Episode Summary
There are few in the automotive industry whose impact can be measured by name alone. Yenko, Shelby & Shinoda are synonymous with legendary speed, design, and performance, but when it comes to today’s muscle cars, few stand out like Ken Lingenfelter.
Episode Notes
Born the son of a General Motors executive, Ken grew up with a lust and appreciation for stylish, high-performance automobiles. Finding success in the real estate settlement industry, Ken bought his first Corvette in 1977. Additional cars were acquired, as his passion for performance cars grew. Having sold his company, he has dedicated himself to assembling a collection of significant muscle cars, Corvettes, and exotic European cars from around the world.
How it all began.
In 1978 Ken set out to start his own title company with just two employees. Diligence, commitment and hard work saw Lingenfelter grow to 3,000 employees before ultimately deciding to sell and pursue his car passion. “It wasn’t easy” says Ken, “but it was time.”
Similarly, Ken’s relative, and famous drag racer, John, steered a growing Lingenfelter performance engineering around the same time. “John was an incredible drag racer, and his performance business was doing things few had ever seen before. Sadly, John was involved in a serious crash while racing in 2002, never recovering.” He passed on Christmas day a year later.
“John’s brother asked me to take over the assets of the company” says Ken. “Again, it was time.”
What started out with "five cars stuffed into a three-car garage", Ken says has grown to roughly 250 cars from across the globe.
Over the years, I’ve probably collected over 250 or so.” About 30% of those are exotics, “you just have to marvel at the design of these things.”
Another 30% are muscle cars. “These were the cars of my youth. You can’t have a collection without American muscle cars of yesterday and today.” And the rest, adds Ken, “are some of my and John’s old race cars. And, of course, the greatest cars ever built. Corvettes!
Twitter: @KenLingenfelter
Website: www.thelingenfeltercollection.com
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