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Spring, split windows and supercars: Lingenfelter Collection opens doors for charity
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 6, 2025
April flowers bring May flowers and May flowers bring the Spring Open House at the Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton.
One of Michigan’s premier auto collections opens to the public from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday to benefit the American Cancer Society. Donations are encouraged at the door, and in return visitors can ogle a cornucopia of rare automobiles from dragsters to Ferraris to historic Corvettes to the modified General Motors monsters that are the product of Lingenfelter Engineering.
“Its springtime here in Michigan (when) we get our cars out and really start enjoying them,” smiled collector Ken Lingenfelter, who is also CEO of Lingenfelter Engineering. “The American Cancer Society is a great charity, all the money goes where it’s supposed to go. We want people to come and get a look at the Lingenfelter Collection; we have about 160 cars.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Lingenfelter has been impacted personally by cancer, losing his father and sister to the disease.
“I think cancer has touched just about everybody. This is one way to help out,” he said in an interview. “The collection is not open to the public, so we just do charity fundraisers and corporate meetings and that keeps it special.”
One of the collection’s jewels is a so-called “split window” 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, a rare car in the Chevrolet model’s 72-year history that was only produced for one model year. The split window is so prized by collectors that a pair was the centerpiece of the New York Auto Show’s 125th anniversary display this April.
“(Chevy) only did it one year, and the next year they got rid of split in the window. It wasn’t looked on positively by the top of GM,” said Lingenfelter. “The designers and engineers really wanted it so they did it for a year, but that was it. So they are rare — but in addition to that, it’s just such a cool look. I saw my first one when I was 10 years old, and it turned me into a Corvette guy for life.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Both the Stingray badge and split window have become, over the years, a signature Corvette feature and are highlighted in the current, eighth-generation, mid-engine supercar. The base model is called a Stingray and the top-shelf, 1,064-horsepower ZR1 track beast has a split rear window.
The split window is also featured in the first electric Corvette concept tht was penned by Chevrolet’s London studio earlier this year. All in memory of the ‘63 OG.
Kept in a 40,00 square-foot warehouse, the Lingenfelter collection sprawls across three bays and 40,000 square feet. There’s an eclectic assortment of rare toys, including a re-creation of the first-generation 1954 Corvette Corvair Motorama Showcar, a juiced 2010 Pontiac Trans Am, two-door Nomad wagon, 215-mph Greenwood Corvette GTO, V8-powered 1974 AMC Gremlin (complete with Levi’s jeans interior), and nitrous-fed 2007 NHRA Nationals-winning Dodge Charger Funny Car dragster.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Want a little Hollywood? Lingenfelter’s 2006 Pontiac Solstice sports car played the character “Jazz” in the 2007 sci-fi movie “Transformers.”
But in his heart, Lingenfelter is a Corvette fan with some 60 models of GM’s famed sports car in his collection. His passion was rewarded this year with a seat on the board of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
“The Corvette Museum is such a jewel,” said Lingenfelter. “If you’re an auto enthusiast, it’s something you need to get on your bucket list. It covers the whole history of Corvette. There are some amazing cars built — and others that were designed but never built. The Father of the Corvette is Zora Arkus-Duntov, and there’s a big display of some of the ideas that he had.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
One of those ideas was the so-called “Duntov Mule” that is featured in Lingenfelter’s stable.
Only was made in 1954 as a test car. It was Chevy’s first V8-powered Corvette and boasts a 5.0-liter eight-holer under the hood, open cockpit, and shark 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.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.