Image via The CW
Published Feb 7, 2026, 3:12 PM EST
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features and reviews, and has interviewed the cast and crew of Dark Winds. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His first work of self-published fiction – The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain – became a #1 Best Seller in "Religious Fiction Short Stories" on Amazon in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
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Is there a more important vehicle in all of genre television than the '67 Chevy Impala driven by Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) on Supernatural? The muscle car, often called the "Metallicar" or "Baby" by fans, was bought used by the brothers' father back in the early '70s, and ever since, it has become a staple of the Winchester household.
But Sam and Dean's wheels are more important beyond just being their surrogate home while on the open road. In fact, the Impala is called "the most important object in pretty much the whole universe" by Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict), aka the God of Supernatural's world, as early as the fifth season. But it wouldn't be for over another decade before the alternate universe spin-off series, The Winchesters, would prove just how true that was.
'Supernatural's "Swan Song" First Made the Impala Important
Back in the Season 5 finale, "Swan Song," which effectively concluded series creator Eric Kripke's initial vision for the Supernatural story, Chuck narrates the showdown between Dean, Sam, Lucifer, and Michael (Jake Abel). With the Apocalypse of the Book of Revelation in view, Chuck notes the Impala's importance in the story and explains that its role in saving the cosmos goes far beyond just being a vehicle from one monster-of-the-week to another. In fact, when Lucifer (possessing Sam) is beating mercilessly on Dean after Michael is banished from the Stull Cemetery battlefield, it's the Impala that saves the day. Having pinned Dean up against the car, Lucifer stops mid-punch after Sam's reflection appears on the delicate sheen. When Sam's reflection locks eyes with his face, the younger Winchester can reclaim possession of his body.
Because of this, Chuck explains that the Impala — which represents the Winchester brothers' life together on the road from the time they were children until the present — is the only thing that could've stopped the Devil, who couldn't care less about the sort of car that Sam and Dean drive. And yet, it's this car that proves Satan's undoing. Once Sam reclaims his body, he jumps (with Michael in tow) into Lucifer's Cage in Hell, and Dean lies broken, having lost his brother seemingly forever. Considering Supernatural ran another decade, the Winchesters' story obviously didn't end there. Sam returned from the grave, and the brothers continued to drive around the nation to prevent apocalypse after apocalypse, until Chuck turned out to be the real villain after all. Setting his sights on the entire multiverse, Chuck decides to annihilate the cosmos and start again anew, until he's defeated by the Winchesters in Season 15's (and the series') penultimate episode, "Inherit the Earth."
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'The Winchesters' Followed Up on Impala's Destiny Years Later
Though Sam and Dean manage to defeat Chuck, they don't fully understand the entire scope of the deity's plan. After Dean's death in the series finale, "Carry On," he takes a ride through the afterlife in a heavenly version of his beloved Impala, and it's then that he discovers that Chuck hadn't been defeated after all. It turns out, Chuck created the Akrida, a locust-like sort of monster, a la Revelation, that feed on other universes. Rather than risk the happiness that Sam had found on Earth, Dean pulls Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) into his plan to guide another universe's John Winchester (Drake Rodger) and Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly), his parents, into stopping this malevolent force. Unfortunately, nothing from The Winchesters' universe can stop them.
But the Impala that Dean drives isn't from John and Mary's world, and that's what gives it an edge. After the Monster Club summons the vehicle in their search for Dean, who they discover has been mysteriously aiding them in their quest, Mary uses it to run over and kill the Akrida Queen, posing as Joan Hopkins (Kelly Sullivan). Granted, this Impala is technically from Heaven and not from Earth, though it's still made up of the same stuff that made the original great. Ending the threat forever, Mary also inadvertently rescues Dean from the otherworldly prison that Joan had placed him in. He explains that he traveled to this alternate world to stop the Akrida threat from spreading. Dean was worried that, in following Chuck's design, the Akrida would find their way to the Supernatural world, where Sam would be put in danger. Already dead himself, Dean opted to face this threat alone, but was happy to receive help from John and Mary, who proved themselves as invaluable as his own parents.
In the end, Chuck was right about Sam and Dean's famous set of wheels. The first time, the Impala saved the world from being destroyed by the biblical apocalypse, but, at the very end (so far) of the Supernatural saga, the Metallicar proved itself invaluable in protecting not just one world, but the entire multiverse as well. Be it on Supernatural or The Winchesters, there's no vehicle quite like the Winchester brothers' trademark Impala, and no other car that's saved so many worlds.
Release Date 2005 - 2020
Network The WB, The CW
Showrunner Eric Kripke
Writers Meredith Glynn, Davy Perez, Raelle Tucker, Cathryn Humphris, Brett Matthews, Nancy Won, John Bring, Ben Acker, Daniel Knauf, David Ehrman, James Krieg, Trey Callaway
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Jensen Ackles
Dean Winchester
English (US) ·