1966 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport Coupe 7.0

Vehicle Overview

Chevrolet introduced the fourth generation of the Impala in 1965 and offered it with the already famous Super Sport package.

Being the first American car to be produced in more than one million units in a single year after WWII was not an easy task. But that didn’t make GM slow down the car’s development process. Thus, in 1965, the automaker brought the fourth generation of the Impala SS on the market and made it even better than before.

On the outside, the car featured a more rounded exterior design, with a four-headlights design and blinkers placed into the bumper area. In addition, the chromed grille with horizontal slats sported the bow tie in the middle. For the Super Sport version, Chevrolet added dedicated badges on the front fenders. On the coupe version, the car featured frameless side windows, creating a faux-cabriolet design. At the back, the automaker installed six round taillights.

Inside, there were two bucket seats at the front, separated by a center console. It was an unusual interior feature since most vehicles didn’t have something like that at that time. At the back, GM installed a bench wide enough for three people, although the sloped greenhouse didn’t give too much headroom. The instrument cluster was also innovative, with a round tachometer on the left and a linear speedometer fronting the driver.

Under the hood, the Impala SS was the first to offer a 6.5-liter V8 (Turbo-Jet) engine that developed up to 425 hp, depending on the compression ratio and camshaft design.