Orlando Sentinel's view

No car I’ve test driven in the last year has elicited more unsolicited opinions than the new Chevrolet Caprice.

It seems everyone has something to say about the way the 1991 Caprice looks.

Young people point out the unmatched front and rear wheel openings, and they seem to think the styling is somewhere between silly and awkward.

Older people love the way it looks, and more than that, they are buying Caprices almost as fast as Chevy can build them.

Here are two actual quotes:

Older person: ”I can’t remember the last time I liked a Chevrolet. This is nice. It looks like a Mercedes-Benz.”

Younger person: ”Ooooh. The Caprice looks like a toon-car” – referring to a vehicle in the movie Roger Rabbit.

Regardless of how you feel about the rounded looks of the restyled Caprice, chances are you will like its ride, handling, fuel economy, interior and performance – all are great.

What’s more, the Caprice can be ordered to suit a variety of budgets and can be decked out to suit many tastes because Chevy has made available a bevy of options.

Let’s start with the interior. Someone from Chevrolet, it seems, paid a visit to a furniture store and jotted down notes. The seats front and rear are couch-like in comfort, style and appearance. When optional leather is ordered, the seats take on an Ethan Allen-like quality: traditional, elegant and stylish.

The test car sported red cloth seats that were large and firm, but they had no adjustable side or lower back supports. However, it isn’t likely you’ll be hot-rodding the Caprice, so you don’t notice. Even after several long trips, the seats still felt comfortable.

I have two complaints about the interior. The chrome portion of the seat belt buckle and the part that connects to it are in dire need of are design. There’s nothing wrong with the way they function. The problem is they attract and retain so much heat when the car is parked in the sun they can burn you. Several times the seat belt mechanism was too hot to handle, and I couldn’t buckle up. How something like this escaped Chevy engineers is beyond me.

The other complaint involves the door panels. With a big, solid car like the Caprice, you expect a hearty thud when you slam the door. But that’s not what you get. The door sounds light and flimsy when slammed. That may be caused by the large amount of plastic on the door panels.

You would think a car the size of the Caprice – nearly 18 feet long – would handle about as well as your average-size blimp. I found the Caprice, thanks to an optional $220 handling package, to have a firm, yet giving suspension. The Caprice will not be flustered when taking a sharp curve. There’s little body roll and no tire squeal when it is called upon for fast maneuvers. Road noise nearly is locked out of the interior.

Acceleration is a little on the lax side, but fuel economy for such a large car with a V-8 engine is excellent. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Caprice averages 17 miles per gallon in city driving and 26 mpg on the highway. The test car was within a mile or two of those figures. Another Caprice strong point is the car’s cruising range – about 300 miles per tank.

The Caprice is powered by a 305-cubic-inch V-8 that is connected to a four-speed overdrive automatic transmission. Like all Caprices before it – and unlike many of today’s full-size cars – the new Caprice remains a rear-wheel-drive vehicle. Other standard mechanical items include power anti-lock disc/drum brakes and power steering.

Even the base model Caprices come generously equipped:

Intermittent wipers

Air conditioning

Right and left mirrors

Cargo net in the trunk

Storage pockets in all doors.

Utilitarian is the best way to describe the old Caprice. That car, which stayed in production mostly unchanged for 10 years, served Chevrolet well. Mechanically, the new car is much the same.

Chevrolet thought the new Caprice would attract buyers who average about 60 years old, the age group it always appealed to. The new Caprice has not only retained that crowd but also attracted buyers about 10 years younger, says Chevrolet’s Ron Shannon.

Perhaps the smartest move Chevy has made with the new Caprice is to equip each one – regardless of price – with a driver’s side air bag and anti-lock brakes.

Since the Caprice was introduced in 1965 as an option on the Impala, Chevrolet has stamped out millions of Caprices. Until a few years ago, Chevy was building more than 250,000 Caprices annually.

The new model has gotten off to a fast start. If you are looking for an affordable, full-size, rear-wheel-drive American car that can haul six passengers safely and comfortably, the Caprice should top your list of potential candidates.