By Mary Lendzion

Soon after the 1966 Chevrolet Nova Super Sport that Jim Kinkopf had ordered rolled off the assembly line, he signed the papers to make it his.

He had chosen Midnight Blue for the paint, and a 327 cubic-inch small-block engine with 350 horsepower for the power. He had committed to paying $3,250 for it, and he was as pleased — and as proud — as he could be.

“I remember the day I picked it up at the dealership in Cleveland, where I lived at the time,” said Kinkopf, who is now 76 years old and lives in Lakeland, Florida, with his wife, Gracie. “There was a checklist for everything that had been done to the car as it was being built, and it was pretty neat to see that.”

Kinkopf drove the car on the street for a mere four months before making some mighty modifications to it.

“My friend, Jim Dzurik, and I bored the engine to make it 383 cubic-inches, and that took it up to over 400 horsepower,” said Kinkopf. “We took the car to the track. We raced at what was then Norwalk Dragway and is now Summit Motorsports Park every weekend, and we got paid to make exhibition runs in it. Jim and I both drove at first, but then I drove and Jim was the crew chief. The car ran 11.80s in the quarter-mile, but we were running a 12.40 index, so we were sand-bagging.”

Kinkopf added that he was able to win twelve races in a row, which made his fellow racers, including Mary Ann Foss, even more determined to beat him.

“We raced against a lot of people who weren’t able to beat us, including Mary Ann Foss and her husband,” said Kinkopf.

Kinkopf and Dzurik raced the car, which was nicknamed The Loner, through 1967, when Kinkopf was called upon to serve in the Vietnam War.

“When I returned from the war, life happened and the car sat,” said Kinkopf. “After my wife, Gracie, and I decided to move to Lakeland, Florida in the 1980s, we gave the car to my nephew, who had always loved it. Unfortunately, his mom, my sister, made him sell it, and it went on to have several different owners.”

The most recent owner, who lives in Hawaii, was curious about the car’s history, traced its beginnings to Kinkopf, and contacted him about a year ago.

“When he bought the car, for much more than I had paid for it, it had just been restored by its previous owner in Minnesota, and he drives it on the weekends and takes it to car shows,” said Kinkopf. “The car has been repainted, but it’s still Midnight Blue. And, would you believe that the car’s build sheet was in the glovebox all this time?”

Kinkopf, who had an opportunity to buy the car back before it went to its new home in Hawaii, said he’s happy that the car, in which so many of his memories were made, is in good hands.

“We had a really good time with that car, and it’s amazing that all of these years later, it’s still alive and even looks like new,” said Kinkopf.

Kinkopf, who hasn’t been to Summit Motorsports Park in years, has been invited back, and said he might make the trip one day.

“When I look at recent pictures of the track, I can’t believe how big and beautiful it is,” said Kinkopf. “It’s amazing how things have changed.”

(Photos courtesy of Jim Kinkopf)