If you haven't seen "Jack Reacher" yet I suggest you go and check it out. The movie itself yeah Okay, the reason I suggest is because at or around the 1:15 (somewhere close to the hour fifteen minute mark) in the movie there's a car chase scene of course with big Tom. What I like about this one is they put him in a nice "70 Malibu SS and let him crash in to everything he possibly could while managing to actually create one of the nicest "car chase" scenes I've seen in a long time. I mean the car itself was the subject of course of the scene (sorry Tom) it was obvious the way it was shot as they had Tom chasing an Audi (German) with the bad guys in while the Police (a lot of them) all chased him in Crown Vic's (Crown Victoria's by Ford) of course it was Tom Cruise and no one can do a car chase scene or pretty much anything in a movie like Tom can. But I must say the car held its own. The sound of the engine was right on and went perfect with the Hi-Fi Stereo. Another thing I liked about it was that the it was a manual transmission which made it seem a little more plausible. But then again it was Tom and
no one can shift gears like Tom.
It may have had a small soft spot with me since a '70 Malibu was the first car my Mother gave
me. Of course at such a young age I did something stupid with it immediately and have always sort of wondered about it. especially as the price soars up each year as they become more and more rare coveted collectors items. Longsince then I have come to recognize this particular year model and make as the
"Perfect Sports Coupe". I know it is a bold statement considering all the competition. yet I stand by my claim. And yes I have taken it all into consideration. I look at the suspension as it stands at the perfect tilt. Not too large nor too small the overall size was a perfect length as it seemed to be just enough for the 350 (396) to successfully push around on all fours. The factory Malibu had the power to transport the family as intended but the gem of the series was and always will be the SS. In 1970 they were available with a choice of one of 2 SS options; RPO Z25 with the
SS 396 (402 cid) engine and RPO Z15 with the new 454 cid engine. The SS
options were limited to the Malibu two-door sport coupe, Malibu
convertible. This was a nice car in almost every way. The proportions were almost perfect in every way. From intake to exhaust to gear ration all the way up to the specialized induction as the factory brochure explained; "You can make our tough one even tougher," the brochure explained, by
adding Cowl Induction to either the SS 396 or the SS 454. Step on the
gas, and a scoop opened "to shoot an extra breath of cool air into the
engine air intake....like second wind to a distance runner." Neither
functional hood lock pins nor hood and deck stripes were standard with
either SS option, but were part of the optional ZL2 cowl induction hood
option. The 454 cu in (7.4 L) LS5
V8 was rated at 360 hp (270 kW). Needless to say it still is one of the
sexiest sports cars ever made. It is very rare that you get any product in such a complete state. So let's give it to the boys over at Chevy its not often perfection is achieved bu they did it back in the 70's with what we would see now as limited resources to boot. After seeing that movie I'm thinking nostalgic once again.
