Rescuing a legitimate collector car from the snares of owners who haven’t had the means to properly restore it is an exciting prospect. You’re getting the car at a discount and hopefully, the years of neglect haven’t led to too many bad decisions being made. But there’s a fine line between getting a car when it’s still restorable with a modest investment versus a total dumpster fire of a project; which side of the line do you think this 1996 Chevrolet Caprice SS listed here on craigslist is on? The seller is asking $6,500 for a car with under 100,000 original miles on the clock.
There’s a car this Impala SS reminds me down by my in-laws in Georgia. It’s a Fox body Mustang, one of those GT350 package models with the four-eyed front end. The car is certainly collectible, but it’s not as if the museum curator at Dearborn is calling about it. The owner is on a fairly limited income and has no ability to restore it, but also won’t sell it. It’s pretty much trashed at this point and hard to justify saving. Thankfully, the seller of this Impala SS bought the car back from the couple he sold it to after seeing it slip into disrepair. The seller notes he has installed a new fuel pump and fresh calipers and rotors all around; it runs well but the brake lines still need attention.
When looking at production numbers, I was surprised to see that total SS production was quite generous over its production run. In 1996, over 41,000 were made, with close to 20,000 examples wearing black paint like this car has. Of course, that’s relative, as the paint has effectively been worn off multiple panels. The wheels are in a sorry state as well, and those rollers were an iconic part of the SS design. It seems the next owner is refinishing the front half of the Impala at minimum, along with deleting the very tired stripes going down the center of the car and perhaps starting over with a replacement set of wheels.
These were strong performers when new, pushing out 260 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque. Coupled with a 4-speed automatic transmission, the big sedan was capable of running to 60 miles per hour in under 7 seconds, which is a commendable feat for a car this big. Chevy did attempt to give the handling a boost with thicker sway bars and a hunkered down appearance, but at the end of the day, this was a cruiser – and a terrific one at that. This Impala SS seems like it could be a bit cheaper to make the numbers work considering you’re looking at a paint job in addition to the mechanical restoration. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the find.
This is definitely worth fixing. There is a loyal following. I know of a dark red one in Bloomington, IL that has the clear coat in disarray (toasted down to the base coat) and the owner loves that car just as it is. He was 16 years old when it was a new car, so the interest is out there with several generations.
`96 was the only year of the 7th generation Impala SS with a console shift, analog speedometer and tachometer as I recall.
So yes, worth saving.
Some friends on mine have maroon one that was damaged in 2004. It has less damage than the feature car. The wife hit a deer on a country road and the car has set in a barn for over 20 years. It only has 25k on the clock. Over the years they’ve collected every part needed to repair it (O.E.M. / NOS). My friend is now 70 years old and says he’s still going to fix it. He has some health issues and privately to me he says he doesn’t think he can do it. Back in the day he did some fantastic work repairing wrecks but… people do get old. I sometimes wonder what will become of it.
If there ever is one not worth saving, I’ll yank the drivetrain and shifter and stick it in my Caprice wagon.
Interior pics might help the listing. I have painted a black car before so I know how critical prep is. Every flaw will he highlighted.
The interior is probably in terrible shape, they didn’t age well on these even when they were treated nicely.
I had one of these, a green ’96. I have always had an attraction for SS Impalas. My first car was a ’65 Impala SS, 327/250, Powerglide, then a ’68 SS, 396/325, THM, a few years later, one of these, the green one. It was a fine car indeed. Last of the dying breed. Now I have another ’65 Impala SS, 327/300, 4 speed, positraction, matching numbers, white/white, Coker red stripe tires.
I have been looking for one. I am just finishing a 1967 Camaro I have owned since 1969. I can’t tell if the car runs. Can this be verified? It is possibly a Southern car, rusty.
These were great cars in the 90’s. We used them for troop cars in new Jersey. They were fast and stable. it will be a future collectible classic. I do like the red Chevy truck behind it too.
It wasn’t worth building, why would it be worth restoring? There is nothing special about a 4 door family sedan just because you stick an “SS” badge on it.
You have no clue
The only 1 of these bathtub gens i would want to drive/be seen in is the TWO door 1989 Cadillac Solitaire – preferably with Sandra – seen in “Demolition Man”.
Would much rather have a 2004 Mercury Marauder. I don’t know why but the sheet metal on these things remind me of the shells they put on funny cars. But for the price, and if you could do the work yourself? Worth saving.
I remember seeing the prototype of the early 2000’s Marauder at a car show, and thought it was the coolest thing I’d seen in years. The actual Marauder that came out was such a disappointment cosmetically, as all of the sportiness was removed—it looked pretty much like every other 4-door sedan that was out at that time.
Going against the majority here I’m going to say NO its a parts car now I consider 99,800k miles to be 100k miles and its location tells me it has lots of hidden rust and potential critter damage it has a lot of good parts
well worth the price. need to see if there is underside rot and how bad the inside is. most likely spend 10-15k fixing issues. only the super clean low mile cars bring the big bucks.
Salvage title? If so parts car if clean $3500 absolutely top$$$