Who's never heard of the very famous 1967 Chevy Impala? Well for every Supernatural fan that model holds a very special place in the show. However, the Impala brand doesn't stop there, let's dive into history.
The Impala name was first used for the full-sized 1956 General Motors Motorama Show car.
Painted emerald metallic-green, with an interior white, the Impala concept car featured hardtop styling. Clare MacKichan's design team, along with designers from Pontiac, started to establish basic packaging and dimensions for their shared 1958 General Motors "A" body in June.
The first styling, sketch that would directly influence the finished Chevrolet automobile was seen by General Motors styling Vice-President Harley Earl in October. Seven months later, the basic design was developed.
For 1958, GM was promoting their fiftieth year of production, and introduced anniversary models for each brand; Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Chevrolet. The 1958 models shared a common appearance on the top models for each brand; Cadillac Eldorado Seville, Buick Road-master Riviera, Oldsmobile Super 88 holiday, Pontiac Bonneville Catalina, and the Chevrolet Bel-Air Impala. The Impala was introduced for the 1958 model year as top of the line Bel-Air hardtops and convertibles, first of her generation.
Entering the fifth generation, the Impala remained Chevrolet's top selling model coming with a high-performance big block V8. The 1967 model was redesigned with enhanced Coke bottle styling that featured Corvette-inspired front and rear fender bulges. The curves where the most pronounced with the 1967–1968 models. In keeping with federal regulations, safety features were built into Impalas during the 1967 and 1968 model years, including a fully collapsible energy-absorbing steering column, side marker lights, and shoulder belts foreclosed models. The L72 engine was not available in 1967, but a L36 Turbo-Jet V8 was, thankfully, optional.
Thanks to the show Supernatural, the interest for the previous Impala generations grew bigger and bigger as than show kept going, especially for the 1967 model. A black four-door version of this vehicle nicknamed “Baby” appears in almost every episode of the show. It is owned by Dean Winchester and has been in their family for over 40 years.
Exports from the United States became a lot more current for that model and now you can find them a lot in Europe.
The Impala line still goes on to this day, with a more modern construction that matches the required security measurements.
