page_title: Chevrolet Caprice
section_title: Fourth generation (1991–1996)
hierarchical_section_title: Chevrolet Caprice / Fourth generation (1991–1996)
caption_attribution_description: 1994 Chevrolet Caprice photographed in Fort Washington, Maryland, USA.
context_page_description: The Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by Chevrolet in North America for the 1965 to 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular American car in the sixties and early seventies, which, during its lifetime, included the Biscayne, Bel Air, and Impala.
  Introduced in mid-1965 as a luxury trim package for the Impala four-door hardtop, Chevrolet offered a full line of Caprice models for the 1966 and subsequent model years, including a "formal hardtop" coupe and an Estate station wagon. The 1971 to 1976 models are the largest Chevrolets ever built. The downsized 1977 and restyled 1991 models were awarded Motor Trend Car of the Year. Production ended in 1996.
  From 2011 to 2017, the Caprice nameplate returned to North America as a full-size, rear wheel drive police vehicle, a captive import from Australia built by General Motors's subsidiary Holden—the police vehicle is a rebadged version of the Holden WM/WN Caprice.
context_section_description: The 1991 model was introduced in the fall of 1990 and was completely restyled—it replaced the 1977-based rectilinear design with rounded, more aerodynamic sheetmetal. General Motors initially decided in 1980 to eliminate production of the former generation model by 1989 for the 1990 model year, but a business decision in 1985 to plan an exterior redesign gave a further continuation and this generation's fiberglass prototype model was first shown in April 1987 to stock market analysis. While the body and interior were all new, the chassis and powertrain were largely carried over from the 1977 and 1990 models respectively; the steel fuel tank was replaced by a HDPE tank (with capacity on sedans decreasing from 25 US gallons (95 L) to 23 US gallons (87 L)), and anti-lock brakes were added as standard equipment on all models. Several major components (including the floor pan) are entirely interchangeable between 1977 and 1996, merely having a reskinned body on an already dated body-on-frame platform introduced in 1977. Much of the engine availability was carried over from the previous generation, which included for all models the 5.0 L L03 V8. A 5.7L L05 V8 was also carried over; it was originally only available on 1991 and 1992 9C1 Police package models, but finally made generally available to the general public on the 1993 Caprice LTZ.
  Motor Trend awarded the new Caprice Classic Domestic Car of the Year 1991. Two trim levels were initially offered—Caprice and Caprice Classic, replacing the previous Classic and Brougham models. General Motors had hoped to regain the top spot as America's favorite automobile with the new aerodynamic styling of their full-size offering.
  However, the final B-body Caprice was not well received by critics and did not hold on to high annual sales numbers as initially anticipated, with roughly half from fleet sales. The car's styling was criticized with car aficionados calling it a "beached whale" and "an upside-down bathtub". For 1993 there were some revisions, the most obvious being the removal of the unpopular skirted rear wheel wells in favor of more conventional, open wheel wells. This applied only to the sedan model; station wagons retained the skirted wheel wells. A final appearance tweak facelift appeared on the 1995 Caprice sedan in the form of a restyled side window between the back door and C pillar (windows on Caprices of the generation through 1994 were triangular, but the 1995 window had a so-called "Hofmeister kink", featuring four sides and sweeping towards the front, lacking the sharp corner pointed toward the rear), and the wagon was given the same mirrors as the sedan. In 1995 and 1996 the Impala SS was exported to Middle Eastern markets badged as the Caprice SS, with the car being identical to its American counterpart except for the side fonts on the rear quarter panel and the badge on the dashboard saying Caprice SS.
  In 1994 the Caprice received new engines, including an optional mildly detuned version of the Corvette's LT1 350 cu in (5.7 L) engine built for performance that put out 260 hp (194 kW) and 330 lb·ft (447 N·m) of torque on 87 octane. The standard engine in all sedans, including 9C1 police cars, was the 200 hp (150 kW), L99 263 (4.3 L) V8 for better fuel economy in response to rising fuel prices after the Persian Gulf War. The LT1 was optional in the 9C1 police package and standard in all wagons. The LT1 350 was standard in civilian sedans with the addition of the V92 towing package. The V92 towing package also gave a heavy duty suspension with similar spring rates to the 9C1 police car suspension, 2.93 gears, V08 heavy duty cooling with a mechanical fan, heavy duty rear drum brakes and limited-slip differential. The 1994 Caprice's interior had a redesign which featured a Camaro steering wheel, digital speedometer and a new instrument panel.
  The Caprice 9C1 with the LT1 engine became one of the quickest and most popular modern day police vehicles. This vehicle established such strong devotion by many police departments that a cottage industry thrived in refurbishing
caption: 1993 facelift Caprice sedan
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