What does an automaker do when it launches a completely redesigned new generation of a vehicle when fleet sales of its predecessor remain strong? In the case of 21st century General Motors, move on both Versions. That’s exactly what GM did when the tenth-generation Chevrolet Impala debuted in 2014. Until 2016, GM continued to build the ninth-generation Impala for fleet-only sales and called it the Impala Limited. Here’s one of those not-so-rare, but still interesting machines that was recently found at a car graveyard in Colorado.
This photo from the 2016 Chevrolet police vehicle brochure shows the Impala Limited on the left and the regular Impala on the right. In my opinion, the steel wheels on the Limited look better than the alloy wheels on a patrol car.
The tenth generation Impala had switched from the outdated W platform to the global Epsilon II platform, becoming the sibling of machines such as the Opel Insignia and the Saab 9-5. It was built for the 2016 to 2020 model years, making it the last Impala. For a model from 1958, this was quite an achievement.
This car is a good old W-body, a chassis design that harks back to the 1988 Buick Regal, Pontiac Grand Prix and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
This meant the 2014-2016 Impala Limited was slightly shorter and much Less roomy inside than the 2014-2020 Epsilon-based Impalas, but what now? The fleet mechanics had been working on W bodies for many years and knew them well, and there was sufficient production capacity available.
GM had taken a similar path a decade earlier with the Chevrolet Classic; The Malibu switched to the Epsilon platform in 2004 (making it the brother of the Saab 9-3 and Saturn Aura), while the N-Body version remained in production for fleet-only sales until 2006.
The engine in this car is a 3.6-liter high-feature DOHC V6 with variable valve timing and an output of an impressive 302 horsepower and 262 pound-feet. These cars were fast thanks to its curb weight of just over 3,600 pounds.
The only transmission available was a six-speed automatic. In fact, the last model year for a manual transmission in a U.S.-market Impala was 1973 (when a three-speed manual transmission was standard on six-cylinder cars).
During the heyday of Impala Limited, in my role as the wise and respected Chief Justice of the Lemons 24 Hour Supreme Court Race, I traveled all over the country renting cars, and every Lemons employee pulled the ninth generation Impala all other rental options before the period 2006-2016. Even when poorly maintained, these cars always ran pretty well, plus they were equipped with a good audio system and plenty of engine power. In fact, we often held drag races between different rental cars on the long straights of road racing tracks; Here I am running a race between a rented Maxima and a rented Impala Limited at GingerMan Raceway in Michigan (the Limited won, as it almost always does).
I always appreciated the AUX input jack on the Impala Limited’s radio when I rented these cars. This very useful feature was still quite difficult to find on rental cars in the mid-2010s.
The tenth-generation Impala was larger inside than the Limited and drove quieter, but I was disappointed when the ninth-generation cars left rental fleets.
I haven’t documented any first generation Impalas in junkyards, but I have photographed used examples of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh generations (including Bel Airs, Biscaynes, Caprices and other members of the Impala family).
Clinkscales Chevrolet in South Carolina had 9th Generation Impala deals for you!
It was a whole new animal.