Mike Johnson’s 1,100HP, Street-Driven “Most Wanted” Malibu

Mike Johnson owns an automotive repair shop specializing in exhaust in his town of Valsparaiso, Indiana. He has been a hot rodder since a young age — his high school automotive class took a trip to the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, where Mike says “the high horsepower bug bit me”. That bite led him to a fascination with all things automotive. After high school, he got a job with GM working as an ASE master certified technician, which he says only fueled his passion for hot rodding

“I have built and owned muscle cars, trucks, and drag cars,” he explained. “I’ve always been in to cars from a young age. Something about a loud, fast, and nasty sounding car soothes me. Years ago I street raced some and spent time at U.S. 41 watching the races.”

So when Mike’s friend wanted out from under his ’65 Malibu race car project, he figured it was right up his alley and made a deal. This gorgeous Malibu should definitely cure Mikes high-horsepower desire; its 6-71 blown 632-inch big-block Chevrolet can produce around 1,500 to 1,800 horsepower with a good shot of nitrous. However, Mike keeps it around 1,100 horse with a larger pulley to run pump gas and keep it street-able.

The car delivers that power through a Reid Powerglide transmission to a Mark Williams 9-inch rear with 4.90 gears and a spool with 40-spline axles. A 4-link rear suspension setup and a strut front suspension help handle the power put to the ground through a set of 32x14x15 Hoosier Quicktime Pros wrapped around Weld Racing RT wheels.

 

The body of the car remains all steel with the exception of a fiberglass hood, deck lid, and rear bumper. It has full tin interior, real glass windows, and to finish the car up, it was painted Candy Tangelo by Tracy Tichenor at T&R Auto Body in Hammond, Indiana. “It was mostly finished in 2017, but I’m still going through things to make it user-friendly to me,” Mike said.

While Mike hasn’t found a class which rules are fitting to his ride yet, he does plan on getting into some local grudge race action once he’s finished up with the build. But for now he’s having a blast just putting the finishing touches on the car and cruising it on the street.

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