washingtonpost.com's view

The muses were dumbstruck. They withheld their inspiration, refusing to offer a word of praise for the 2000 Chevrolet Impala LS sedan.

I understood. I, too, had been prepared to scoff. At auto shows in Detroit and New York, the new Impala looked unimpressive. It was too Main Street, too predictable, or so it seemed in those venues, where it languished in valleys of glitzmobiles.

The shows ended. Time passed. There was a stirring along the roads where pre-production Impalas were taking test runs.

The new Impalas were winning applause. Readers who spotted them called from around the country. They liked the cars. “Have you driven one?,” they asked.

I called General Motors Corp.’s Chevrolet Division. Market-ready, 2000-model Impalas were beginning to roll off the company’s assembly lines in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. But I was in a rush to know. The company shipped a pre-production Impala LS.

The car was metallic silver with 16-inch, styled cast aluminum wheels. The front was wedgy with an aluminum band across the grille, the middle of which sported Chevrolet’s blue bow-tie insignia.

Inside was a mixture of charcoal and slate-gray panels and carpeting, and leather-faced seats.

The instrument panel was one of the best I’ve seen in any car in terms of presentation and ease of use. Everything was in its proper place, including the ignition switch and hazard-light button, located to the right of the steering wheel and mounted on the dashboard, where God intended them to be.

I sat in the driver’s seat. It was more comfortable than that of a Volvo S80 sedan, or a Lexus LS 400. But I figured that this first impression of seat comfort would disappear quickly on a long drive. I was wrong.

I drove 100 miles on the first run. The bucket driver’s seat, which Chevrolet officials said was one of the most painstakingly developed in the car division’s history, pampered my back and bottom. I did not want to get up. I wanted to keep driving.

There is a point, an epiphanic spot in a road trip, when you feel a car’s goodness or mediocrity. In the new Impala, it was a hallelujah moment.

The car was everything that once made Chevrolet great, the unquestioned leader in America’s automotive consumer preference. It was much more car than anyone could expect for the money–from about $19,300 to $25,000, depending on model and equipment chosen.

It was solidly built, thoughtful and commodious in its accommodations, attractive in a mainstream sort of way. And it was engineered to outrun many of its more pricey rivals for a long, long time.

Mere mortals, particularly those who grew up laughing at or ignoring Chevrolet, will find this difficult to believe. Certainly, my muses did. They refused to cooperate; so, I fired them and hired a new, more open-minded bunch.

The first group made a mistake. You should avoid making the same error. If you are looking for a quality full-size sedan, you’d be wise to put the 2000 Chevrolet Impala LS on y our shopping list. Seriously.

2000 Chevrolet Impala LS

Complaints: The new Impala is front-wheel-drive, which means that it is vulnerable to torque steer–the tendency of the car to veer slightly to one side when power is applied. This happened occasionally in the preproduction test model. Here’s hoping that GM can find a fix in the production run.

Praise: Impalas were first brought to market in 1958. Some 13 million Chevy cars have been sold under the Impala name since then. Here’s betting that the latest edition will become a best seller, too.

Head-turning quotient: Looks better on the road than it did in the shows, where it was surrounded by the fancy, high and mighty. The road has a more democratic face, which allows the clean-lined Impala to stand out.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces, occasional torque steer notwithstanding. This car is a joy to drive. Superior braking, largely thanks to extra-large, four-wheel power disc brakes with s tandard ant ilock backup.

Engines: The base Impala gets GM’s 3.4-liter, 180-horsepower V6. The tested, upscale Impala LS gets GM’s 3800 (3.8-liter) Series II V6 designed to produce 200 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 225 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. Both engines are mated to a standard, electronically controlled, four-speed automatic transmission.

Capacities: Can sit up to six adults, depending on front seats chosen. Trunk holds 17.6 cubic feet of cargo. Fuel tank carries 17 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: About 25 miles per gallon in mostly highway driving in the test car. About 410-mile range on usable volume of fuel.

Safety: Optional side air bags offered. Depowered front air bags standard. Numerous other safety features.

Price: Base price on the tested Impala LS is $22,366. Dealer invoice price on that model is $20,464. Price as tested is $24,316, including $1,390 for leather-faced seats and a $560 destination charge.

Purse-strings note: It’s a buy. Compare with Toyota Avalon, Acura 3.2 TL sedan, Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis, Chrysler Concorde/Dodge Intrepid.