Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher has won the NHRA Top Fuel World Championship seven times and has amassed an astonishing 72 NHRA National Event career wins. Since he holds the NHRA world record for the fastest pass down the quarter-mile at 337.58 mph, one could easily say that he is a hands-on expert in both acceleration and deceleration.
The Sarge is a true muscle car guy and makes occasional visits to Midwest Muscle Cars in Lake Zurich, Illinois, to check in with owner Matt Renz. He just happened to stop in while we were doing the brakes and suspension work on the MaliBeater. After a good look at our 1967 Malibu project car, the Sarge agreed to pose with the MaliBeater, giving it a big thumbs-up.
Not everyone is completely thumbs-up on the MaliBeater. Though resplendently dull and weathered in its original paint, “make it shiny” leads the polls among those who notice the car. I genuinely suspect that one day, Midwest Muscle Car’s own Corvette guru Vic D’Augostino is going to sneak in and buff the car while I’m not looking. Not to worry, the priority is to make the car both safe and reliable for the road.
The small-block power also leaves some unimpressed. Though a big-block motor will someday power the MaliBeater, horsepower gluttons have questioned the anemic 1966 327/350-horse L79 powerplant we’ve chosen for this stage of the buildup.
All that said, we should not have been surprised that our plan to rebuild the drum brakes and stock front suspension drew mixed reviews. Somewhat jaded by the Boeing 747 brakes found on Pro Touring cars, a number of enthusiasts would say that a driver is taking his life in his hands if a muscle car is not packing tubular control arms and four-wheel disc brakes.
Most of my old cars have done just fine with drum brakes, thank you very much. My ’65 LeMans, ’72 LeMans, ’65 GTO, ’68 Mustang, ’69 AMX, ’71 factory fabric sunroof Gremlin (yes, it was cool), ’65 Mustang, ’65 Nova SS, and all my old Mopars had drum brakes.
In fact, a panic stop in the middle of an intersection with my drum brake–equipped ’72 LeMans amazed me with its stopping power. Bottom line, if you get them working well, the factory stuff will be adequate for most driving situations. More importantly, the authentic experience of the car is retained. Though one could get persnickety and point out a few inherent shortcomings, these cars are a lot of fun when their original parts are working properly.
Did I mention that the MaliBeater will retain its manual steering? It’s cool to keep them original. You will notice that most parts were not restored to mint condition. That time will come, but until then, the MaliBeater will be presented as an “as-found” time capsule. All work was handled by Matt Renz and his stellar crew at Midwest Muscle Cars.
