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Shock Reaction
Scoop Test on a Stateside Street Racer
By Keith Seume
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Strange how we get to hear of our feature cars at times. While researching fax'n-figs for our shock absorber article a while back, I was sent a press release from Monroe Auto Equipment concerning their range of shock in amongst which was a photo of the Mustang you see here.
"Hmm, Nice picture that". I turned the pic over and read a little bit about the car - brief details of what it was based on and why, and then I read the last line: "....which will soon be coming to our shores."
Hold on, thought I, I want to get into this a bit deeper. I promptly leapt onto the telephone (but fell off) and rang Monroe's press agency. Sure enough the Monroe Handler Mustang was coming over and yes, we can do something on it - like drive it!
I arranged a date for the drive with Adrian Perry from Monroe then began to bite my finger nails, feeling certain that it would pour with rain, or the earth would open up and swallow the Handler before we set eyes on it. We were fortunate - the Gods were obviously smiling on us that day.
In the meanwhile I set about gleaning some information about the car and how it came to be in existence. The story is that Monroe in the USA decided to build a promotional vehicle that would not only look smart with its IMSA-flavoured bodywork, but would also show the man in the street what can be done to an everyday car to make it handle like a racer, using parts that are freely available to everyone.
BODY MODS
First thing on the list was to give the Mustang some pretty wild body mods that would make it look the part. Off to Creative Car Craft in Culver City, California, where the car was treated to some steel flares, to cover the fat Centerline wheels, blending into an outrageous airdam at the front and a wild spoiler at the rear. At the same time louvres were punched in the rear panel, the theme being continued to a slatted panel over the rear window area.
The front 'dam was cut to form a scoop and modded to take a pair of driving lights one of which had dropped out on our particular car! If that last line implies that there are other Monroe Handlers, then that is dead right. There are in fact six similar vehicles around, mainly in the States enabling a far wider audience to see Monroe's baby than had there been just a single machine. Can you imagine a British firm building seven such cars! I can't.
Centerline's shod with B.F. Goodrich T/A's hold the Muzzies off the ground while some graphic yella 'n' blue paint stamps the Monroe motif for all to see. Mild it isn't.
To make the Handler live up to its name, the suspension was treated to a full-boogie job by Trevor Harris of Harris Dynamics in Costa Mesa. Firstly the suspension was lowered all round by 2½" using custom wound front coils and a Harris modded leaf spring set-up at the back. Incidently, a 'free' way of lowering the car ¾" was to make up a shorter pair of spring shackles for the rear leaves. Simple eh?
Thicker anti-roll bars were fitted at the front to each car and guess what? Monroe shocks (Handlers, no less) are to be found at both ends. What a surprise! Very extensive testing went into getting things just right in order to prove that a shock isn't just a shock but a very vital part of the car's design.
To make the Mustangs's take full advantage of the vastly improved handling, the vehicles were carted off to Gapp and Roush - the pair who built and ran the famed 'Tijuana Taxi' 4-door Maverick Pro-Stocker - where they were fitted with full-boogie 351 Windsor motors. Hooked up to a four-speed manual, the Windsors really made for a tough set of cars: they certainly make all the right noises form the square pipes exiting under each door.
Interior-wise our car was pretty much stock including, unfortunately, the speedo which read only up to 80 mph. Needless to say that particular instrument was soon proved to be incapable of handling the necessary chores. Seating position was typically USA-style with a big wheel set far too close to the chest, and the view to the rear quarters was somewhat hampered by the louvered paneling over the side glass. These two factors combined would certainly make the car a tiring one to drive in everyday traffic, but as 'tis only a promotional vehicle who cares!
Firing the big motor up produced a flow of adrenalin through the system as the big 351 rumbled away evilly through the mutant exhaust system. The whole car shook and rattled as the bent-eight idled lumpily - this is what a good street machine is made of alright. A stab at the throttle caused a visible twitch as the left side of the car rose an inch or tow reacting against the torque of the 351.
Foot on the non-too-light clutch and slip the four-on-the-floor into 1st. Crunch. Whoops, the clutch drags a bit.
EASY RIDER
Moving slowly across to where we were to take some times, the car felt altogether docile - no fierce clutch or heavy steering, just a nice solid rumble from beneath the floor. A thought just struck me: what if it's really just a look-nice-for-shows car and who cares whether the back-end would blow to bits if used in anger? I mean, the Mustang was going to go straight up to Brum for the 'Motor Show' after our session so I'd feel a bit dumb if I rendered the car a basket case.
I decided that if I was to get the best out of this car I was going to have to use the right foot pretty hard, and put my trust in Stateside engineering. They're supposed to be tough these Yanks so I just bit my tongue and brought the revs up to around three grand. Sidestepping the clutch, I hung on tight as the Goodrichs scrabbled on the surface in vain: the car slipped sideways leaving a pair of curvy black lines on the road for about the first twenty yards or so. Shifting into second brought a chirp from the back tyres and accelerating hard up through the end of the quarter mile produced a most beautiful sound from the Gapp and Roush-prepared mill. Sheer music.
The yellow peril stopped the clocks at sixteen seconds dead for the quarter, a figure which repeated efforts couldn't improve upon. Obviously the car was capable of far quicker times than that, but not on those tyres. You just lost so much time at the off trying to get some grip on the track surface.
At the end of each run I had to stand on the brakes fairly hard to bring the heavy-weight back to more sane speeds. Yank brakes aren't the world's best, but on this particular vehicle they were just great stopping you straight and stopping you quickly. They didn't show any signs of fade or judder - in short they were the best brakes I've ever come across on any Stateside vehicle.
Again, not many Yanks invite you to throw them around (cars, that is!) and it was quite strange driving a car that handled so well, but then it is an exercise in handling! Driving hard into a corner induced strong understeer necessitating winding more lock on halfway round if the oncoming ditch was to be avoided. (A good idea really when you start thinking about it!)
By driving into the corner at more subdued speeds and then booting it hard as you exit, the tail could be brought round in a very controllable way - I wouldn't want to drive it that hard in the wet though, as the prospect of trying to catch the beast as the tail whips round definitely isn't my idea of fun.
At all times the car felt right at home on a twisty track despite its obvious bulk. Rarely does a so-called American sports car live up to its name but with the Monroe Handler, the shock absorber company have proved once and for all that the right choice of suspension components can turn even the most ill-handling of devices into a car that invites you to swallow the brave pills and get that right foot planted on the floorboards, not just in a straight line either. It kinda restores your faith in Yank iron.
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