Rear  - Screw Adjustable Coils Springs, truck arms and Panhard Bar

As the 1973 season came to an end, James Hylton realized that the future in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series belonged to Chevrolet.  Both Ford and Chrysler had essentially ceased their racing operations while Chevrolet was beginning to offer more and more assistance to its teams.  Since returning full time to the sport in 1972, Chevrolet's had won 17 of the 59 races contested.  By the 1974 Daytona 500, Ford stalwarts Bennie Parsons, Cecil Gordon, Charlie Roberts, D. K. Ulrich, Dean Dalton and Henley Gray had joined Hylton in the migration from Ford to Chevrolet.

During the summer of 1973, James and Crew Chief Barry Divers began construction of a 1973 Malibu in their Inman, SC shop.  The car had a fabricated Banjo Matthews front clip grafted on to it's frame.  The rear of the car was supported by screw adjustable coil springs which rode on short truck arms.  The car made its maiden appearance on September 16, 1973 at the Delaware 500 at Dover Downs Speedway.  The car started 9th but was plagued with ignition problems and wound up 19th.  After completion of the 1973 season, the car would be rebodied as a 1974 Malibu for the Daytona 500 and responded with a 16th place finish.

During spring 1974, Hylton Motorsports constructed a second 1974 Malibu using a fabricated frame purchased from Banjo Matthews.  Matthew's fabricated frame cars would go on to win an incredible 77% of all NASCAR Winston Cup races during the 1974 - 1985 time period.  The roll cage of the car was an integrated component of the chassis and the car was supported at all four corners by screw adjustable springs. The best finish for the 74 Hylton Motorsports Malibu's would be a fifth place in the 1974 Southern 500 at Darlington. 

For 1975, Chevrolet would introduce the sloped nosed Laguna S3 into production.  The Laguna S3 would be so aero-efficient that NASCAR would  eventually ban it from competition.  Hylton Motorsports would convert the fabricated chassis 1974 Malibu into a 1975 Laguna S3 while the original Malibu would be traded to fellow competitor Richard Childress for a 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.