Other than some of the weirder examples of the street freak genre and cool off-shoots like Magnante’s altered wheelbase Fairmont, the idea of stuffing a straight axle under a car built after the last 1960s is pretty foreign to most people. There is certainly no handling benefit because if there was, companies like RideTech would be all over it. There isn’t even any real benefit to doing it at the drag strip either with the popularity and engineering of modern drag suspension components. That being said, someone did it and their creation is for sale on eBay right now for you to own. Is this thing good or bad? It has a 454 under the hood, is in running and driving condition, and if you believe the photos, it can lay down some train tracks when it wants to.
The front axle is a tube style setup and it is obviously running as a spring under arrangement because if it were spring over, the thing would have the ride height of a school bus up front and look totally hokey. The stance as it is right now is just weird enough to get people’s attention and we’re sure that lots of people would expect to see some sort of spring spacer or whatnot under there before actually taking a peek below the nose and crapping their pants. While it is usually foolhardy to call hot rods “one of one” type things, there cannot be more than a handful of 1979 Malibu coupes in the country with a freaking straight axle under them, right?
The iron headed 454 Chevy looks pretty basic with a set of headers and an intake manifold along with a performance ignition installed. The car has a Turbo 400 transmission backing the fat block, power steering, front disc brakes, and a roll bar that began life as a six point but is now as four as the down tubes have been chopped off, likely to aid entry and egress as this is a mostly street driven car now. That inference in the ad makes it sound like it was once a drag car, which would make a little (and we mean a LITTLE) sense.
So the big question here centers around what you think of this build. It is different, weird, creative, and probably handles like a Mack truck but there is something appealing about it to us. Make you own judgements on the stuff holding it together but in general, what is your feeling in this type of car. Hate it a little? Love it a little? Hate it bad? Love it lots?
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE EBAY LINK –
I once planned a “what if” Gasser build on an S10 pickup. As though the rules hadn’t changed since the Sixties, and all the Willys pickups were used up. I decided people who didn’t get it would still not get it. And those who did understand, would hate it.
This Malibu answers the question. Looks like a nice build, but why?
I think it looks OK, but if I did that to my wife’s Malibu wag I’d be neutered in no time.
Apart from it being a Chevy this is a brilliant idea – what other late-model cars would my fellow BangShifters install this set-up on?
I would go for a Ford UK Granada in Bronze just like the one driven by Regan in the Sweeney!
Shut it you slag – your’e nicked….
Hell yes…. cooler than the Crusher Camaro too…
I have owned a few of these thru the years and like the gasser look.
Old school tech applied to more modern sheet metal, what’s not to like? I wonder what the cost was for this as opposed to the cost of doing modern suspension stuff?
No real benefit to doing this? You might want to re-think that statement. It worked back then, didn’t it? Modern suspension stuff may be a better choice, but I think it would be safe to say that for (relatively) cheap, simple, and badass it’s kind of hard to argue with the results.
Shot pictures of one a handful of years ago at the NSRA Nats done a little better than this one. Seems fine to me. The body shape kinda lends itself to it. If you did it to a same-year Camaro that would be a horrible mistake. I’ve photo-shopped a 94 S10 and a 94 firebird this way. Eh….kinda cool, but not stellar like early and classic stuff. Definitely different.
I think it works well on this body as well. Makes it feel like a modern ’55. Plus the primer grey color gives it a 2 lane black top type of homage. The interior is not working for me, though.
BAD ASS! It just needs some injector tubes sticking up through the hood and some bias ply slicks!
I think it’s nice looking but injectors thru the hood would look better. I’ve heard that if you mount the springs at the back and have the shackles at the front of the springs they ride better than a truck. Maybe a big ass blower and no hood would be alright! ’65 GTO’s look great with a straight axle like the Bruce brothers ZOMBIE. Thought about doing it to my ’65 Goat.
haha.this is cool it’s my car. beleave it or not it drives great. and runs 12.30s
Because Racecar!!
I don’t know. It seems to either need more ’60s cues or to be a serious, functional drag car.