If it's a MANUAL transmission it's IMO a good thing to have a "parking" brake. My '69 GTX is a 4-speed and my driveway has an ever so slight tilt or grade to it and there is no way that I trust letting the car sit and warm up as I close the garage up, maybe put things back that I had to move to get the GTX out without putting the parking brake on. As mentioned, there's more reasons to have it working properly than not. Also if you have kids that ride in your car, just think how easy it is to bump an old automatic into gear that doesn't have the "put foot on brake pedal" safety feature.