Car enthusiasts gear up for spring

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A passion for high-performance automobiles will drive three local businessmen to a number of local, regional and national events this year as the weather warms and they unpack their big-boy toys.

Advertising agency president Rich Collins, Chevrolet dealer Carl Moyer and retired Medicap Pharmacy Inc. CEO Bill Kimball share a love for classic and custom cars.Two of the men will dust off their racing helmets in April and head to the Iowa State Fairgrounds for the start of another racing season, as the third takes his need for speed to the Tail of the Dragon.

‘Dragon’ slayer

Collins, founder of The Bearings Group in Urbandale, said he plans to drive his 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo to visit friends in South Carolina.

On the way, the 64-year-old and his wife will pass through the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap, an 11-mile stretch of highway near the North Carolina-Tennessee border that was recently named by American Motorcyclist magazine as one of the top three best roads in America.

Collins, who said he stumbled upon the thoroughfare years ago while driving a Volvo station wagon, said next month’s trip will mark the first time that he’ll try to slay the monster with a sports car.

“It is 11 miles, 318 curves and no crossroads,” he said.

A decades-long connoisseur of antique cars, Collins got into his first Porsche about 11 years ago. He had been eyeing his brother-in-law’s 944 Turbo for some time prior to his purchase of that vehicle, which in 1987 had a window-sticker price of $38,000.

Last fall, Collins picked up a 1982 Porsche 911 SC, adding a second German-engineered automobile to his collection of classic Chryslers and Plymouths, one of which he has owned since 1980 and has less than 33,000 original miles.

Collins said an air-cooled rear engine and quicker cornering capabilities set the 911 SC apart from the 944 Turbo, which is more of a touring vehicle. “It’s much more of an engaging car,” he said of the 911 SC, also known as a Super Carrera. “It’s one you drive full time. It has a little more on the edge, I guess.”

Collins didn’t confirm or deny that he had ever buried the speedometer, which tops out at 85 mph. But he is confident that the vehicle, which he said has a “roarty” sound, goes faster.

“It’s a noisier car, much louder,” he said. “It’s more like driving a race car. You have to be a little bit more engaged when you are driving it.”

Fairgrounds-bound

Kimball, a director of Casey’s General Stores Inc., is ready to make some noise, too.

On April 8, he and his racing team will debut their new super modified race car at the Iowa State Fair Speedway on Des Moines’ East Side. The 2,400-pound Victory car, which boasts a 600-horspower engine, was built by JR Motorsports Ltd. in Ankeny and is being assembled in Kimball’s shop in Grimes.

“We will be out at the Iowa State Fairgrounds every Friday night,” said Kimball, who founded Bill Kimball Racing about 12 years ago. “We have a totally volunteer crew that just loves working on the cars. I provide the shop, the car and the parts, and the beer on Friday nights.”

Kimball said he raced on the 1/2-mile semi-banked dirt oval track for about four years before turning over the steering wheel to current driver Pat Graham. “I used to drive these, but decided I was getting to old,” Kimball said.

Off the track, however, the 63-year-old has no qualms about sliding into the driver’s seat of his 2006 Corvette and taking control of its 400-horsepower engine. Making fast turns and attaining top speeds are two of Kimball’s favorite pastimes.

“When you drive a Corvette, they kind of stand out like a sore thumb,” he said. “You really have to watch the speed, so I use my cruise control a lot.”

Kimball, who spends the majority of his time managing investments through Kimball-Porter Investments LLC, also serves on the board of directors with Principal Mutual Funds.

In late 2010, Kimball took over management of The Groundskeeper Inc., a Grimes-based landscaping business that belonged to his late son, Christopher, who was killed last December in a traffic accident.

Corvettes everywhere

Taking on a paper route to pay for his first car at the age of 13, Carl Moyer had limited experiences with the 1949 Ford Coupe.

“I could back it up and down the driveway, and that’s all the farther I could go,” said Moyer, owner of Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny. “I didn’t have a license.”

Today, Moyer is fully licensed and more thoroughly funded than he was growing up, and now has access to hundreds of new cars and trucks located on the lot of his dealership, including about 30 new Corvettes.

That’s in addition to the customized models that fill his Karl Kustom Corvettes shop in North Des Moines.

Moyer said his specialized team of auto mechanics and body workers has assembled and sold more than 50 custom Corvettes in the two years that the spinoff of his 11-year-old Karl Kustoms custom hot-rod company has been in operation. Karl Chevrolet was founded in 1978.

“We take a brand-new Corvette and we either make a 1963 Split Window out of it or a 1967 Corvette Roadster,” he said. “It has the look and feel of a mid-year Corvette that has all the luxury of a brand-new one, including the factory warranty.”

Would-be owners could step into one of the modified machines for about $130,000, including the cost of a pre-owned donor car.

Moyer, whose racing career has included a number of championship wins on the pro-modified drag-racing circuit, is also gearing up for the start of the summer racing season at the Fairgrounds.

Karl Chevrolet is a sponsor of the Dirt Track Racing Association, which was organized in 2003. This year, the 69-year-old self-described “gear head” is especially looking forward to some friendly competition with his two sons.

“It is fun getting out there with the kids and just mixing it up and just seeing whom can outperform the other one,” Moyer said. “The three of us, that’s really our main focus. The rest of it is fun, but we really get a kick out of racing one another.”

Lots of events

Collins said his son-in-law was responsible for turning his attention away from classic cars and to the Volvo-owned Porsche brand.

“I blame him for getting me involved with Porsches,” Collins said, recalling that he was impressed by how his daughter’s soon-to-be husband drove his 944 Turbo in the rain, snow and sunshine. “He kind of got the fire burning for me.”

Collins, a past president and active member of the Porsche Club of America’s Schönesland Region, said he plans to travel in July to the Kohler International Challenge in Wisconsin, which he has attended each year for the past 15 years.

Kimball and Moyer are both members of the Corvette Club of Iowa. Moyer looks forward to participating in the Albaugh Classic car show in Ankeny this summer and Kimball plans to take part in racing events in Boone, Knoxville and Mason City.

The Porsche club, which hosts year-round social events and seasonal driving tours, also plans to take advantage of improving weather conditions.

“We promote and create events to get together to enjoy each other and also enjoy our cars together,” said Jeff David, president of the Schönesland chapter. “We’re told there are roughly 500 Porsches registered in our region.”

“Most of my clients know I’m into cars in general: antique cars, sports cars, Porsches,” Collins said. “So if a client has a similar interest, it’s kind of fun if they want to go for a ride or something, but it’s really not a big deal. It’s basically for me and my friends in the Porsche club.”