After placing a nitroglycerin pill under his tongue to relieve the pain in his chest Allen heads to his car to hit the Autocross track at the 2nd Annual Good-Guys Rod and Custom Show Spring Nationals in Scottsdale, Ariz. With the famous “Highway to the Danger Zone” from the movie “Top Gun” blasting on his radio Allen makes his 2nd and fastest pass of the day. The announcer starts calling Allen “Maverick” after the Tom Cruise character in the movie.
Although his heart hurts Allen says he doesn’t notice it while he is racing. The 20 medicated stints that are holding open the arteries in his heart are doing their job. The nitroglycerin patch on his arm gives a slower timed-released dosage so he can function fairly normal. He pulls the car back to its parking spot and gets out with a big smile.
Allen’s 20-year-old daughter, Natalie, runs up and hugs him while telling him he is now in first place. After a short break, a quick check of the car and a kiss from his wife Allen puts another nitro pill under his tongue and heads back onto the track.
Allen entered his car in this show shortly after a three year rebuild was completed. In 2006 Allen’s cousin surprised him with a motor for his car as a gift along with a promise to “overhaul” and transform his basically stock 1967 Camaro into an award-winning muscle machine.
“After the birth of my daughter it was the best day of my life,” Allen said.After winning the Autocross race Mark “Maverick” Allen is now looking forward to taking his stunning 1967 Chevrolet Camaro to more shows around the country so other people can see and appreciate what he gets to live with everyday.
In 2005 Allen went in for a check-up and his doctor discovered some abnormalities in his heart. Since he has a family history of conditions and his dad passed away from a massive heart attacked at age 40, Allen’s doctor had him come back for more tests. The doctor discovered a rare blood disease where his blood attacks the arteries in his heart causing them to block. The most the doctor can do is stint the arteries to hold them open.
Allen knows his heart could fail at any moment so he said he lives everyday like it is a bonus day.
“The things I wanted to see most, I was able to,” Allen said. “How many people actually get to say that?”
The biggest things Allen wanted to see was his daughter graduate from high school and to be able to walk her down the aisle when she got married. Both of these he was able to do. He was also able to help build his Camaro.
“There were many late nights and missed dinners while I was helping work on my car but fortunately my family understood my passion about it,” Allen said.
“I hated that he was gone so much, but was glad to see him happy and enjoying what he was doing,” said Jenny Allen, Mark Allen ’s wife.
Since Allen has a lot of knowledge about cars he wanted to help out so it would offset some of the costs of the build his cousin was paying for. As the car began to take shape, Allen got to have lots of input on how he wanted it to look. It’s a good thing he did. Allen wanted form and functionality. A car that could be driven and perform as well as it looks. In this he succeeded.
With a Detroit Speed and Engineering front subframe, a Fab 9 rear end, mini tubs for the huge back wheels and Baer Brakes on all four corners, the car stands poised and ready to roll. A 700 hp Shafiroff Racing 540 cubic inch big block engine is the power under the hood. The paint is House of Kolors. It is called True Blue Pearl and the car boasts a one-off, custom blended silver for its accent color. A fully custom interior that is silver and blue to match the paint is the finishing touch on the 67 Camaro.
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