LINGENFELTER COLLECTION: FAST CARS FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

Ken Lingenfelter has an ulterior motive – supporting great causes - for amassing an incredible collection of high-performance cars. The Lingenfelter name has been linked to fast cars and the high-performance automotive community based primarily on the late John Lingenfelter’s reputation as a Corvette tuner, driver, championship drag racer, manufacturer of specialty performance parts and owner of LPE, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. He was the builder-tuner-driver of the legendary Calla...
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’64 CHEVY IMPALA SS409: SHE’S REAL FINE!

Michael Brown waited 50 years after hearing the Beach Boys ‘409’ to purchase the car that he promised himself he would own one day.  And, it was worth waiting for. For car guys, one of the most memorable cuts of the Beach Boys’ Surfin’ Safari album, is unquestionably, 409. That was 1962 and in 2012 Michael Brown treated himself to this stunning four-speed 409/425 ’64 Impala with 4.56 Posi rear. Dream realized. Michael Brown is probably best known in the Corvette community for his ...
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CHEVY 427 MYSTERY MOTOR: PORCUPINE POWER!

A 409-based 427 with trick heads, originally developed for NASCAR super speedways, laid the groundwork for the legendary 427 big-block. In 1963, GM’s support of the absurd AMA racing ban stifled Chevrolet in its quest to dominate NASCAR & USAC stock car and NHRA drag racing. Quietly developed with help from Smokey Yunick, a super-409 displacing 427 cubic inches proved to be just what was needed. Chevrolet got it’s chance to hold off the competition until the ban was history and the “mo...
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ZR-1/LT-5 LINGENFELTER CORVETTE: 218 MPH!

Back in the day, this Corvette finished second only to a McLaren F1 in the famous  1998 Road & Track High-Speed Shootout. In 1998, the late great John Lingenfelter prepared two Corvettes, a new C5 and a four-cam, 32-valve C4 ZR-1 to go head to head with the finest, fastest street-driven cars in the world. The venue: Road & Track magazine’s High-Speed Shootout. The competition: McLaren F1, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Ruf Porsche CTR 2, Hennessey Viper 600 GTS, and Toyota Supra Turb...
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CHEVY RPO Z-11 427: THE 409 GROWS UP!

A lack of official racing programs at Chevrolet forced Z-11 Chevys from NHRA S/S to A/FX, making them less competitive. Most ended up being match raced. The handwriting was on the wall in 1962: Chevrolet was in for big trouble on drag strips in 1963. While its 409-inch update of the W-Series 348 held its ground in 1962, Pontiac, Dodge Plymouth and Ford were readying serious assaults the following year that Chevrolet would not be ready for. Enter RPO Z-11, a much-improved 427-inch W-style m...
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’70 OLDS W-30 442: FROM TRACK TO STREET!

Record-holding D/SA racer goes back to its roots, now a street & show muscle car. Most drag racing cars, especially those that were hard-charging record-holders, end up being parted out, updated for new seasons, or relegated to spend its life rusting away. Not so with Tom Kelly’s W-30 442. His beautiful restored street & show machine started life as D/SA racecar campaigned on the NHRA-IHRA circuits for a couple of decades, with sponsorship  from the Music City Rod Shop in N...
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’68 CHEVY NOVA: 468-INCH BIG-BLOCK!

Holly Clark has been drag racing since she was eight; twelve years later has won six annual Championships in a row! Holly Clark, a British Columbia (Canada) native, races a ’68 Chevy Nova powered by a bored and stroked 468-inch Big-Block. In years past she has competed and won in Junior Dragster and High School Pro categories. She’s currently starting her 10th season and her Nova is nailing quarter-mile trap speeds of 114 mph. Her “home” tracks are in the Pacific Northwest: Mission, Ashcro...
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