Chevrolet sold more Impalas in 2005 than any other domestic nameplate, making it the third best-selling car in the country after the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. But, what GM fails to mention is that a gigantic chunk of those Impalas became rental cars, taxi cabs, free rides for traveling salespeople and government flunkies, and undercover cop cars for plain-clothes detectives. Very few consumers like you actually parked one in a suburban driveway, unlike the hundreds of thousands of Accords and Camrys that blanket master-planned communities from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. Those are almost exclusively purchased by people like you, people looking for attractive, dependable, daily transportation for years to come. Impalas are usually bought using corporate or government budgets by bean counters looking for the lowest price.

That’s changing for 2006, or at least it should, because Chevrolet took that awful contraption from last year and gave it the equivalent of an Extreme Makeover: Car Edition. Know how buyers of old homes will rip the thing down to the studs and rebuild without bulldozing the entire structure? That’s what Chevy did with the 2006 Impala, instituting a highway beautification program in the process. The rebuilt Impala might share fundamental bits and pieces with the car that’s been haunting Avis and National rental lots since 2000, but this version is so much improved that plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills are green with envy.

Well, not really. Impalas seen in Beverly Hills still come from Avis or National. But in the rest of the country, this newly refined ride is selling at a brisk clip, and General Motors is wisely limiting both production and fleet sales in an effort to keep transaction prices high by matching supply with demand for the car. That will translate to better resale values, a perception of greater desirability, and might make us all forget about the ogre born at the start of the 21st century.

Chevy offers the 2006 Impala in four flavors: LS, LT, LTZ, and SS. All but the V8-equipped Impala SS get a V6 engine, displacing 3.5 liters and making 211 horsepower in the LS and LT, or 3.9 liters and cranking out 242 horsepower in the LT and LTZ. A four-speed automatic transmission puts the power to the pavement through the front wheels, and the Impala gets a four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel-disc brakes, power rack-and-pinion steering, and a choice between 16- or 17-inch wheels. Pretty standard stuff, this.

Side curtain airbags and OnStar telematics are included on every 2006 Chevrolet Impala, and antilock brakes are optional on Impalas with the 3.5-liter V6 but standard on models with the 3.9-liter V6. Traction control is also available, but don’t look for a stability control system on this family sedan, because there isn’t one. But, the Impala LS does come with air conditioning, power windows, power door locks with keyless entry, power mirrors, cruise control, a tilt steering wheel, an eight-way power driver’s seat, and a CD player.

Choose the LT model and you add remote engine starting, dual-zone manual climate control, floor mats, a compass, and an outside temperature display. Upsize your V6 engine to the 3.9-liter mill, and the Impala LT also comes with traction control, ABS, a tire pressure monitor, bucket seats with a center console, a folding rear seat, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with auxiliary controls, illuminated visor mirrors, fog lights, 17-inch alloy wheels, and a rear spoiler. Finally, there’s the top-shelf trim, the LTZ, with all these features plus leather upholstery, heated front seats, heated side mirrors, satellite radio, a Bose audio system, a six-way power front passenger’s seat, and a programmable transmitter.

For this test drive, we selected a 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ with all the fixin’s. Base price was an extremely reasonable $26,490 including the $660 destination charge, to which a six-disc in-dash CD changer was added for a final sticker of $26,785. Our test car did not have the optional power sunroof, which would have run another $900. We cruised around southern California for a week, averaging 21 mpg, and came away from the drive impressed with what GM has done here. But we still think the price needs to come down even more before the general consumer will consider this Chevy over an equivalent Honda, Nissan, or Toyota.