The Kinder Sedan

There was supposed to be a full-blown, no-holds-barred search for the history of this one—a hair raising, phone ringing adventure of sorts that covered a couple of regions and a time zone or two. But before we get mucked up with any of that, let’s take a look at how this one came about.

As I was thumbing through the classifieds in the back of Hot Rod Magazine, I stumbled upon the sedan you see above. Not this image, but one of it during that same time period. The entry was simple (it bumped right up to the 25-word limit), but it piqued my interest. It read:

SELL — ’32 Ford C/Altered, trailer, ’57 Chevy 283 competition engine ran only at ’61 Nationals. Quick change. 12:25 e.t., 112.5 mph Muncie records. $1795. All inquires answered. Steve Kinder, 211 East Plum St., Centerville, Indiana.

And then there it was, sandwiched between the lines of text. There was no doubt that this Tudor was a dragstrip-only machine with its hard chop, heavily set back motor and vicious gathering of straight pipes. Although it was channeled hard, it still sat with a nose up stance for optimized weight transfer. Slicks were of the whitewall/rock hard variety, and Moon discs rounded out each wheel. The whole setup had an unmistakable “Orange Crate-meets-D-C-B-Coupe-vibe.”

The next step was a natural one: find Steve Kinder. It wasn’t long before I learned two critical pieces of information in rapid succession: Steve passed away more than four decades ago, and his brother Ron was searching for the sedan. His query helped outline the car’s past.

In the late ’50s, Ron and his brother built the C/Altered Tudor in their home garage just north of Main Street in Muncie, Indiana. Even in its earliest form, the car was chopped, channeled and fitted with smallblock Chevy power. The Tudor sported a ¾-ton rear axle with the oversized hubs out back, a dropped axle up front and was finished in black primer. While the car was in this guise, it captured the class record at Muncie Dragway that never was beaten.

The Kinders eventually finished the car with a beautiful dark red paintjob and competed at the ’61 Nationals, as indicated by the ad in Hot Rod. As the ’60s progressed, professionally built cars were on the rise and the heavy Tudor was soon outmatched. Steve put the sedan up for sale, and by 1963 the car was gone. It resurfaced looking very much the same at Indiana dragstrips throughout the ’60s, maintaining its signature paint and Chevy power. For a short period it was raced as the “Sugarbear,�? and after keeping tabs on it into the ’80s, the trail went cold.

Even though I don’t have any leads to the whereabouts of the Kinder’s old sedan, I figured now would be as good of time as any to see if anyone else does. In the meantime, check out Ron’s photo collection of the car through the years (that’s him with the rag!), as well as the tribute built by a local guy who remembered the car from when he was a kid.

—Joey Ukrop

Photos from the Kinder collection. To view the original thread, click here.