Chevy's flagship muscle car

In the late '50's and early '60's performance cars were all full size. The 389 inch Pontiacs, 413 Mopars, and 406 Fords had more power than the 348 Chevys. The 409 was introduced to defend Chevrolet's honor. The Impala was the top of the line, and the "SS" package included an upgraded bucket seat interior heavy-duty suspension and special "SS" badging and hubcaps. Mainly because of NASCAR racing, but also because of stock class drag racing, the horsepower race was on. The fire-breathing 421 Pontiacs of Smokey Yunick and Fireball Roberts dominated. This caused Chevy and Ford to retaliate. The "Daytona Mystery Motor" that Chevy ran at the 1963 Daytona 500 became the Mark IV-i.e. modern Rat motor. Ford introduced the 427. Then in late 1963 the famous GM ban on racing came down. We all know the story of the GTO, and the competitors it spawned. However a lot of people still wanted full-size muscle. The 409 was discontinued in early 1965, replaced by the 396. The 396's much more modern "Porcupine" head design breathed way better than the old 348/409 "W" motors. While a 4-speed was a popular option, in 1965 the Turbo 400 debuted which was a 3 speed automatic that was light-years ahead of the old two-speed Powerglide in terms of performance. Many people consider the 1965 Impala one of the best-looking cars ever made. In 1966 they didn't change much, except the besides the 396, you could also get a 427 inch engine! Zora-Arkus Duntov, Chief Corvette engineer, deadpanned when the press asked if the 'Vette really needed more power-"More power? Heavens no!" "Boring out the block achieves a useful weight savings." In 1967 the Impala got an all-new fastback body, and disc brakes were optional, and more luxury options than ever. 75,600 "SS" models were sold, but only a couple thousand had the vaunted 427. The body was carried over for 1968, but sales dropped to 38,200-a 50% drop. Clearly, performance buyers were flocking to the intermediates-The GTO, SS Chevelle, Plymouth Road Runner, etc-all of which outsold the Impala SS by a wide margin. Pontiac had killed the Catalina 2+2-which the SS package had been invented to compete with-in 1967. The SS package soldiered on for one more year, but 1969 sales were even more dismal-only around 2,000 SS427s were sold. Hot Rodders bought Chevelles and Camaros, and luxury buyers bought Caprices ( a more luxurious Impala trim option). It was clearly a car without a market, and the option wasn't offered in 1970. However, from 1963-69 over 300,000 units were sold and they were one of the coolest "Big" cars ever made. They made a mini-comeback in 1994 when the name was resurrected and an LT1 'Vette motor was stuffed in a cop car Impala. They were popular with the buff magazines and buyers, but were discontinued when Chevy changed the bodystyle in 1998. These bring a King's Ransom today, but in my mind they just don't have the charm of the 1960's models. 409 and 427 models are pricey, but you can still get a good buy on a 327 powered model. Mastermind