2006 Chevrolet Impala SS Sales, Options, & Design Styling Review

Chevy expects to sell about 7500 TrailBlazer SSs per year, but since they come off the same line as myriad GMT360/370 sport/utilities, it can be adjusted upward if there's more demand. That number is in line with Campbell's prediction that SS models will account for 10 percent of every model offered, except for the Monte Carlo SS, for which the take rate will be about 15 percent. That means about 7500 SS Montes and 20,000 SS Impalas, the most popular Super Sport. Certainly, there are at least 7500 nit-picky NASCAR fans (for which the front-drive, V-6 Ford Taurus sedan as the basis of a stock car is an easy target of derision) happy that the street model at least has two doors and a V-8 like Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car, though it still lacks rear drive. Heinricy, Campbell, and Wallace refuse to talk about any future rear-drive Chevy cars, prime candidates for SS treatment. For now, the SSR and TrailBlazer are the only rear-drive SS models.

"I think you can make awesome front-drive vehicles," Wallace says. "We have a lot of 25-, 35-, 40-year-olds; hell, they may have never handled a rear-drive vehicle."

You might expect Chevy to load up these cars and trucks with enough standard equipment that just a few options are available, but they're relatively low on content. "You've got to be able to reach out to a lot of people," Wallace says. He recalls his 1967 Camaro R/S with heavy-duty brakes and delete options for the heater and radio to keep weight down. You can't do that with a modern SS, but the leather seats, including an inviting leather-and-alcantara combo in the TrailBlazer, are optional. The SSR is the only Super Sport you can't get with cloth seats. For the 2005 Silverado SS, Chevy removed standard leather, all-wheel drive, and other equipment to lower the base price by $4315.

SS styling, like the pricing, is mostly low-key. For a car company that'll paint you an Intimidator Monte Carlo, this approach is thankfully subdued. True, the Cobalt SS's huge wing shouldn't be allowed on anything less than a 300-horsepower street rally car. But the Impala SS shows the same kind of restraint as does the 1964 in our photo shoot, which makes the 1996 look like the equivalent of a four-button suit and yellow power tie. Aside from the new Impala's tasteful wing, the 18-inch wheels and tires, and subtle SS badges, this car could be your neighbor's grocery-getter. The 2006 Impala's improved styling, a product of European GM design chief Bryan Nesbitt's short stint at Chevy car design, doesn't hurt: It looks better than its gawky predecessor, and the SS has potential as the next great stealth street-fighter. If only Chevy could do something about the Monte Carlo. The TrailBlazer has its own potential as a 4600- to 4800-pound rear- or all-wheel-drive sleeper. It's the quick SUV Ford SVT forever failed to offer. Ford won't enter the fray with a sport/utility truck until the 2008 SVT Sport Trac arrives.

So the SS TrailBlazer and Impala look good, prior to full-on testing. The Cobalt SS is a winner; the Silverado SS is not. The Monte SS makes one yearn for the days when coupes, not sedans, were the handsome cars. That leaves the SS Malibu and Malibu Maxx. They share their 240-horsepower, 3.9-liter OHV V-6 with the Pontiac G6 GTP, but while the Poncho offers a manual transmission, the Chevys only get a four-speed automatic. Four-coggers may soon become the bane of GM, the punchline to the question about whether the General will ever catch up. But that's another story. If you have to choose one, take the standard sedan. It ought to be lighter, since it's on a shorter wheelbase than the Maxx or G6.