The boxy third generation of the Chevrolet Caprice, which had been around since the mid-late 1970s, was replaced for the 1991 model year with a car featuring much curvier, more aerodynamic bodywork. It was about this time that Ford also launched a more aero Crown Victoria.
Interestingly, with police performance packages, these newly sleek versions of the big body-on-frame police cars dramatically suppressed the sales of pursuit versions of Mustangs and Camaros, which had flourished briefly during the later Malaise Era when the blocky sedans were too asthmatic for high-speed chases.
It was from the roots of the fourth generation Caprice 9C1 police package that Chevrolet's Special Vehicle group ginned up a show car for 1992 that revived the Impala SS name, which had lain dormant since the late Sixties.
With distinctive wheels and badging and a sinister murdered-out paint job in any color you wanted as long as it was Black, the show car came to dealerships almost unchanged for the 1994 model year. 1995 saw some minor cosmetic changes and the addition of Dark Cherry Metallic and Dark Green-Gray Metallic to the palette. Production ceased after the 1996 model year after just shy of 70,000 had been sold.
They were all powered by the 5.7L LT1 pushrod V-8 derived from the Corvette making 260 ponies, with a 4L60E GM four-speed auto sending power to a 3.08 rear end.
When Car and Driver hooked the test gear up to a '94 Impala SS, it had enough Wheaties under the hood to launch the bulbous 4,221 pound sedan to sixty in just 6.5 seconds, which was considered a decent sporty coupe number at the time. The quarter went by in fifteen flat at 92 MPH.
All that could be yours for only $22,495 in 1994 money, or about $48,500 in constant dollars.
This one was photographed in May of 2025 using Pentax K20D and a DA 16-45mm f/4 zoom lens.
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