Cars We Remember/Collector Car Corner; Al Capone’s Cadillac Goes to Congress and Chevy Impala SS Memories

By Greg Zyla —

Few collector car fans remember how the nation’s top gangster, Al Capone, helped our president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on his way to give his historic address to Congress following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

It turns out that there was a law in effect that the government couldn’t spend more than $750 for a car, not even the president’s. Fearing some type of retribution against President Roosevelt, the U.S. Secret Service faced an urgent predicament: how to safely transport President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Capitol to deliver his historic “Day of Infamy” speech.

It turns out the president’s usual limousine, his beloved 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible known as the “Sunshine Special,” was not armored. This was a critical concern considering the nation was now just minutes away from officially being at war.

To even think about buying a new, armored car overnight was impossible. However, that’s when some quick thinking by a Secret Service agent saved the day.

Specifically, one of FDR’s assigned Secret Service agents named Michael Reilly, an agent who served as chief of the White House detail, remembered the needed armored car was already in the government’s possession. It was none other than Al Capone’s 1928 Cadillac 341A Town Sedan, seized years earlier by the Treasury Department during Capone’s ill-fated tax evasion case.

Capone’s car was built with some 3,000 pounds of armor, inch-thick bulletproof glass, a police scanner, and even hidden sirens and flashing lights behind the grille, all designed to mimic a Chicago police car. Mechanics worked late into the night of Dec. 7 to ensure the Cadillac was road-ready for the Commander in Chief’s use.

Thus, on Dec. 8, 1941, President Roosevelt rode in Capone’s car to deliver one of the most important speeches in American history. The vehicle performed flawlessly, and Roosevelt reportedly continued using it until his own car could be retrofitted with similar protective features.

In perhaps Roosevelt’s only unwise decision during this crucial beginning of WWII, he decided to basically round up all the American Japanese citizens and have them interred in wartime camps, fearing retaliation against the President. It never happened and is still regarded as Roosevelt’s biggest “wrong decision.”

Overall, a president and a mobster’s bulletproof car made for the beginning of a new era in presidential car security. From that point on, presidential cars were built with many bulletproof features that, to this day, are highlighted in the current presidential limo that I’ve written about before.

Chevy’s historic Impala SS

I am happy to answer reader questions on the Impala SS, and more so the history of the Impala SS overall. Up until 2015, Chevrolet kept bringing back the rear-drive icon muscle car for everyone to enjoy, most notably the 2014 and 2015 Impala SS that are still popular with collectors.

We’ll start with the first-generation Impala SS, which ran from 1961 to 1969.

The very first Impala SS arrived in 1961, when Chevy offered either a 348 V8 or, later that year, the very first 409 (the latter of which just 142 were built). I remember clearly seeing it with my own eyes as it sped away from a stoplight. This two-door “bubble-top” started the Impala SS craze, and some look at it as the first true muscle car. (I disagree, of course, but that’s for another day).

In 1962, you could order an Impala SS with a 283, 327 or a 409. Over 100,000 were sold, although only 15,000 came with the 409. In 1963, the same engines were again offered, but at mid-year, a special option code Z-11 found a 427 W-head engine with 430 horses sitting under the hood. Overall, sales boomed to over 153,000.

In 1964, the SS offered the same engines sans the Z-11, which would soon be replaced by a 396. Sales continued upward, as 185,000 SS coupes and convertibles were sold. In 1965, things really changed as the 283 engine was dropped, a new body style was introduced, and you could order a 327, 409 or the new, powerful 396 with up to 425 horses under the hood (Corvette engine L78 option). Sales crept up again, with 239,000 SS Impalas sold.

With the new mid-size Chevelle headlining Chevy muscle cars for 1966, the Impala SS became an afterthought as sales dropped to 119,000, even with an SS427 available. Ditto in 1967 through 1969, as sales dropped to 75,000, then 38,000 and a final 17,000 in 1969. It spelled the end of the line for the Impala SS; until, of course, 1994!

Armed with models featuring Corvette LT1 engines and rear drive platforms, General Motors decided to revive the Impala SS in 1994, thanks to Chevy utilizing high performance engines and suspensions in its police option Caprice style four door.

Chevy lowered the body a few inches and installed the hot LT1 Corvette engine, detuned a bit and used in Trans Am and Camaro models that year.

Although sales numbers were low overall, this popular Impala SS model lasted until 1996 and came with special suspension, wheels, and the Caprice “9C1” police package as its main drawing point. Thanks to the performance of this Corvette-designed LT1, which was rated at 260 in the SS and 275 in Trans Am and Camaro, and the specially tuned suspension coupled to a 4L60 automatic, the result was an amazingly fast and great looking SS and the first ever four-door. The sales results were 6,303 in the shortened 1994 model year, then 21,434 in 1995 up to the final year 41,941 units sold.

Only a few colors were available (black, dark green, or dark cherry) this Impala SS is a collectible vehicle, and considering all factors, should increase in value in the future. Current NADA lists the car at a low retail of $6,500 to a high retail of near $15,000.

While the Impala continued until 2020, the SS variant did not return in the tenth generation. The 1994–1996 Impala SS, based on the Caprice, remains the most iconic modern version, known for its rear-wheel drive and Corvette-derived LT1 V8.

The last Chevrolet Impala SS was available in the 2009 model year. It was part of the ninth-generation Impala (2006–2016).

The 2009 Impala SS featured a 5.3-liter LS4 V8 engine, producing 303 horsepower.

The SS trim was discontinued after 2009, marking the end of the Impala SS nameplate in modern production. The 2009 version was built in Australia.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader input on collector cars, auto nostalgia, and motor racing at extramile_2000@yahoo.com.)