the Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan in 2020 and was a mere shadow of its predecessors.
Based on the same platform as the Cadillac XTS and Buick LaCrosse, it had a front-engine and front-wheel drive layout. The powertrain family comprised a pair of straight-four units and a V6, and it was the latter that offered the most thrills with its 305 horsepower and 264 pound-feet (358 Nm) of torque. The naught to sixty acceleration was nothing to write home about, and neither was the top speed and between us, the tenth-gen Impala was not particularly good-looking either. But then again, neither were the ninth and eighth generations either.
As Chevy cannot be bothered with spending several million dollars on the research and development of a new large sedan since it probably wouldn't be a success, we might never see a brand-new Impala ever again. Not as we all want it, anyway, with rear-wheel drive and a V8 option. Still, we think that because this is such an important moniker with a very long history behind it that dates back to 1957, the bowtie brand might eventually give it another shot. Our money would be on the nameplate being resurrected for an electric crossover of some sort, but who knows, maybe we're wrong, and they'll give the four-door body style another shot, though we certainly wouldn't bet on it.
Even before Chevrolet pulled the plug on the Impala a few years ago, there have been several rumors claiming it might return with pure RWD and a V8 engine under the hood. A few petrolheads have gone as far as imagining it dressed in different attire, and one of the latest CGI proposals that we came across was signed by jlord8 and shared on social media a few hours ago. Does the styling look familiar? That's because it was based on the real tenth-gen car. Mind you, instead of a sedan, this rendering portrays the Impala with two fewer doors and a shorter wheelbase. With a proper supercharged V8 under the hood, it could proudly act as the indirect successor to the Camaro muscle car.
Would you buy it if Chevy gave it a go with modern underpinnings, a fresh design inside and out, and a V8 unit powering it, or would you stick to a crossover instead? Call it wishful thinking, but we believe it would sell in enough numbers to make it (somewhat) profitable.
Based on the same platform as the Cadillac XTS and Buick LaCrosse, it had a front-engine and front-wheel drive layout. The powertrain family comprised a pair of straight-four units and a V6, and it was the latter that offered the most thrills with its 305 horsepower and 264 pound-feet (358 Nm) of torque. The naught to sixty acceleration was nothing to write home about, and neither was the top speed and between us, the tenth-gen Impala was not particularly good-looking either. But then again, neither were the ninth and eighth generations either.
As Chevy cannot be bothered with spending several million dollars on the research and development of a new large sedan since it probably wouldn't be a success, we might never see a brand-new Impala ever again. Not as we all want it, anyway, with rear-wheel drive and a V8 option. Still, we think that because this is such an important moniker with a very long history behind it that dates back to 1957, the bowtie brand might eventually give it another shot. Our money would be on the nameplate being resurrected for an electric crossover of some sort, but who knows, maybe we're wrong, and they'll give the four-door body style another shot, though we certainly wouldn't bet on it.
Even before Chevrolet pulled the plug on the Impala a few years ago, there have been several rumors claiming it might return with pure RWD and a V8 engine under the hood. A few petrolheads have gone as far as imagining it dressed in different attire, and one of the latest CGI proposals that we came across was signed by jlord8 and shared on social media a few hours ago. Does the styling look familiar? That's because it was based on the real tenth-gen car. Mind you, instead of a sedan, this rendering portrays the Impala with two fewer doors and a shorter wheelbase. With a proper supercharged V8 under the hood, it could proudly act as the indirect successor to the Camaro muscle car.
Would you buy it if Chevy gave it a go with modern underpinnings, a fresh design inside and out, and a V8 unit powering it, or would you stick to a crossover instead? Call it wishful thinking, but we believe it would sell in enough numbers to make it (somewhat) profitable.
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