Drove an SS impala today

[piglet]

Gents,

The guys at the squadron have been bothering me to drive my Marauder. I told one of my fellow aviators that he could drive mine if I drive his SS.

He loved mine.

I was not impressed with his.

Here is my take:

The SS does have more low end torque. His is a 95 and is stock. However, where the two car depart is in the craftsmanship department. The fit and finish of the MM is 100% better than the SS. His leaks water from the rear passenger window. The entire interior is about 7 different shades of gray due to UV fading over the years. His carpet is falling apart as are the inside door panels. The seats are not comfortable and it is not a sound proof car. He has taken car of it over the years but the lack of quality interior parts has his car falling apart around him.

He basically bought an engine and a transmission with his SS.

We MM owners have bought a piece of art. A big beautiful, powerful cruiser. I know comparing a new car with a 8 year old car is ridiculous, but I have read so many people comparing them. In that same vain we could compare the Saturn 5 rocket to the Space Shuttle. Yep they will both get you into space but which one do you want to ride in.

My thoughts,

[Logan]

I'm not the biggest chevy fan, but I'd be remiss not to point out that we don't have any 8 year old marauders to compare against. But I've seen some pretty nasty looking 95 Marquis's... :)

[03 Merc]

Piglet,

Boy did you ask for it...:D I can hear the Chevy boys (and Gals) sharpening their knives from here... I could show you some very well maintained Impalas at the local SS club.. for that matter come on down to SSHS2 (www.sshs2.com) and see for yourself...right now I am the only Marauder entered ..

BTW as far as fit and finish also keep in mind that Chevrolet is / was the "cheap" for lack of a better word, division of General Motors. And Mercury is best compared to the Buick / Oldsmobile divisions not Chevy...so a new 95 Grand Marquis should have looked a lot better than a new 95 Impala. And a 95 Crown Vic probably compared quite close to the Impala...

I hope our cars attract the same following, parts / accessory availability, and resale values, that the Impala SS has as it is truly a "cult" car in less than 10 years.....

[JohnnyB]

I saw the 94-96 Impala SS at the NY Auto shows during those years. 1996 was the only year that the car came with a shift console. Other than having a Corvette motor, I didn"t think the quality of the car's interior or the layout of the dash was anything spectacular. The leather seats were sort of cheap and the door handle straps looked as if they would fall off after a closing the door a few times. The dashboard was also cheezy. Bit it is a cool car nonetheess. I've seen them sell used for near $20,000 in good condition, so I guess they held their value.

The MM is more tastefully done. It has the same engine as my LSC so I know what to expect performance wise, however, I think it looks better than the SS....

To be a real contender the MM should boast at least 335 HP with torque in the range of 350-375 lbs-ft somewhere around 2,500-3,000 rpm's. In any case, Ford was way overdue with the MM and I'm happy it has arrived....

[BISHOPSS95]

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Yes the Chevy's are built cheap. Yes mine has 5 colors of gray on the inside. Yes the carpet was a low grade. Yes the dash on 94's and 95's had limited function and a collum shifter. But remember why the SS was built.

It was to be Dads race car. Cheap (23.5k), functional and fast, thats all.
It did it so well that it is no longer cheap (15K for 150k mile car), but is still functional, and best of all it can kick your ***.

:cool:

[JohnnyB]

If General Motors was smart, they'd still be producing it!!!

[Wags]

Well, I can tell you that I've had my SS for 6 yrs. now, and with 72k on it my paint and interior are still in very nice shape. My wheels still look new. If the MM weathers this well, I will be very happy with it. As far as performance, I think that overall my SS is much better (in stock form). My SS kills the MM off the line, to about 60. Then the MM really outpulls the SS.But, I'll see how the MM is after I do some mods to it. :)

[Fourth Horseman]

Hell, if I could find a '96 SS in good shape that I could afford I'd love to park one in my driveway next the Marauder. Cheap-ish interior or not. :D

[Smokie]

I'm a Ford man all the way, but I have a good friend that owns a 96 SS and it is in perfect condition inside and out, it is big, black and beautiful and very strong off the line. I love my MM , but I'm not going to bad mouth the SS, the only thing I don't understand is why they stop making it.

[MAD-3R]

Because GM was suffering from a rectal-cranial (s?) invertion.

[Kevyn]

Although I'm not a MM owner, I have owned a couple crown vics and lt1 caprices. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

If you're comparing a 2003 car to an 8 year car, I sure hope the new one would be in better shape.

I think it's great that Ford is making the MM. Thank you Ford! I think it sucks that GM killed the Impala SS, Camaro and Firebird. Shame on you GM.

I have an 8 year old LT1 Caprice that's still in good shape. If anyone around the Detroit area wants to swap cars and go for a ride, I'm game. I'll even try to keep up :)

[BISHOPSS95]

OK I will spell out why the GM Bbody and Fbody where discontued.

C.A.F.E. Your taxes at work.

Rember trucks don't play by the same rules. In Georgia seat belt laws do not apply to pickup trucks.

:confused:

[03 Merc]

Bishop95SS,

I believe the F-body was discountinued for sales performance not CAFE...that and GM wanted rid of the old Canadian plant they were built in..

The F body combined sales was outsold every year by the Mustang for the last several... due to that no one in GM cared enough to push it to a new generation due to the low volume... I suspect most 02 F body sales were V6 "secretary mobiles" not Z-28's or TA's...just as most Stangs are V6s which helps CAFE....and makes up for the Cobras:D Hopefully GM will be a little more selective when the Camaro is "reborn" and it won't be a ricer in a American wrapper..

[warriorprophet]

AS long as no one is taking vic and making the looks like wimpala SS clones.

I heard of one guy who has done it, he needs to be monkey stomped.

My 'Vic will take ur impala with one cylinder tied behind its back. (which it has do right now since I need new sparky wires.)

[SSMOKEM]

Hey Piglet,

My Cherry Bomb (Impala SS) has none of the problems you alluded to. However, comparing an 8 year old car to a new one is not doing it justice.

As someone else mentioned, price is also a consideration. I paid 21500 for mine, and it's still worth quite a bit. You can't compare a Chevy to a Mercury on a quality basis. The Mercury will always win because of the price differential. You need to compare to a Buick.

But remember the bottom line, which is that both cars were marketed as an adult hot rod, NOT as technological wonders. On this basis, you have to admit that for an 8 year old model, it still kicks butt........

Normally I don't get into these discussions, but you forced my hand this time :) Just remember, as I blow by you on the expressway, you will hear the sucking sound of the vacuum generated by my passing and if you happen to be at a light when we meet, you'll see what 0-60 in 3.4 seconds looks like......... :D

[warriorprophet]

Baha.

Feh I put that much blown on my vic and ur blown..away...

Puleez.

[MAD-3R]

OHHH Blower envy.... Whip'em out boys, and we will measure them

[SSMOKEM]

Shoulda, coulda, woulda.................

[b4z]

Just wanted to clarify some posts on the fbody and bbody and why they were killed off.

The b-body was killed off because the model year 1997 brought new side impact standards. It was not worth if for GM to reengineer the b-body, because by that time only the Impala SS was selling.

I believe that the SS was built up until December 1996 instead of stopping production in June like they usually did.

The Caprice/Impala SS was produced in the Arlington, Texas and GM wanted that plant for truck production.

So it was a combination of gov't mandated crash standards and production capacity.

CAFE did not enter into the picture on this one.

As far as the fbody, it was also a combination of things. Sales mainly.
GM has done 0 advertising on the car in the last couple of years and had spent 0 money on changes except to the LS1.
GM didn't even want to spend the money in '98 to redo the floorplan when they didn't need the nasty bump anymore for the cat cons.

Also, more V8s were sold in 2002 than V6's. Neither GM nor SLP could keep up with the orders.
The last Camaro was produced August 27th.

[SSee SSpot Run]

hey Piglet, why not join wayne and come on down to the shootout in november. it might help you decide which vehicle you want to ride in. bring you marauders and your vics and your lincolns and lets have a little fun. several different time classes and brackets to run in so you wont have to be embarrassed. let's make this a great event. we SS drivers want to see and hear the new kids run down the 1/4 mile. and see what mods are working for you. pig..you can even caravan from n.c. with us...we'll put you up front so that you wont be hit by any of our parts falling off. it'll make up for when we blow your doors off at the track.:D well enough smack talk for now, just trying to stir some interest. btw..george are you coming for sure yet? SSee Ya, Rus

[SSMOKEM]

Nah, I won't make it. They're going with strict NHRA rule and my cage won't be done by then.