Travels with our 2008 Chevrolet Corvette to interesting places, automotive-related and otherwise, and to meet the people and cars that make up the Corvette Community.
Showing posts with label Ken LIngenfelter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ken LIngenfelter. Show all posts
One of our premier reasons for coming to the Detroit area was to attend Eyes on Design, an annual auto show held on the grounds of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in tony Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, each Father's Day. This event, and the 2016 edition was the 29th one, is focused on significant automotive design and raises money for various charities dealing with vision health and support for the visually impaired. It has raised more than US$ 4 million to this end.
The Ford House
An intelligent and well-educated man, Edsel Ford (1893-1943) was the only acknowledged son of industrial titan Henry Ford, and was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1919 until his early death. Under enormous pressure from his domineering father, Edsel Ford was nonetheless a competent and skilled manager with an excellent aesthetic sense and it is most fitting that an auto show focused on design is held on the grounds of his home.
More than 300 cars were on display on the scorching hot Father's Day we attended Eyes on Design and under the general theme "Driven by Design" the organizers had divided up the entrants into no less than 25 different categories. After parking in the spacious field across from the gatehouse, we entered Car Heaven as first up was a series of super classic cars from what we consider motoring's most glamourous era.
Foreground is a 1930 Cadillac 452 Cabriolet, with a 1932 Packard Dual Cowl Phaeton behind it
The Dual Cowl Phaeton was one of the most extravagant body styles ever
Behind the 1930 Cadillac is a 1930 Pierce Arrow Sport Phaeton
The monsterous 1934 Cadillac V12 Model 452 Victoria that we had seen indoors a few weeks earlier at the Fleetwood Country Cruize-In in London, Ontario
After enjoying these monumental cars, we found ourselves in the next section featuring various Speedsters and American Classics, notably Lincoln Zephyrs, Cords and Auburns. The standout for us had to have been the event's "Poster Vehicle," a recreation of the 1931 Cord Le Grand. This small car was stunningly beautiful, based on the Cord L29 design elements, and only one was ever built. Today there are not one but two exact replicas in existence. This one came from the Stahl Museum in Michigan and features a humidor for cigars in the driver's door and a decanter and glasses in the passenger's one.
1931 Cord Le Grand ("The Lost Cord")
1921 Kissel Gold Bug Speedster
1936 Auburn Model 852 Speedster
A large section of the field was devoted to Streamliners, and the Art Deco design influence pre-World War II.
1939 Lincoln Zephyr Coupe
1936 DeSoto Airflow S2 Coupe
1935 Hoffman X-8 Sedan, one of a kind
1942 Packard Convertible Coupe
1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe, a car that was the brainchild of Edsel Ford
There was a fascinating area devoted to cars from Kalamazoo, Michigan, with several really obscure brands and the one famous one: Checker.
1903 Michigan Model A Runabout
1921 Roamer Model 4-75 Roadster
1921 Roamer Model 6-54 Town Car Landaulet
More modern luxury cars were nicely represented with a pair of 1949 Cadillacs, a brand that a year previously had introduced the Era of Fins. On the other side of the field near the house was "Gold Standard of the World: Cadillac Eldorado 1953-1966" highlighting 14 of these monsters.
Of course, my personal favourite luxury car of the 1960s had to be present in the form of a 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible. This was the anti-Cadillac, a sober and elegant design that tossed out much of the design language of the 1950s forever. Edsel Ford had persuaded his father to buy the bankrupt Lincoln Motor Company in 1922 and made the previously unstylish but finely-built cars into a match for the top luxury brands in the world.
There was a selection of vintage police cars, another for Pontiac performance vehicles, and still another for the Chrysler 300 Letter Series 1955-1965. There were familiar muscle cars from the 1960s, a display of "chopper" style bicycles and an illuminating cross-section of vintage camping rigs and trailers going back to Model T days. There was an amazing collection of colourful vintage motorcycles, which all seemed to be owned by the same collector.
European cars were not forgotten, with an interesting choice of cars ranging from a nice Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing to a rather rare Bitter CD and some Italian supercars.
I was particularly intrigued by a car that I thought was a French Alpine A108 sports car, a tiny classic lightweight, but I learned a great deal from its owner, Mr. Brent Bartley, who explained that it was actually a car built in Brazil by Willys-Overland (yes, the Jeep people). under license from Alpine. The fiberglass-bodied Interlagos Alpine A108 used Renault Dauphine running gear and the tiny 845 cc engine produced a slight 60 hp. Still, a very cool car although I am not sure I would actually fit into it.
There were so many interesting cars to look at that it would have needed several days to get good photos and talk to the owners; the Eyes on Design exhibition book is a bit sparse but given the number of cars perhaps not so surprising.
Can there be anyone who does not think the Dodge Power Wagon was the coolest truck ever? 11 of these macho trucks were present; Dodge offered four-wheel drive direct at a time when GM and Ford outsourced their trucks to be modified by third parties.
Another rarity: a 1962 Kellison J-5 Drop Nose Coupe, super-fast fiberglass kit car of the day
Another wonderful story was that of the 1914 Packard Model 3-38 Speedster that was once owned by Indianapolis Speedway founder (and Miami Beach real estate tycoon) Carl Fisher. This car was driven by Fisher as he surveyed what became the first coast-to-coast highway in the United States, the Lincoln Highway. It was used as the Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500 in 1915 and 1916. A very enthusiastic lady, Mrs. Nancy Strong, owns it with her husband Allen and was present in period costume to tell us all about the car and its history, with period photos. Not driven for perhaps 80 years, it returned to the Indy track in May 2016.
On the way into the show, I ran into Ken Lingenfelter, who was acting as one of the judges. Of course, one of the categories had to be "Stock to Rock: Corvettes" and things were arranged so that a stock version would be displayed next to a modified one of the same vintage. Corvettes are always great to see but we were particularly taken with a 1969 Coupe that had the most incredible red paint job, with flames painted on so subtly you could barely see them. Mr. Lingenfelter brought one of his C1 factory prototypes. Corvettes are infinitely adaptable to one's taste, it seems, and although they are not all what I would choose I applaud the originality and personalization. That said, I do not like the rebodied cars that make a C6 look like a C1 or C3 since the proportions are generally all wrong, whereas taking a clapped-out C3 and resto-modding it with a modern chassis, engine and creature comforts works fine for me.
A truly great show in an excellent setting, Eyes on Design is the show where you need every minute to capture everything, so diverse is the offering. We crossed the street and were grateful for our Corvette's powerful air conditioning. It was time to head south to Cincinnati and the Art Deco Hilton Netherland Plaza, the next stop in our motoring tour.
Detroit is indeed the Motor City and there are all kinds of interesting car-related events to enjoy. Number 3 on our activities list was the Lingenfelter Collection, which is housed in an enormous building in an industrial park in Brighton, Michigan, around 40 minutes' drive from Detroit. This collection, focused on high-performance cars, is not open to the public generally but several times a year the doors are rolled back in support of local charities. We had come to Michigan for the Eyes on Design show held on Father's Day each year and Ken Lingenfelter support that event by offering an Open House at his facility the day before, allowing you to buy a ticket to both events at the same time.
We knew that we were in the right place as we pulled up and ahead of us was a pristine white C6 Z06 and a gorgeous Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, one of the few cars I would have taken instead of a Corvette.
As I understand it, John Lingenfelter was a successful engineer, tuner and drag racer who founded Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) in Indiana in 1973, concentrating on GM products with packages covering powerplants and induction systems. Following John's death in 2003 as a result of injuries sustained at a drag race in California, LPE was taken over by a cousin, Ken Lingenfelter, who is the owner of the impressive car collection we had come to see. Although I believe LPE is a successful enterprise, I can't imagine it spins off millions and millions; it appears that, judging from the value of the collection, Ken has made a great deal of money elsewhere and I heard some reference to mortgages somewhere.
Be that as it may, after we received a friendly greeting and paid our $15 we entered the clinically spotless garage/warehouse and were immediately greeted by an astonishing line-up of Ferraris, including a 288 GTO, an F40, an FF, 599 GTO, an Enzo, and a LaFerrari. The latter, a very recent car, has been bringing in over $3 million at auction recently, and the others are not much cheaper. All are in impeccable condition, as are all the cars in the collection.
Ferrari Enzo, with an F40 visible beside it
Ferrari LaFerrari--a really stupid name for an impressive machine
The next row of cars included some very unusual things, including the first Falcon F7 I have ever seen. This Michigan-handbuilt exotic is powered by a Chevrolet 7 litre engine.
Falcon F7
The collection is quite diverse and above you will see a Lamborghini Reventon, the Falcon F7, a 2005 Ford GT and a Dodge Hellcat, along with the odd BMW, Porsche and Alfa Romeo. And even a Shelby Series 1. This car, the only one that Carroll Shelby came up with from a a clean sheet instead of modifying an existing car, used an Oldsmobile V-8 and had a very checkered production life, with 249 being built as 1999 cars and then, subsequent to the operation's bankruptcy after Shelby had sold it to other investors, another group of cars were sold in 2005 as components only after Shelby had repurchased the company for pennies on the dollar. Unable to meet emission requirements for new car certification, a third attempt to build a series of these cars failed.
1999 Shelby Series 1
There were lots of other great cars, including an insanely hot-rodded 1972 Oldsmobile VistaCruiser station wagon (!) but what you really want to see at Lingenfelter's are the Corvettes, which make up 40% of the 200 cars in the collection. 80 Corvettes!!!
Zora Arkus-Duntov's 1954 Corvette "mule," the first Corvette to ever be equipped with the legendary small-block V-8
Here is a little video about the Lingenfelter Collection, highlighting the Duntov Mule:
>
First generation Corvettes (1953-1962), including several styling prototypes
A nice selection of "Mid-Year" Corvettes (1963-1967), a truly iconic design
C3, C4 and C5 Corvettes, including several C3 widebodies modified by John Greenwood
The C4 (1983-1996) is the Corvette nobody seems to like very much, with the possible exception of the exotic and very expensive ZR-1s and Callaway Twin Turbos, and the cheapest to buy today. However, there are some exceptions. In the photo above you see a 1995 Guldstrand GS90 Nassau Convertible, which used Corvette underpinnings (albeit with a supercharged engine) and a beautiful body. It was offered by legendary Corvette racer and car builder Dick Guldstrand after the GS90 Coupe (using the more costly ZR-1 as a basis) did not sell well. This was not much cheaper so in the end only six were built. Here is a video about the car:
Greenwood-built Corvette C3s with aerodynamic wide bodies, an acquired taste perhaps
The other C4 of particular interest is the highly-modified Callaway Speedster, which was meant only to be a concept car at the 1991 Los Angeles Auto Show but interest was high enough that Callaway put the car into limited prodcution. With a body designed by Canadian Paul Deutschman, the Speedster boasted a marvellous wrap-around windshield but also the twin turbo set-up on the "regular" Callaway Twin Turbo, giving the car 403 hp to match its speed looks. 10 of these cars were built and I love the colour of Lingenfelter's Speedster.
Not content with this, Callaway came out with the C16, based on the Sixth Generation Corvette, produced to special order from 2005-2013. Available as a coupe or a speedster, Lingenfelter's car is the latter and even crazier than the C4 version, with 650 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque on tap. The very approachable Ken Lingenfelter was speaking about the car when I caught up to him and heard him explain that the headrests on the C16 was where you could store your helmet!
Ken continued his personal tour with the evil-looking C6RS, an idea that must have seemed good at the time it was hatched in 2007. Basically Pratt & Miller, who manage the Corvette Racing Team for GM, decided to build a street car based on their experience with the race-winning Corvette C6.R. Many of the panels of a C6 Z06 were reworked in carbon fibre and the engine breathed-on to produce over 600 hp. The interior had a great deal of hand-stitched leather but in the end the price for the car was an unpalatable $260,000 for something that still looked like a C6. Then the nail in the coffin was the 2009 launch by GM of the ZR1 Corvette supercar, which had all the performance, if not the interior, of the C6RS for $100,000. Instead of the 25 per year P&M expected to build, a total of seven were produced. The first one, incidentally, went to Jay Leno and is ethanol-powered.
Pratt & Miller C6RS
There are lots of other cars to be seen in the collection--Ken Lingenfelter told me that it was too bad they could not open up one of the other buildings down the street with more cars in it!--but I really enjoyed this cross-section of Corvette history. Unsurprisingly given Lingenfelter's connection to GM products, there were also a lot of modified Camaros but I was particularly taken with the nice hot-rodded Chevrolet panel delivery truck.
A memorable morning, indeed! It is clear that Ken Lingenfelter enjoys opening up his collection to the public and the audience of serious car enthusiasts was very happy to be there. Including us. If you go the Lingenfelter Collection website, Open House dates are indicated as there are several during the year.
