1973 Chevy Impala: Kramer's Ass Man Car from Seinfeld

Seinfeld is my favorite comedy show in the 90's and I still watch it on reruns today.  Although a sitcom largely in and around the city of New York where there are plenty of public mass transport available, Jerry and his friends use their automobiles from time to time.

One funny episode involves Kramer's green 1973 Chevy Impala as he was mistakenly given the vanity plate, "ASS MAN".  Actually the official episode name is "The Fusilli".  I like the scene where Kramer parked in a doctor's parking spot and pointed to the license plate as a garage attendant was about to ask him to leave.  "Kosmo Kramer, proctologist," he said to the attendant and everything was cool.  Subsequent scene in the streets had people hooting and hollering at him, "Hey Ass Man!"


We also see Kramer's Impala in other episodes in minor roles.  The two I recall are 1) "The Parking Garage" when Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer got stuck for hours looking for Kramer's car in a mall parking lot because they forgot where they parked it.  The Impala was not seen until the very end.  And 2) when Kramer adopted a stretch of highway and attempted to reconstruct it by painting new divider lines.  He clogged up traffic as he moved slowly while painting the lines using the Impala.

There is another Impala entry in this blog, a 1967 Chevrolet Impala from Supernatural driven by Dean Winchester.  Dean's car is black and shiny.  Gets dirty from time to time, but it is usually clean and taken care of.  Kramer's car is cut-and-dry, everyday looking.  Looks no different from any regular family car from the 70's.  Perhaps the difference show the personality between the two owners, or at least their attitude towards their cars.  Dean, being passionate about his car (and his trade, which is to hunt supernatural beings).  While, Kramer, a slacker of sorts, gets passionate about a few things, but not for the long haul.  He likes to dream though, most times of whacky stuff.

Photos of 1973 Chevrolet Impala

What's there to be said about the Chevrolet Impala?  It's GM's luxury car for the masses.  One of their more successful nameplates.  Of course, that's Wikipedia talking.  I grew up during a time and in a neighborhood when family cars were Toyotas and Hondas.  Eventually, my mom drove a Buick Regal that I borrowed from time to time.  Point is, I never thought of the Chevy Impala as a luxury car.  I do see it as a rock 'n' roll muscle car as Dean Winchester would have it.