At the dawn of the 1960's, Kennedy, the new President-elect, spoke of a "new frontier." He was talking of new age of post-war prosperity and specifically, America's quest for reaching the Moon. For the big three, the new frontier was one of technical and marketing innovations. Combining the two became an essential element in therapidly maturing market.

Marketing scored with the invention of youth-oriented cars such as the Mustang and Barracuda. The engineers scored with thin wall casting and improved reciprocating assemblies from the rotating valve lifter to the use of Teflon buttons in pistons to prevent scuffing. When good engineering and marketing combine, the effect is shattering. The Impala SS of the 1960's was an excellent example.

The Impala had become the top model in '59, replacing Bel-Air's position. In '58, Impala was a top of the line Bel-Air. Over the years, it had grown in wheelbase from 115 inches to 119 inches. The far out styling was immediately toned down for 1960. A new package had been developed in 1961 to help secure Chevy's sales' dominance in the full-size arena. It was called the Super Sport, or SS, for short.

It was a complete deal, comprising of exterior badges against the Impala crest on the quarter panels, bucket seats, floor shift trim plate, a steering mounted tachometer, a passenger dash grab handle, special trim and a modified LPO 111 suspension package, power steering, power brakes, and wheel covers. The origins of this package came from a show car. 
The 1961 SS Impalas weren't standardized in appearance.

You could order the package on a four-door car, a six-cylinder powered coupe or you could go "top drawer" and get a slant back sports-roof with the hot 348 engine. It was basically a sales code without formal restrictions, although that would change soon enough.Chevy had great options available in short runs, but no easy 1-step option that gave you the basics to go racing. The 1961 SS Impala changed all that.

Previously, there were the Fuel Injected Ramjet and Ramjet Special 283's, but they vanished by the end of '59. Likewise, you could get LPO 1108, which was a heavy-duty suspension for Police Cars. This gave you metallic brakes, H.D. ball joints, bigger shocks, stiffer springs and better wheel bearings front and back. Available on every model, but certainly not advertised!

The sales of four speed cars had sky rocketed sharply in 1961, guaranteeing the future of the SS. New for '62 was a full-length console. The fancy wheel covers were a necessity, the slots helped cool down the brakes. What did change were the engines. The 409 was about to have its fifteen minutes of infamy. The 409 has been a controversial engine. Denigrators call it a truck engine. Fans call it the early sixty's track god. It was a little of both as we'll see.

Starting with the 348 block, Chevrolet changed much of the hardware to create a racing engine to compete against the Ford 390 Interceptor from 1960. The crankshaft was forged, as were the aluminum pistons. A performance solid-lifter cam, raised compression to 11.25:1 and used a Carter AFB carburetor on an aluminum manifold. It made 360 horsepower @ 5800 rpm and torque was a legendary 409 lbs.-ft @ 3600 rpm. A real brute of a motor.

The cylinder heads were different from the 348's and used stiffer springs and heavy-duty pushrods. Nineteen sixty-one SS Impalas were scarce with only 453 made. As for an SS 409, you'd have better luck meeting Elvis because only 142 made it. The transmissions were either Powerglide, Warner T-10 or the three-speed standard.

Chevy had great options available in short runs, but no easy 1-step option that gave you the basics to go racing. The 1961 SS Impala changed all that. Previously, there were the Fuel Injected Ramjet and Ramjet Special 283's, but they vanished by the end of '59. Likewise, you could get LPO 1108, which was a heavy-duty suspension for Police Cars. This gave you metallic brakes, H.D. ball joints, bigger shocks, stiffer springs and better wheel bearings front and back. Available on every model, but certainly not advertised!

The sales of four speed cars had sky rocketed sharply in 1961, guaranteeing the future of the SS. New for '62 was a full-length console. The fancy wheel covers were a necessity, the slots helped cool down the brakes. What did change were the engines. The 409 was about to have its fifteen minutes of infamy. The 409 has been a controversial engine. Denigrators call it a truck engine. Fans call it the early sixty's track god. It was a little of both as we'll see.

Starting with the 348 block, Chevrolet changed much of the hardware to create a racing engine to compete against the Ford 390 Interceptor from 1960. The crankshaft was forged, as were the aluminum pistons. A performance solid-lifter cam, raised compression to 11.25:1 and used a Carter AFB carburetor on an aluminum manifold. It made 360 horsepower @ 5800 rpm and torque was a legendary 409 lbs.-ft @ 3600 rpm. A real brute of a motor.

The cylinder heads were different from the 348's and used stiffer springs and heavy-duty pushrods. Nineteen sixty-one SS Impalas were scarce with only 453 made. As for an SS 409, you'd have better luck meeting Elvis because only 142 made it. The transmissions were either Powerglide, Warner T-10 or the three-speed standard.

Nineteen sixty-two brought the SS Impala package onboard and the 409 was more obtainable. Those eager beavers that placed orders for early 62's must have been annoyed when Chevy announced a dual-quad 409. At least the four-barrel engine had been improved with power up to 380 horses. The dual-quad engine put out 409 horses @ 6000 rpm. A hair more than 15,000 units sold that year. As the drag-strip wars heated up, Chevy brought out special aluminum front end Impalas. But there was no official racing going on, just some "off-road" and "fleet service" parts being sold over the counter.

Nineteen sixty-three brought a facelift to the grille and side panels with two chrome blocks on the fenders and a lower spear resting above the rear wheel well. The badges moved from above the bumper to behind the front wheel. The beautiful spinner hubcaps changed to a variation of the 1961 Impala model with the SS logo prominently displayed. New that year was the detuned 409 mill @ 340 horsepower. A 400 horse 409 existed midway through the range with solid lifters and the dual-quad 425-horsepower 409 had a lower 11:1 compression ratio.