Holiday giving revs up: Lingenfelter Collection opens doors for Toys for Tots

Posted by Talbot Payne on December 3, 2022

The post-pandemic charity scene is revving up — and just in time for Christmas.

One of Metro Detroit’s most popular automotive charity venues, the Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton, is opening its doors for the Marines’ Toys for Tots charity from noon-3 p.m. Saturday. Directed by the commander of the Marine Forces Reserve and working through local businesses each December, Toys for Tots distributes toys to economically-disadvantaged children in some 800 communities across all 50 states.

The Lingenfelter Collection features more than 200 cars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, a roomful of classic Corvettes and the latest cyborgs from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, which takes GM cars and trucks and injects them with performance steroids.

CEO Ken Lingenfelter is one of the metro area’s most successful hot rod entrepreneurs, and his name has also been synonymous with charitable giving. Before the pandemic, Lingenfelter was doing 60 charity events a year out of his collection. That number decelerated from 60 to zero in 2020 and his team has been desperately trying to get the numbers back up over the past 18 months.

This year, the collection has hosted 20 events including fundraisers in the spring for the American Cancer Society and in the fall for the Pink Fund (breast cancer assistance), but none is dearer to Lingenfelter’s heart than Toys for Tots.

“For years, we have been doing the best we can to support this effort,” Lingenfelter said in an interview. “There is a lot of need for Toys for Tots right now, and we want to do everything we can to help kids.”

The Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton hosts the Toys for Tots charity. One room of the collection is devoted to Corvettes.

He’s getting help from other local auto outfits, including Vanguard, a Plymouth Township dealer in used muscle cars; Northville Concours d’Elegance, and Northville Cars & Coffee. Local Ford dealer Pat Milliken is donating a Ford vehicle that will compete with one of Lingenfelter’s ‘Vettes to see which can be filled with more toys.

To gain entry, visitors must bring a toy — or cash donation. In return they will get to ogle some of the best automotive collections in Metro Detroit.

Ken Lingenfelter, owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering at his showroom.

Among the eye candy is a 2022 Ferrari Roma, Lingenfelter Engineering’s first supercharged, 700-horsepower version of the mid-engine Corvette C8, and a 1,200-horsepower Chevy Camaro ZL1.

Lingenfelter has always had a sweet tooth for the Prancing Horse, and Roma is the latest edition to his collection. Considered one of the most beautiful front-engine Ferraris made, the coupe boasts a 612-horsepower, turbocharged V-8 under its long hood.

For those with a sweet tooth for history, there are eclectic choices like a 1973 Opel GT and rare, 1987 Zimmer Quicksilver. The so-called “Duntov Mule” always draws a crowd. The 1954 ‘Vette was the test car for Zora Arkus-Duntov, the legendary engineer called the “Father of the Corvette.”

The Corvette room in the Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton.

Chevrolet’s first V8-powered Corvette, the distinctive beast has a 5.0-liter V-8 under the hood and a tail fin for high speeds. The Mule hit 163 mph at GM’s Arizona Proving Grounds in 1955 in the hands of test ace Smokey Yunick.

One of Lingenfelter’s favorites is a ‘63 split-window Corvette coupe. “That’s the car that ignited my passion for cars,” smiles Lingenfelter, who bought his first ‘Vette in 1977 and took the helm of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering in 2008.

The ’63 Corvette was designed by Peter Brock — who would go on to become Carroll Shelby’s lead designer — and is stuffed with a 360-horse, 5.3-liter V-8, the car’s original engine.

The Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton has over 200 exotic chariots and muscle cars.

Other youth charities back in the swing after the COVID hiatus include the Detroit Goodfellows, who are raising money in Campus Martius to distribute 30,0000 packages containing hats, gloves, scarves, underwear, books, and games to needy kids 4-13. And Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams is back at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital. The event attracts hundreds of people with flashlights and glow sticks at 8 p.m. nightly Dec. 8-24 to brighten the spirits of hospitalized children.

U.S. News & World Report surveyed 163 national nonprofits that receive at least one foundation grant of $5 million or more annually and found that 58% of nonprofits reduced their services during the pandemic, 49% cut operational costs, and 31% laid off employees.

Lingenfelter Collection is at: 7819 Lochlin Drive, Brighton, Michigan, 48116.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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