Lingenfelter Performance Engineering was founded over 40 years ago as an extension of John Lingenfelter’s deep desire to keep finding new ways that allowed him to go faster. As a racer, John was not bound by car type of engine configuration and his racing career spanned decades. He raced everything he could belt himself into and many don’t know, but John Lingenfelter was also the first Comp driver to break the six-second quarter-mile barrier.
Sadly in the fall of 2002 while doing what he loved, John lost control of his race car and crashed. After sustaining serious injuries in the accident John Lingenfelter passed away at the age of 58, but not before producing some of the most prolific and mesmerizing performance machines of the 1990s and beyond.
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has established itself as one of the country’s premier tuning shops that specializes in everything from simple bolt-ons to full custom builds worthy of any power aficionados garage, and while visiting the annual Detroit Autorama, we made sure to point a camera at a longtime friend of Power Automedia.
Having never had the opportunity to meet John Lingenfelter face to face, it was imperative that we sit with Mike Copeland the now operations manager of LPE and see what makes the passion at his shop still beat with such a strong heart. The future is certainly bright, and the company will continue to push the boundaries of performance and reliability for everything from the daily street car, to the full-blown race car.
Want more information about Lingenfelter Performance Engineering? Check out our recent in-depth “Five Questions” interview along with a more in-depth video of the company’s history.