Preserved 81 Chevy Impala Has Piece of American History for an Engine, Not in a Good Way

We've covered this Impala once before when the listing hit the scene, but let's take a closer look at some of the finer details. On first looks alone, you're bound to be salivating at the sight of this boxy early 80s Impala if weird malaise-era stuff is totally your thing. Just look at the seemingly flawless dark red paint and those positively delicious dog dish wheels with Chevrolet bow ties in the center! How could you not fall in love with an old American barge like this unless your terminally online heart finally turned to stone? Even a slight tear in the leather on the front bench seat isn't enough to spoil things. We're so used to seeing the interiors of classic cars practically shredded by this stage that anything better is a welcome change.

The sixth-generation Impala was a dramatically different vehicle from the moniker of what American motorists had become used to. The global oil crisis of the early 70s gave way to sweeping design changes across Detroit's big three automakers plus AMC. No longer were US automakers free to build cars as large and wasteful as their customers' worst habits could possibly accommodate. With fuel economy now usurping raw horsepower as the most important metric of a vehicle's performance, General Motors, in particular, needed to downsize rapidly or risk complete ruin.

Novel design implementations like smaller wheelbases to cut down on curb weight and catalytic converters to reduce harmful emissions made once grandiose and overpowered American cars effectively neutered in the performance department. All the while, these models were being downsized significantly, but not enough to be called anything but a full-sized vehicle in the case of this Impala. Nearly 1.3 million Impalas left GM factories across North America in its sixth generation between 1976 and 1985. Still, it's hard to say Chevy sedans from this time frame are anywhere near as desirable as ones made before it.

Even so, there's an indisputable charm to such a well-preserved and stately-looking classic American sedan such as this one. You can almost see the archetypal overworked American father pulling up to the driveway in his brown loafers in your mind's eye when looking at American cars form this period. As cultural markers for where America was at during this period, gen-VI Impalas like this one. It's why in spite of the flaws, we're over the moon to see a sixth-generation Impala in such amazing condition.

Only one person owned this old Impala from the day it left the dealer until the current seller got their hands on it. You can really tell this is the case by the way it's been taken care of. On its own, this alone could've been enough of a selling point. But believe it or not, the condition of the body and interior isn't the number one selling point of this Impala. Rather, it's all about what's under the hood. Unlike most sixth-generation 1981 Impalas, which employed some variety of Chevrolet's small-block V8, popping the hood of this one reveals an engine from Chevy's sister brand, Oldsmobile.

Not only that, but the 350-cubic-inch Oldsmobile V8 in this Impala is a diesel engine. That's right, in a move in line with GM's drive towards better fuel economy that included across-the-board downsizing, one of their brilliant ideas was offering a few Chevy models with Oldsmobile's then-new diesel V8. Those in the know will tell you this was one of the worst internal combustion engines ever to see large-scale production in North America.

In terms of performance and reliability, there were likely Lada engines built by prison labor in a Soviet work camp that wasn't as eager to break down as an Oldsmobile LF9 V8. Or at least American consumers were so clueless on the particulars of diesel ownership and maintenance that many found themselves grenading their engines well before the end of the warranty period. The debate about the real culprit behind the failure of the Oldsmobile diesel experiment continues to be more spirited and less one-sided than you might think.

But how much is a 43-ish-year-old diesel sedan from a company that doesn't exist anymore really worth in a modern American economy? Sadly, for how rare it is, the answer appears to be not all that valuable after all. With roughly two and a half days left on the eBay auction, the current top bid is only $4,650.00, which assuredly leaves a lot to be desired for the seller. One can't help but think the top bid would've been a tad higher if it were a 350 small-block Chevy gas engine instead. On the bright side, a low-cost, genuinely rare old American car? Sign us up.