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Photos & Story by Jordan Morningstar

Most of the world's religions promote the idea of reciprocity-that is, when you do good things for others, good things will slowly come back to you. For Lorne Plett and the "Project Shadow" '65 Malibu, the process wasn't so slow.

Lorne, a business owner from Ile Des Chenes, MB, wanted to help a Winnipeg inner city youth program. Known as Righteous Racing, the project helped kids at risk develop valuable skills by being part of a racing team. Lorne helped them obtain a race car, and as part of the deal, a '65 Malibu body came along with it. This in itself was not unusual; many private car sales involve throwing in extra stuff to sweeten the pot. However, Lorne had always wanted to build a '65 Beaumont or Malibu, just like the one that was presented in the deal. The race car went to the charity, and the muscle car went to the benefactor.
"I always thought, if I'm going to restore a car, that's the car I'd restore."

The Malibu went straight to Sandale Fabrication, where it was discovered that the body wasn't actually suitable for restoration. While most people would shrug and walk away, it was too late for Lorne. The seeds of muscle car madness were planted, and he was sticking around for a bumper crop. A better body was discovered, and the project rolled on.
Plans were made, changed, and re-arranged constantly over the three-year building process, but one goal remained the same: to build an old car that drove like a new car. "I wanted something I could drive," Lorne explained. "I wanted something that wasn't restoring the original. We rebuilt it from the ground up, it's a new car"

The Malibu was planted on an Art Morrison chassis, and hung from an independent front suspension and 3-link rear suspension. Rolling stock consists of Foose 500 rims (18" front, 20" rear) with body-matching painted hubs and Mickey Thompson tires. To get those gigantic meats rolling, a lightly massaged 450-hp Chevy LS2 engine and T-56 6-speed manual transmission was stuffed under the hood. Wilwood 6-piston disc brakes on all wheels bring the whole thing to a stop.
The combination of grey upholstery and shiny surfaces was put together by Omer's Upholstery, while the paint was laid down by Cahil Auto Body. Peter Treault and his mad airbrushing skills took care of the "Shadow" graphics on the rear fenders. Every other facet of the beast's construction was handled by Sandale's gifted team.

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