Chevrolet Impala SS

Chevrolet Impala SS

At the dawn of the 1960’s, Kennedy, the new President-elect, spoke of a “new frontier.” He was talking of new age of post-war prosperity and specifically, America’s quest for reaching the Moon. For the big three, the new frontier was one of technical and marketing innovations. Combining the two became an essential element in the rapidly maturing market.

Marketing scored with the invention of youth-oriented cars such as the Mustang and Barracuda. The engineers scored with thin wall casting and improved reciprocating assemblies from the rotating valve lifter to the use of Teflon buttons in pistons to prevent scuffing. When good engineering and marketing combine, the effect is shattering. The Impala SS of the 1960’s was an excellent example.

The Impala had become the top model in ‘59, replacing Bel-Air’s position. In ‘58, Impala was a top of the line Bel-Air. Over the years, it had grown in wheelbase from 115 inches to 119 inches. The far out styling was immediately toned down for 1960. A new package had been developed in 1961 to help secure Chevy’s sales’ dominance in the full-size arena. It was called the Super Sport, or SS, for short.

It was a complete deal, comprising of exterior badges against the Impala crest on the quarter panels, bucket seats, floor shift trim plate, a steering mounted tachometer, a passenger dash grab handle, special trim and a modified LPO 111 suspension package, power steering, power brakes, and wheel covers. The origins of this package came from a show car.
The 1961 SS Impalas weren’t standardized in appearance. You could order the package on a four-door car, a six-cylinder powered coupe or you could go “top drawer” and get a slant back sports-roof with the hot 348 engine. It was basically a sales code without formal restrictions, although that would change soon enough.

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