Performance cars like these are niche cars, especially for a brand like Chevy--GM built barely 70,000 of the last rear-drive Impala SS versions between 1994 and 1996. But that makes them ideal for the company's small but efficient Australian design, engineering, and manufacturing operation.
So here's the crunch: GM makes do--until 2010 at least, possibly forever--with front-drive Impala and Monte Carlo SS models constrained by their layout to about 300 horsepower. Or it could look at a relatively low-cost, fast-track program to rebadge the next generation of 400-horse, rear-drive HSV Holdens as SS Chevys and simply ship them out from down under a lot sooner, leaving Detroit to concentrate on getting the high-volume stuff right over the next few years.
Sounds too simple. They're bound to find a catch.