I wrote about Chevy’s modern-era Impala SS last month. Everyone knows about that popular sedan. What fewer people know about is the fact that GM built one Impala SS wagon but never put the model in production. That car survives and is on the loose, occasionally terrorizing the roads of Minnesota. Here’s how I encountered it.
I remember reading a short blurb in a car magazine around 2009 that GM had auctioned off a number of concept cars and one-offs that they had built in the 90’s and 2000’s. Included in that list was a 1994 Impalafied wagon used as a GM Proving Grounds chase car. As a wagon guy, I remember thinking that sounded like the ultimate longroof, daydreaming of getting my hands on it somehow.
In 2011, our family drove to Minnesota for a wedding. The reception was held at my wife’s uncle Boyd’s farm, where we were staying. He mentioned to me that I might like the car his church’s pastor, Mark, had acquired. “It’s some sort of hot rod black station wagon.” Hmmm…that sounded intriguing! Since Mark had officiated the wedding, he was going to be coming to the reception.
My interest piqued, I was delighted when Mark showed up in the car (perhaps at Boyd’s suggestion) and even parked it next to my 94 Caprice wagon. When I saw it, my mind went back to that article and I thought this has to be the car from the GM Proving Grounds. He confirmed that the car had been sold by GM and was a special one-off. GM used it for 27k miles as a chase car when prototypes were taken on test trips.
It’s unlikely Chevrolet ever had a thought to offer a production Impala SS wagon. More likely is that John Moss or some other enthusiasts in the Special Vehicle team built it just because they could. If I had access to their garages, technicians and parts bins, I sure would!
The wagon is actually an improvement over the production Impala SS in two important ways. One is the engine, an LT4. The LT4 was a version of the LT1 that had numerous enhancements including different camshaft, intake manifold, cylinders heads and more, good for a rating of 330hp and 340lb-ft (thought to be underrated, stock LT1 260hp/330 lb-ft). Since the LT4 was first offered in Corvettes in the 1996 model year, it’s not clear when exactly this car was constructed by GM. My guess would be that it was a pre-production engine put into a then-current year Caprice wagon.
The other upgrade can be seen in the photo below. For fun, you can examine the picture before moving on to the text and see if you can quickly identify it…
This is a three pedal wagon (OK, four if you count parking brake) because all LT4-equipped Corvettes and F-bodies that GM sold had a 6-speed manual transmission, so naturally the wagon was modified to have that drivetrain as well. Welcome to The General’s Bizarro World where wagons are hotter than sedans. Sadly, I didn’t get to drive it or ride in it, but I heard it drive away and it clearly has a modified exhaust, as well. I don’t know if any suspension enhancements were made beyond regular Impala parts.
The cosmetic modifications to turn the car into an Impala SS were significant, most notable being the change in interior color. The Impala SS only came with a gray interior, which was not offered on station wagons. So, the builders had to transplant a gray sedan interior and custom-color the headliner and wayback panels in gray. They also modified Caprice LS seats into buckets. Why didn’t they use leather buckets from the production Impala SS? My guess would be that since that upholstery was sedan only, custom making the folding wagon bench to match would have been harder with Impala leather than gray Caprice cloth. It also has an instrument panel with a tachometer and analog speedo, a feature that wasn’t given to the Impala until 1996. They appear to have used a transplanted Camaro IP which is a common mod that Impala/Caprice owners do.
Wagons came standard with a roof rack, as can be seen on my stripper 94 Caprice which left the factory with only two options (cruise and a tape deck). The roof rack doesn’t simply screw onto a smooth roof, the roof is channeled for the rack, so Chevy had to create a smooth panel for the roof.
The rest of the bodywork was relatively simple, consisting of removing the beltline trim and wheel opening lip moldings (production Impala has black moldings, but of course its rear fenders are different from the wagon) and transplanting the Impala hood, grille and front bumper. 95-96 style side mirrors replaced the inferior 91-94 style.
Mark bought the car at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction, where it sold for $13,750, a very high amount for a Caprice wagon at the time. Today, even adjusted for inflation, that would be a steal for a B-body wagon with 27k miles, not even accounting for the unique provenance and equipment that this car has. I told Mark if he ever wanted to sell it, to let me know. It’s been 13 years and I haven’t gotten a call yet!
related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Collector’s Edition – “B” There ‘Til The End by Brendan Saur – Good writeup on Buick’s final whale wagon
Curbside Classic: 1991 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – Last Act For A Long Roof by me – deep dive CC on Olds’ last wagon
I previously found the original B-J listing for the car, but they appear to have revamped their website and apparently purged it. There is scant evidence online of its existence. This page contains a complete list of all the cars GM was selling. It’s quite a long list.
When I looked for the mentioned interior upgrade I quickly noticed the floor shift rather than a column shift, but then thought “that’s a downgrade, not an upgrade” so kept looking and noticed the Caprice Classic velour seats. That’s an upgrade in my book, even from leather. I didn’t notice the third pedal.
Really, GM should have offered the Impala SS as a wagon, or at least offer bucket seats and performance upgrades in a Caprice, but GM thought wagons couldn’t be sporty. Much like how if you wanted bucket seats in your ’70s GM car, at least in mid- or full-sizers, you usually had to buy a coupe. There were occasional exceptions (’74 Fleetwood Talisman!) but by and large buckets/console was for coupes. I did read about someone who special-ordered a colonnade LeMans wagon with bucket seats and console and somehow coaxed the factory into building it.
I’d agree the velour seats are better, they just don’t look nearly as sporty as the Impala seats. The floor shifter they gave the Impala for 96 is also debatable if it was actually a functional downgrade. The 96 tach was definitely an upgrade, and necessary upgrade for the switch to manual gearbox here.
I hope this car is never driven in the salt
Mark’s family owns a Chevrolet dealership and he has several collector cars. At the wedding, he loaned his 1959 Impala coupe for the bride and groom to drive away from the church in. The wagon lives a hobby car life, definitely not a daily driver in the winter,
Thats pretty wild!! Does it have a title/plate/registration?? I know GM sold a bunch of its Indy Pace cars with no titles earlier this year at one of the big auctions. Most were C5/C6 Corvettes and some 90’s Monte Carlos that were pace cars for the Brickyard 400.
The wagon had this disclaimer on it: ” THIS IS A HISTORICAL VEHICLE. NEITHER GM NOR BARRETT-JACKSON MAKE ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THE VEHICLE, INCLUDING NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. BUYER WILL TAKE POSSESSION OF THIS VEHICLE ‘AS-IS.’ THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN USED PRIMARILY FOR STATIC DISPLAY AND BUYER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT THE VEHICLE COMPLIES WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS PRIOR TO ANY USE OF VEHICLE ON PUBLIC ROADS. **TITLE IN TRANSIT**”
There were other cars that had this disclaimer: THIS IS A MODIFIED VEHICLE. NEITHER GM NOR BARRETT-JACKSON MAKE ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THE VEHICLE, INCLUDING NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE VEHICLE IS NOT CERTIFIED TO COMPLY WITH ANY FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAWS, RULES OR REGULATIONS AND MAY NOT BE DRIVEN ON PUBLIC ROADS. This vehicle will be conveyed to Buyer with a ‘salvage’ title. Buyer is responsible for ensuring that the restored vehicle complies with all applicable laws and regulations prior to any sale or use of vehicle on public roads. **TITLE IN TRANSIT**
What an excellent find! And wouldn’t it be fantastic if Pastor Mark called!
I love the slick roof on this. Seeing it does make me realize that I’ve never seen a slick roof on one of these wagons in the wild. Now I know why. I’m often mixed on whether wagons are better or not without roof racks (I have the rails on my BMW, but my Volvo is without…and I like them both equally). I think the Caprice/Impala is better slick.
As much as this car is a true unicorn, it also occurs to me that it wouldn’t be impossible to make one of these for oneself. Particularly if you did it soon before the relatively common availability of the parts vanished. In fact, you could probably make one of these (the roof being the hardest part to replicate….bondo?) for much much less than it would cost to acquire the real thing.
I’ve seen a lot of wagons with Impala wheels and mechanical mods to Impala spec or better. I don’t know that I’ve seen or even heard of a full on Impala wagon clone, though I’d be surprised if no one has ever done it. The biggest hurdle would be the interior color swap. These days, it would be challenging to find a suitable donor sedan to take the interior out of.
In 2001 I modified a 95 Caprice police car into a sort of Impala. 9C1 to Impala SS clones were pretty common. Again, interior was the biggest challenge as most cop cars didn’t have gray interiors. Some people used salvage interiors (cheap but limited availability) or even NOS parts (expensive!). My approach was to make a “Caprice SS”, which retained the car’s tan interior but swapping in Roadmaster leather seats, which I got out of a wrecked car, then cut down the driver seat to make it a bucket. Roadmasters had the same highback seat frame as Impala’s, just a different upholstery pattern. Caprice SS logos were available NOS because the Impala SS was marketed as Caprice SS in the Middle East.
Extremely cool, thanks for sharing! I’ll mirror the comment above, I sure hope this isn’t driving on salty MN roads!!
Thanks!
No salt! See my reply above.
What a cool car! I’ve always had a thing for the sportwagon concept but the manufacturers never seem to think it’s a viable concept. I remember back about 1995 or so “Car and Driver” commissioned a pair of Taurus station wagons into SVO vehicles. Reportedly, the public reaction to these vehicles was overwhelmingly favorable, which surprised Ford. Had Ford seen fit to build these I would have snapped one up. Just the thing to haul the dog to dog shows with.
I’m also a bit fan of performance wagons. Cadillac did offer the CTS wagon in the V series, even with a 6 speed available. Not surprisingly they weren’t huge sellers, though definitely considered a cult classic from day one. That one is on my wishlist.
When you give the right guys access to the right parts bin, magic happens. This is my new favorite wagon!
I assume these were sold by GM as used and modified vehicles? They were certainly (technically) non-compliant or at least non-certified. For both FMVSS safety and EPA emissions and CAFE purposes.
Oops, missed Jon’s reply on the disclaimers. Though I’d think that might work for B-J but as a manufacturer GM lawyers might struggle with it.
This wagon had the advantage of being previously licensed, since it had been used off of GM property when they had it.
Coincidentally, I have been looking at a lot of B-Bodies lately, Impala SS and wagons being two of my favourites for the whale bodies – so this might be the best of both worlds. It is really cool that you got to see this car in person. It looks to be well done, although, the Caprice upholstery is a little out of place in my eyes. One note, that F-bodies didn’t use the ZF 6-speed. Only the C4 Corvettes got that, the F-bodies used the T56. I’d assume that this LT4 powertrain has the ZF 6speed too, but I am not sure. I wonder what rear axle ration they used and what suspension mods were done? Did you notice if the car had a rear sway bar? Normally wagons don’t have them because the sedan sway bar doesn’t fit the wider wagon axle.
Thanks for the info. I corrected the article. I thought I had read that all LT4’s had the ZF. I went back and read it again and it does actually only say the Corvette got the ZF, and doesn’t say what F-bodies had. Of course, I’m not sure what this wagon has. My guess would be whichever would fit more easily. If Mark told me what rear axle or suspension mods it had, I’ve forgotten, though I doubt he did. I did not note if it had a rear sway bar.
Wow – this is just about my dream car!
I’m not really a GM guy but I am a wagon guy and really loving this one!
Totally awesome! Love Chevrolet wagons with horses to haul in more ways than one. I remember my Dad’s friend in electricians apprenticeship school had a 1970 Chevelle wagon back in ’79 or ’80 that I rode in to Bonneville Dam with them for a class. He claimed it was factory built with a LS 5 454 and TH 400 transmission, 425 horsepower. At my age of 12 or 13 it was a blast!
The ideal machine for those times one needs seven cops in a high-speed chase. (“Say, Sarg, I’m gettin’ a little queasy back here.”)
A great car, and a great cobbling, though you’d have to think the seat bases would get a bit puckered during high-speed manouvres: that’s a lot of extra weight in tailgates and glass – and, potentially, a couple of hunched-up coppers – up high, where it’s not welcome. Be pretty easy for those rear-facing patrolmen to end up with the forward view, I reckon.
Interesting choice for a man of god, though, now i think of it, what with that color scheme and the acreage behind the driver, I guess he could do a side-line in quickie funerals. Or perhaps he just fills it with bibles and feels that the word of his god needs spreading real fast?
Here’s another factory 400+hp V8 manual GM wagon in Minnesota also, about a year ago, according to the webs of inter.
I noticed the “97 Rock” bumper sticker on the window of your white Caprice wagon; were you living in the Houston area at the time? I grew up there in the 70s and was in high school in the early 80s and the two big rock radio stations were KLOL 101.1 FM and 97 Rock, with Moby as the afternoon drive time DJ. KLOL had a cool sticker too then, with a Mylar lightning bolt and the Silver Surfer’s head on it. I had one of these on our ’82 Buick LeSabre Estate Wagon, and I got a lot of comments on it. Somewhere I think I still have a couple of those stickers….
That Impala SS wagon is definitely a cool piece, and I agree that someone who knows what they’re doing could (somewhat) duplicate it. And at least in Texas, these cars are old enough to be exempt from the emissions inspections, being over 25 (and we’re doing away with the regular safety inspection next year too, not sure how well that’s going to work out!).