The Car of Tomorrow racecar concept, to which all manufacturers must conform, was designed with several new safety features. Inside the Impala SS the driver has been moved four inches to the right to be closer to the centre of the vehicle while the roof is two inches higher and the cockpit is four inches wider. Double roll bars have been added to the driver's side and outside roll bars are steel plated to help prevent intrusion to the Impala SS upon impact. Other improvements include a mandatory steel floorboard underneath the driver, energy management materials installed in door panels to reduce impact and an enclosed 360-degree steel containment tunnel for the driveshaft to prevent the possibility of flying metal if disengaged.
New developments to the aerodynamics of the Impala SS Car of Tomorrow include the addition of a rear wing, the installation of a front splitter and the lowering of the back bumper by three inches. Other advancements consist of reduced offsets in the Impala SS body, less front overhang and a higher, wider, blunter body shape. When applied to the Impala SS these modifications result in up to 30 to 40 percent less downforce, more drag and less side force, which NASCAR believes will ultimately produce, improved competition on the racetrack.
In addition to aerodynamic and safety benefits, the Car of Tomorrow promises to decrease costs. The Car of Tomorrow will be easier to build and will eventually be tunable for all the tracks on the Nextel Cup circuit, thereby eliminating the need for specialised cars for different tracks.
GM Racing engineers have played an integral role in the creation of the Car
of Tomorrow since the early stages of its development. Working closely with NASCAR, GM Racing engineers assisted with the safety and aerodynamic changes as well as recommendations on the wing and splitter based on findings from extensive wind tunnel and on-track testing. GM also enlisted the help of its design studio, which allowed for greater input on design cues so that the Impala SS on the racetrack more closely resembles the Impala SS production vehicle.
The Impala nameplate is no stranger to NASCAR competition or racing success. Chevrolet introduced the Impala in 1957 as a 1958 model and drivers immediately took to the big car, racing it first on the beach at
Daytona, then at Daytona International Speedway in 1959. Redesigned that year, Bob Welborn scored a victory with the new model for the qualifying race of the 1959 Daytona 500, the first 500 at the Speedway. Success continued for Impala with consecutive NASCAR championship titles in 1960 (Rex White) and again in 1961 (Ned Jarrett). In 1963, stock-car legend Junior Johnson ran 32 races of the 55-race schedule in the famous white #3 Impala owned by Ray Fox and collected seven wins, 12 top-fives, 13 top-tens and nine poles.
![Chevrolet's Impala Car of Tomorrow decked out in Lowe's colours [pic credit: GM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/278590.jpg)
