It wouldn't be sacrilege. Schwinn offered several of its models in "tourist" and "sport" versions. The "sport" versions had drop bars. I had a 5-speed Suburban in the "sport" version. It was an odd mix, with drop bars, stem shifters, and a chainguard.
I put a lot of miles on the old girl, in several different iterations. At one point, I built it up with a modern wheelset, an 8-speed cassette in the back, and a bar-end shifter as a winter bike. I liked it so much I rode it all the next summer, too. But after a while, I got tired of the extra weight and the flexy-frame. Its back in the basement now.