Kinser’s Focus Changing Direction

After spending three decades chasing sprint car races across the nation, legendary mechanic Karl Kinser is still turning wrenches on unique automotive machinery.
Rather than 410 engines, Gambler chassis and Hoosier tires, however, Kinser’s attention is focused on antique and vintage automobiles that he’s restoring to pristine condition with the same steady, skilled hands he once used to make race cars go fast, hands that would still be doing just that, if he could make money at it.
“Hell,” remarks Kinser, with his blunt, Southern Indiana honesty, “my last year in racing I won a lot of races, finished fourth or fifth in the Outlaw points, and I lost $80,000. Cash, man! Right out of my ass pocket.
“But, I love sprint-car racing,” continues Kinser. “It’s the most exciting racing there is. Whenever the car hits the race track, it’s the car and the driver. That’s it. That’s the blood and guts right there.
“Sure they’re tough. They’re held together with just a handful of bolts, but there’s a bushel basket of s--- that can fall off of ’em. I miss it. I hadto get something out of the hauler the other day, and when I saw the race car sitting there, my heart just skipped. I got weak. But, what I’m doing now is keeping me satisfied for the time being.” 
Long ago, anticipating a time when he would have to give up his passion, Kinser began making side trips between races to local junkyards, decrepit barns and backyard sheds. His quest was for particular old cars that he would work on when he had days of free time.
Rust sniffing he calls it.
The trips themselves were a relaxing interlude to the hours spent in dusty pit lanes and motel parking lots trying to make his equipment the best. And, those tranquil excursions yielded a treasure trove of cars that include a 1950 and a 1954 Chevy, a ’54 Ford, two Oldsmobiles from the 1930s, a ’40 Plymouth, a ’55 Caddy, a ’37 Packard and a 1937 LaSalle.
He has restored a 1955 Chevy for his son Mark while he was still in high school and redone a 1954 Chevy for his daughter. They’re all convertibles and all a part of what he describes as  “…my fascination with the wheel.”
Kinser’s personal favorite is the 1937 LaSalle. A car like it was the pace car at Indianapolis, and for Kinser, a Hoosier and an open-wheel racer, Indy is still special.
“That LaSalle,” explains Kinser, his knowledge of antique cars evidently as thorough as his encyclopedic understanding of sprint cars, “was dubbed the Lady Cadillac. They had trimmed this car up with a lot of chrome, and stainless, trying to attract the female sector of the market. It was built right in the middle of the depression, when the car companies were struggling, doing anything trying to stay afloat. It still is a good looking car.” 
Kinser, who worked as a mechanic, and a body man before he started racing fulltime, does all his own restoration work, with the exception of the upholstery. “I’ve never owned a sewing machine,” he laughs. “I figured I’d sew my fingers to the bed, and that could get a little ouchy at times.”
Like race cars, doing a ground-up restoration of a car 50 years old — or older — provides many challenges. You can’t go to the local auto parts store or to a catalogue and find pieces for a LaSalle, a Packard or even some of the older Chevys, Fords and Plymouths.
“Parts are a big problem,” acknowledges Kinser. “For instance, I’ve been looking for a Deluxe steering wheel for my Packard for years. The Deluxe is the one with the small, stainless steel spokes. I’ve yet to be able to get one. I did see one in a junkyard once. It was still on the column, stuck down in the frame. But the guy wouldn’t sell it. It broke my heart. But it was his; I couldn’t make him. The shame is that it’s probably smelted down by now and part of a damn Nissan.” 
Besides the passenger cars, Kinser has restored two important race cars. One is the 1987 WoO car that Steve Kinser won 59 races and the championship with. Along with the car, he has Steve’s uniform, helmet, arm restraints and driving shoes. He also has the Mopar car that Mark used to win the WoO Championship and the Knoxville Nationals.
“Both the cars are absolutely authentic,” insists Kinser, “just as they were raced. I’d like to see them wind up at a museum. But, hell, they kinda want you to give that stuff away. I can’t afford that. Like I told them, ‘These SOB’s busted every finger I had. Why would I want to give them away?”’ 
It’s too bad that Karl Kinser isn’t still busting fingers making top-notch sprint cars go fast. But his old cars do provide an outlet for his lifelong involvement with things mechanical. He’s content for now. And he’s busy.
“Hey, no matter what I’m going to stay active,” says Kinser. “I’ll probably die with a nine-sixteenths wrench in my hand, and I couldn’t think of a better way to go.”