1991 Chevrolet Caprice - Shamu

We find it hard to believe that as long as we've been doing this blog we've yet to blog about a 1991 vintage Chevrolet Carprice. We have blogged about the car this car technically sired, a 1994-1996 Impala, but we feel as though there's enough different between this car and the Impala to warrant a separate blog. Today we're crossing our 1991 Chevrolet "B body" omission off our to do list and step back in time to when Chevrolet broke a lot of GM "B body" loving hearts, including ours, with literally a whale of a sedan that was nicknamed, "Shamu". "B body" was GM vernacular for "full size car" from 1926-1996.

Nicknamed after "Shamu" the killer whale because of its whale-like design not to mention proportions, the 1991 Chevrolet Caprice was as much a break from convention as several seminal Chevrolet designs; most notably 1949, 1955 and 1977 Chevrolet's. However, despite standard anti-lock brakes and a driver's side airbag, the 1991 Chevrolet Caprice sorely missed its mark with its target buyers. Those buyers being lovers of conventionally large, rear wheel drive, V-8 powered body on frame automobiles. Don't mistake breaking from convention with being necessarily seminal or automatically successful.

Years ago when we first heard that Chevrolet was going to significantly upsize their B Body Caprice, we were giddy with anticipation. Suddenly, it was the fall of 1948 or 1954 and we couldn't wait to get a peak of what our favorite automobile division was going to come up with. Especially since it was going to be bigger. We had heard that it was going to be dramatically aerodynamic and since we loved what they did with the Lumina coupe, not the sedan, we had good reason to believe that the 1991 Caprice was going to be something else. We were miffed but not dismayed that there were no plans for a coupe but Chevrolet hadn't built a two door "B" since 1985 so we did our best to see past it.

Then we saw this. This misshapen blob of what-the-hell-are-they-doing? To say we were crestfallen  is an understatement. More like crushingly disappointed. Despite the fact that it's only two inches longer and wider than a fairly lean and mean 1990 "box" Caprice, the '91 Caprice's bulbous design made it appear infinitely ginormous in comparison. Yes, we love a big car but size, obviously doesn't always matter and just like "we don't love all old cars just because they're old", we don't love all big cars just because they're big. Maybe it was the pseudo rear fender skirts or that soaring C pillar that made this car so huge looking. Who knows but only this thing could make us wax nostalgic for the very long in the tooth design it replaced. 

Despite plunging retail sales, Chevrolet built this beast through 1996 making some tweaks, some major some minor, to its styling along the way. For 1993 the built-in fender skirts were gone and, surprise, instead of making it look like a clone of a 1992 Ford Crown Victoria, it made the car look even uglier because the newly opened rear wheel wells didn't fit well over the rear wheels. Somehow, though, the abridged 1993 redesign worked quite well as the basis for one of our favorite cars of all time, the 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS.



Shamu was a captive killer whale (orca) which appeared in shows at SeaWorld San Diego in the mid to late 1960's. After her death in 1971, the name Shami continued to be used in SeaWorld "Shamu" orca shows for different whatles in different SeaWorld parks.