Comedian and actor Tim Allen, is a well-known car enthusiast with an eclectic collection and a passion for American muscle. His collection includes an LS7-powered ’67 Camaro, hot-rodded Ford trucks, European sports cars and even a late-model CTS-V, among many others.
Back in 1996, he had to get his hands on Chevy’s full-sized bad boy; the Impala SS. For the final year of B-body production, Chevrolet made several changes to the Impala SS that would make the car almost perfect; gone were the inaccurate digital gauges and in their place went an analog cluster. The column shifter gave way to a floor-shifted column-mounted unit, too. Going out with a bang, Chevrolet pumped out over 41,000 of these LT1-powered behemoths for 1996 and as it turns out, Tim Allen picked up two of them.
Being the hot-rodder that he is, however, he couldn’t be content with the factory-installed iron-headed 260 hp LT1. So he had John Moss, General Motors’ in-house speed freak at the time, build him a pair of 454 hp LT5-equipped Impala SS.’ Combining attitude, luxury and performance, both cars featured unique touches inside and out, while the “Binford 6100” stroker LT5 is a anomaly all its own.
First the name, Binford, refers to the “hypothetical” tool manufacturer from Allen’s hit show, Home Improvement. The “6100” is the engine displacement in cubic centimeters. Backing the ZR-1 sourced powerplant is a built 4L60E. Equipped with additional displacement, stainless headers, cats and a catback exhaust, the B-body makes itself known to the SoCal locals. The suspension, brakes, wheels and tires were all upgraded, too, and help the complete the John Moss package.
The car made its debut at the 1996 SEMA Show, with Allen MIA. Looking to make up for his absence, he turned up at a dragstrip for Motor Trend TV to demonstrate the raw power of one of his Impalas. Watch what happened in the throwback video above!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
