The Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 division of General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 introduced for the 1958 model year

Model year

The model year of a product is a number used worldwide, but with a high level of prominence in North America, to describe approximately when a product was produced, and indicates the coinciding base specification of that product....

. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope

Impala

An impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...

, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United States, competing against the Ford Galaxie 500 and the Plymouth Fury

Plymouth Fury

The Plymouth Fury is an automobile which was produced by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1956 to 1978. The Fury was introduced as a premium-priced model designed to showcase the line, with the intent to draw consumers into showrooms....

 when full-size models dominated the market. The Impala was distinguished for many years by its symmetrical triple taillights.