Car Lust--1971-1976 Chevrolet Impala
Like the dinosaur, the massive rear-wheel-drive American full-size sedan once had a long run as the master of all it swurveyed--only to fade slowly into obscurity and disappear entirely, succumbing to competitors more suited to a changing environment.
But, also like the dinosaurs, the big sedans enjoyed a long, glorious run. For decades, the large rear-wheel-drive sedans were at the top of the heap; for many years, the Chevrolet Impala was the runaway sales leader, the most popular of the behemoths.
And why not? Impalas, like their slower-selling bretheren, were large, attractive, soft-riding sedans that offered palatial accommodations and cavernous cargo room at a reasonable price that many families could afford. In those hazy, nearly forgotten days before minivans and SUVs burst onto the scene, Impala wagons carried large quantities of people and cargo, serving as the trusty backdrop for countless family vacations. As a bonus, the Impala's massive hood and trunk lid could double as a helicopter landing pad in case of emergency.
With the smooth burble of a sweet, low-compression V-8, long-limbed freeway cruising ability, and vaguely nautical ride and handling (bring the Dramamine!), the Impala and its optioned-up Caprice twin brought to the freeway all the comfort (and agility) of your living room. The Impala was a freeway cruiser nonpareil.
The 1976 model was the last of the truly leviathan full-size Impala/Caprice. The 1977 model year would bring the revolutionary downsized sedan, a great car in its own right that lived until 1990. I continually keep an eye out for a classic 1971-1976 Impala to pick up. I prefer the styling of the 1972 and 1976 editions, ideally unmodified with all of its original flavor intact. Unfortunately, these are getting harder to find in inexpensive, unmolested form. Thanks to the popularity of Impalas in the lowrider and hip-hop scenes, many of the original low-mileage grandmother-owned Impalas seem to have been snapped up and made into "donks."
A couple of years ago, I found a beautiful original beige 1976 Impala for $1,100; but I quickly realized the true cost would involve divorce proceedings. I believe I've mentioned in this space before a '75 burgundy Caprice coupe that's for sale near me. It's possibly the largest two-door car ever made, and I'd bet each door has roughly the length and mass of a plate of battleship armor. It's gorgeous, but at $6,000, I think I'll pass.
What would I do with an Impala/Caprice? My wife asks me that, and I'm not sure I have a great answer. Since the Impala can easily take both small- and big-block Chevrolet V-8s, the temptation is there to drop in a mild big-block and make a pleasant old cruiser into a paradoxically fast pleasant old cruiser. I'd probably only do that when (if?) the original engine gave up the ghost.
Today, the Impala is a front-wheel-drive sedan, primarily powered by a V-6, and the Ford Crown Victoria is the closest thing one could call a survivor of the Age of Automotive Dinosaurs. Like the rogue dinosaur cloning efforts of Jurassic Park, Chrysler has brought large, powerful, rear-wheel-drive sedans back to life in the dangerous and unpredictable form of the Chrysler 300C Hemi, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Magnum Hemi, but they are too rapacious and aggressive to be part of the same genus as the old Impala.
The top three photos here are all from an excellent Impala page at How Stuff Works.com; the top image is a '76 coupe, the second is a '76 sedan, and the third is a '72 coupe.
The fourth photo is from StillRuns.com, which is a hilarious tribute to the glory and wonder of beaters. The '72 Impala pictured here has more than 300,000 miles on it, has been in no way restored, and boasts the fine, authentic patina of age and abuse. The Impala is as yet unbowed. If you are at all a fan of these cars--or beaters in general--StillRuns.com is worth a read.
--Chris H.
peter jackson on June 07, 2008 at 06:51 AM
Shrimp Boats are a'coming
Their sails are in sight!
I bought the Honkymobile, a big beige '76 Impala exactly like the one in the photo above, for $1000 in 1985. It had 31k miles on it and i drove it for eleven years. The best thing about it were parts. You could buy them just about anywhere for next to nothing. The worst thing about it was the seagulls that would flock behind me wherever I drove. And yes, they will go 120mph, even with the 2-bbl. carb but after 100 it was difficult to tell if the car was still touching the road.
yours/
peter.
Jonathan Vaughn on June 11, 2008 at 05:23 PM
I have a 1972 Impala with the origional 400 in it. It has about 150,000 on it and I've had it for about 8 years now and have been restoring it here and there. I love the car! But around January I was driving my brother and his bicycle home and the engine started knocking, the mechanic told me I needed a rebuild...and wanted to charge me $4000! I though he was being rediculous, but a second opinion told me $3800! Is that common? I've hung onto the car, now for the six months and don't want to turn it loose...but I can't see spending the money to have it fixed. I'm in Long Beach, Ca. If anyone wants it and promises not to ruin the great smooth rid by turning it into a lowrider or putting it on bags, it's yours.
Eric on June 14, 2008 at 02:43 AM
I have owned many of these cars, a 72 Caprice 2 door, calld something gold, it was dark brown, and it had the 400 small block in it. Then I had a 76 Caprice four door post with a 350 until an F4 tornado took it out. Then I got a 76 Caprice Landau 2 door with a 350 in it. Had the fuel economy gauge and everything, had every available option but 2. I got good mileage with it, about 15mpg. Good in comparision to the USS Enterprise :) I eventually sold it and regret it to this day. My final car is the one my parents had purchased new in 76, it is a 2 door Impala. I have this still and have done a lot of work on it, rebuilt the engine and hopped it up a lot (didn't think gas would ever be $4.50/gallon). It has custom 17inch wheels, which look small on it and custom paint.
I remember cruising with this and hearing comments like "wow look at that whale on wheels" and "you sure painted it nice for the demo" I guess it takes an odd person to truly appreciate these things but I love the car and know exactly what it's like to get the burns from the vinyl seats, mine are black.
It is a shame of what they call fullsize cars today. It is no wonder why families are buying SUV's and such, we have nothing you can fit people in comfortably anymore. Times change and I just want to hold onto a little bit of time from growing up.
ali shayesteh nam on July 24, 2008 at 05:32 AM
dear sir
iam fan's am.car in all made.but i like impala series spaicaly 65 to 78 for its perfomance and stablity.
i-do u have any chart about all modules in each year?
for example we have hard top and ss in the same year but i don't have any perfomance details of that.
ii- and also i want to have complete details of all impala (hps,tourqe,0-60,...)from these years 65-78.
iii-and could tell me what sort of enginees we have 4 more performance in this group totally?
for example i saw 402 c.i.enginee in impala76 which it make more more powerful than 305or 350 c.i.
dear man i konw alittle about am.mus.cars and i fond of to know more and perfect,(ijust get some info. from the net and i had mont carlo 73,blaizer75,eldorado75**)could u help to find technical and complete info? because the websites which i've found were n't perfect and so on.
TNX.ali
ali shayesteh nam on July 24, 2008 at 05:32 AM
dear sir
iam fan's am.car in all made.but i like impala series spaicaly 65 to 78 for its perfomance and stablity.
i-do u have any chart about all modules in each year?
for example we have hard top and ss in the same year but i don't have any perfomance details of that.
ii- and also i want to have complete details of all impala (hps,tourqe,0-60,...)from these years 65-78.
iii-and could tell me what sort of enginees we have 4 more performance in this group totally?
for example i saw 402 c.i.enginee in impala76 which it make more more powerful than 305or 350 c.i.
dear man i konw alittle about am.mus.cars and i fond of to know more and perfect,(ijust get some info. from the net and i had mont carlo 73,blaizer75,eldorado75**)could u help to find technical and complete info? because the websites which i've found were n't perfect and so on.
TNX.ali
Eric L. Johnson on July 24, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Hello and thanks for the trip down memory lane. My current passion revolves around the 1976 Chevy Impala Custom 2 door that I inherited from my Father about 5 years ago.
The rusty exterior, worn interior and limited power (145hp) of its 350cu.in. engine have all been restored and/or modified.
After an Engine rebuild and some major upgrades, the SBC is now at 357cu.in (est. 300hp). It turns a balanced Crank, Badger Flat Top Pistons (10:1 compression), Pro-Seal CAM, ported heads with 1.6:1 rockers. The Edelbrock EPS intake sports a Holley 1" phenolic spacer, with a new Holley 600cfm four barrel carb, topped of by a K&N Air Filter and Xtreme Flow Top. Swapping in a set of Flowtech Headers, an X-over pipe, dual exhaust and Turbo Mufflers allows this new mouse to breathe and sound much better for this Land Barge.
Getting power to the rear wheels is still handled by the stock TH350 Turbo Transmission. While a 700R4 AOD is soon to enhance its highway readability, I have upgraded the one legged 2.78:1 ratio gears in the 8 ½” 10 bolt rear. Now the torque is transferred through a GM POSI unit, sporting a set of 3.73:1 ring and pinion gears from Precision Gear.
The massive Anti-Sway bar and Heavy duty Moog coil springs assist the new shocks with the cars attitude and ride height. In turn, the set of Michelin HydroEdge P235/60R-16 unidirectional tires mounted on Unique 16x9 Chrome wheels keeps us riding straight and true.
The HEI Distributor has been given a new Accel Ignition Control Module and a 48K volt in cap Super Coil. The 140amp PowerMaster Alternator is providing reliable power to the sound system back in the Mafia sized trunk.
Speaking of sound… this big car needed big sound. So, with a total of Six Pyramid 6x9 speakers in side the spacious passenger compartment and Four Pyramid 12” Sub-Woofers neatly tucked away in the truck, a pair of 1 Farad capacitors feed the power to Two separate 1600Watt Pyramid 4-channel Power Amplifiers. Yes, that is a total of 3200 Watts of ear blowing power. You may ask, why? I say, Why not? Never too old, never too LOUD.
The interior also has benefited from a few upgrades. The custom mounted SunPro Tach with 90 degree sweep has neatly replaced the in dash clock. The old school Oak steering wheel from Superior is adorned by a 1965 Impala Horn Button. Looks pretty nice without the stock column mounted PRNDL shift lever.
No more bench seat in this behemoth. A set of ’85 Monte Carlo SS Bucket Seats straddle the ’69 Camero SS Horshoe shifter and ’70 Chevelle Center Console. Even though I did this install myself, you really would think that this could have been a factory option.
This all may sound like a fantasy, but you can see it for your self in the photo gallery at Yahoo Groups Fabulous Chevys.
http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fabulous_Chevys/photos/browse/f4fc
See you at the Woodward Cruise.
Eric L. Johnson
Michigan
andy autounion on August 21, 2008 at 04:10 PM
the Impala is still the least expensive car to own i can do a break job all four corners for less than 150 bucks a water pump is about 25 to 40$ a new fuel pump 15 bucks compare that the new cars today i just repaired a 07 ford with a bad water pump for 375$ and thats a 3 to 4 hour job on a good day.both my kids have a Impala 1972 and 74 2 dr with some ignition up dates and shocks they run great.the key here is get rid of the 4-bbl and go to a 2-bbl carb you get much better gas millage for in city driving and 16 to 19 highway
Al on September 11, 2008 at 08:38 AM
I have owned a 1975 Caprice Classic Convertible for the past 6 years, 18 1/2 feet long and 4500 pounds. A gas hog ?? With the 400 Quadrajet engine I average 18mpg highway and 15mpg local. Our Grand Voyager does maybe 2 mpg better on the highway. I grew up with these cars - my parents owned a 71 Impala and my Uncle owned a 73 Impala. I would not even set foot on a dealership today and consider any of the bubble cars available today. It is bad enough I have to travel a lot on business and have to drive these vehicles away from the Hertz lot !!!
John D. on October 18, 2008 at 07:17 PM
You sound like I have over the years . . . my friends used to tease me and say 'Ala Impala' and things like that. I've owned three myself; my first car was '72 Impala 2-door hardtop with a small block 400. Pewter Metallic Silver with a puke green vinyl roof. That car MOVED! I had a blast with that from age 16 to 18, then when I graduated high school, I got enough money to sell that (unfortunately) to a neighbor who beat the crap out of it. But, in the deal, I found a 26,000 mile '75 Caprice Classic that looked a lot like the first picture on your page. Mine was a little more gold (I forget the factory color) with a black vinyl top and black velour interior. Not loaded but nicely equipped, with a 350 2-bbl and I rebuilt the suspension with all new Moog Car-Go coil springs and top of the line Monroe shocks. I added 8" wide Appliance TruSpoke rims and B.F. Goodrich T/A white line 60 series tires and it handled like a dream but still rode good. Threw a nice Pioneer Supertuner head unit with separate amps and killer speakers in and enjoyed the tunes. What a nice cruising car that was. I loved that car and had it for 8 years, but it got hit and I was buying a house and I just couldn't fix it and keep it. Now I have another Impala, thanks to my mom, who passed away 13 years ago and left me with her plain-jane but pristine '72 with 12,000 original miles on it. I was just working on it getting it ready for winter storage and came across your article while looking up something for it. Tell your wife the next time she complains about you wanting an Impala how nice it would be for you two to jump in and take a drive through the country to see the fall foliage. And think, she can actually sit right next to you and cuddle on the big bench seat while you drive! I just did that today. What a relaxing and enjoyable ride. Nothing better than the 'ol Impala! Good luck on getting your Impala and thanks for the article.
blind on December 18, 2008 at 01:12 PM
I have a 4door dark money green 1974 impala that i want to sale motor is in excellent shape body is good also just need ta sale
blind on December 18, 2008 at 01:16 PM
i will trade for a convertabale thats not running or it could be running want a vert so bad i have a 76 two door that i am tricking out co really dont want the 4 door my number is 478 233 2932
Dee on January 05, 2009 at 03:08 PM
how do u get the back seat out to put new ones in
andrew on March 30, 2009 at 05:12 PM
how much for the 76 coupe
richard on May 20, 2009 at 05:09 AM
i got a 1976 chev caprice classic coupes for sale
adrian on August 02, 2009 at 09:09 PM
I have a 1965 CHEVY IMPALA SS CLONE new motor not even 50 miles; im willing to trade it for a 1971-1972CHEVY IMPALA CONVERTABLE in good shape. my car is worth 15,000.00. it is totally restored.Can some one help me ? Thia is my dream car
ted on November 07, 2009 at 08:16 PM
Looing for a 1971-1974 chevy impala convertible or caprice classic convertible. will have it shipped anywhere I live in florida. decent shape
DEWAYNE on May 18, 2010 at 08:42 PM
I HAVE A 76 IMPALA.THEY ARE THE BEST CAR'S EVER MADE.AND THEY RUN HARD AND STRONG.
amanda on May 20, 2010 at 09:40 AM
I have a 1977 Chevy Impala Caprice Classic and have not seen any like it ever. Its a 2 door with the glass house bubble window. It has all original parts and body and interior all good. Red with white vynol top and red carpet and dash with white vynol interior. 305 2 barrol. I am the 3rd owner. I bought it from a guy whose gramdma couldnt drive anymore. It has 32k original miles on it and I would like to find out what I should insure it for because no one around here has ever seen or heard of a 77 Chevy Impala Caprice Classic.
Thanks
tomm on June 24, 2010 at 11:53 AM
People bash the 75-76 since they had to use unleaded, but they also had HEI distributers for the first time, and made them run better. I'd also bet they got better MPG than the 74's.
These were reliable and there is a reason why demo derby driver worship the 71-76 big GM cars!
daniel jacquez jr on August 24, 2010 at 03:26 PM
impalas have always had my eye because its my dads favorite car...i remember drawing impalas out uf the lowrider magazines when i was little...now that i got a chance to get a 74', i gotta say i got to get that car...
Lou on October 06, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Man Im looking for one of these cars now. If you are near North Carolina and have one for sell contact me. I want a convertible but will not turn down a good price on a nice coupe any year 71-76. solidt12@yahoo.com
mohammad shublaq on October 18, 2010 at 01:44 PM
it sure brings lots of memories, my father had a pontiac grandville in 1976 it was a real beauty...
Chaz on November 14, 2010 at 07:17 PM
I have a 1976 chevy 2 door impala for sale. Any interest. Good shape. Put dual exhaust, updated AC, newer rims.
Jax on April 19, 2011 at 10:16 PM
I bought a 76 all original in Santa Fe last year for 1200. Had to replace the carb, fuel pump and starter but it was completely worth it. I was going to sell it and get an economical car but it gets great gas mileage compared to my buick and has tons of room for kids. About 86k on it but I bet I have fallen in love. Great conversation piece since I live on Rt. 66.
BIG "G" on May 27, 2011 at 02:12 AM
Just purchased a 72' Impala convertible. It's in pretty good shape. I will be restoring it to it's original form......no donk here!