What is wrong if my car shakes when i press the break pedal?

Well, if it doesn’t matter if you are moving or not, I’d suspect a massive vacuum leak in the braking system.

Two questions:

  1. What happens to engine RPM when the shaking starts? (If you have a tach.)
  2. Turn off the car with the brake pedal depressed. Does the pedal “firm up” very quickly?