Auto enthusiasts who cut their teeth on customizing cars in the late ‘80s and ‘90s were encouraged by both peers and industry leaders to ‘Dare to be Different!’ As that generation is now able to obtain their decades-old automotive dreams, we’re seeing proof they’ve taken that mantra to heart, paving their own path to performance and not following the herd. A perfect example is Bill Tataryn’s 1991 Caprice Classic wagon. While Chevrolet never built a long-roof “Super Sport” variant of the Caprice, Bill’s rad ride shows us they should have!

It’s easy to look at Bill’s wagon and see why many performance enthusiasts might gravitate to an SS-variant with copious amounts of storage area. Another of the Big Three auto manufacturers made a killing just under a decade later by selling the equivalent of such a beast, but I digress. In Bill’s case, it took a lot of vision to make that dream come true using early ‘90s metal.

Bill’s Caprice wagon was one of the first to roll off the assembly line with the updated body lines for GM’s B-body platform. And, it wasn’t until 1992, a year after Bill’s ride hit the streets, that GM’s own Jon Moss introduced the Impala SS prototype at the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The four-door SS variant would then be produced by Chevy from 1994 through 1996.

Even though Bill’s car rolled off the line in ’91, the car’s transformation didn’t begin until after he purchased it in September of 1993. The car piqued his interest, as he said, “I’d never seen such a huge car like this in my entire life.” The car made a lasting impact on Bill, and it wasn’t long before his wife fell in love with the roominess of the car’s interior.

Bill has added some additional gauges to keep tabs on his higher-performing engine. He also added a performance shifter and a steering wheel that was found in several offerings that wore a Bowtie in the mid-seventies.

Bill had his share of muscle cars over the years, and no one in their right mind would accuse a lowly, 170 horsepower, utilitarian-as-they-come, daily cruiser of being a muscle car. While the lion’s share of street cred typically goes to Camaros, Chevelles, Novas, and the like, Bill was dared to think differently years ago. He felt the car was destined to be a “classic” in more than name only, and soon set out to create a high-capacity Caprice that would haul in more ways than one.

Building The Caprice SS Wagon

Bill began assembling ideas about what changes would bring out the “inner SS” of his Caprice wagon. He drove the car for a couple of summers as he formulated a plan for building the world’s only Chevy Caprice SS wagon. He attended shows and gleaned ideas as he walked the miles of aisles, finding what looked appealing from the few wagons he could find.

The transformation started in the end — the rearend to be exact. Bill installed a 10-bolt rear with Strange 3:73 gears and beefed up the four-speed auto transmission for street/strip duty. It wasn’t long before he started looking at the car’s anemic 305 cubic-inch engine, wrenches in hand. As we know, all the bolt holes are the same on a Chevy small-block, so a new Chevrolet Performance crate engine soon found its way under the hood. Bill also treated the new V8 to a performance chip from Motorvation, which Bill reports woke up the new engine to the tune of 375 horsepower.

There needed to be some flash to go with the Caprice SS wagon’s bang, so Bill sent the car to the paint booth for a fresh coat of Flame Red Metallic paint. Afterward, the Caprice got inducted into the Super-Sport fraternity with a set of SS badges on the exterior. He also had the interior updated by San Antonio, Texas’ Jerry Vincent, who created new seat covers bearing the SS branding as well.

Some wider aluminum wheels and complementing rubber on all four corners give Bill’s ride a nice, performance-centered stance without losing any of the utilitarian comfort afforded by the elongated roofline. Complementing the chrome trim and tinted glass to the back, the wheels add some flare without being overstated. With just a few well-planned upgrades, Bill has transformed this once stoic ride into a well-performing, spacious looker that is ready to take on any highway miles or payload Bill has in mind.

Bill now relegates his cruising in the Caprice SS wagon to those few summer months in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As you can imagine, not many cars from this era survived the elements above our northern border. Bill reports that his Caprice wagon is the only one he’s seen in Winnipeg, so as you can imagine, that makes it a real head-turner when he has it out. Which is as often as possible, thanks to his town having a thriving car culture with a cruise faithfully every Sunday evening.

Bill is only the second owner of the car and it appears that is not going to change any time soon. To preserve the car from the salt and snow, the world’s only Caprice SS wagon is stored during the winter, but always willing to hit the open road once the snow clears.

Let’s See Your Chevy!

We love to see and share other hardcore enthusiast’s rides, whether in the build process, finished, or if you’re simply enjoying them in their current state. We only need a few photos and some information about you and your Chevy. That said, the more information and images you submit, the more we can show (and talk about) your car to the rest of our readers.

We look forward to seeing what you are doing to keep the Chevy Hardcore lifestyle alive. If you want to see more cars built and owned by our readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all the pertinent information, so we can include it in our Reader’s Ride section. And don’t forget, if we use your car in our Reader’s Ride section this year, we’ll send you a FREE Chevy Hardcore T-shirt! You can send your submissions to [email protected].