Published: January 25, 2008 10:32 pm            

King of Mopars: Danville man builds national reputation on restoration of classic cars

DANVILLE, Ind. — Lucky is the man who turns his hobby into a lucrative profession.

For Ken Mosier, that’s restoring classic cars. Specifically, he’s reconditioned Chrysler Mopar cars (short for “Motor Parts”) for more than 25 years. And he’s earned a national reputation in the process. His work routinely wins awards and has been featured in car magazines and even country music videos.

As to how a man and his crew, who work out of a nondescript building here and barely advertise themselves, command such respect, Mosier says the answer is simple.

“We love cars,” he said. “And every car we work on, we treat it as if it’s our own. Our customers can see that in the final product.”

Mosier’s affinity for muscle cars started early. He bought his first one, a Plymouth Barracuda, with a friend. Their high school shop teacher helped them convert it for drag racing. Since they weren’t old enough to race yet, their teacher would enter it in his name at the local track, and they’d take turns driving it.

Thus began an allegiance that’s still going.

“That’s what I’ve been doing all my life since,” Mosier said.

He never intended on opening a shop. Initially Mosier would buy a car, refurbish it, exhibit it at shows, and start the process over.

“It just snowballed until I wound up opening a shop,” he said. “I really enjoy it.”

That shop, The Finer Details, has been at its current location for five years. Business is so booming that Mosier and his six-man crew are expanding operations into the space next door.

“My generation loves these cars,” Mosier said. “I love them because that’s what I grew up with. Those cars now are bringing in the most money. A few years ago ’55 to ’57 Chevys were big. Each generation has their cars, and as each generation gets to the point where they can afford these cars, the market goes up on them. Right now we’re at the peak of the muscle car market.”

The average restoration takes a year. The Finer Details is currently working on eight cars, including the electric yellow 1971 Barracuda prominently featured in the TV show “Nash Bridges.” A restoration by Mosier and his staff can cost anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000, not including the cost of the car.

“When we go through a car, every nut and bolt is restored,” Mosier said. “It gets very expensive very quick. You have over a thousand hours in labor on the cars. So there’s only a handful of people out there who can actually afford restorations like what we do.”

It’s so thorough that only date-coded parts are used, the only kind that’ll pass inspection at the car shows Mosier enters. Reproduction parts are strictly verboten.

“We win a lot of awards with our cars,” Mosier said. “People see the quality of the restorations.”

His favorite is a 1971 Barracuda that won Chrysler’s championship for show cars. It had to compete in seven states against thousands of cars. Besides its prominence, Mosier likes that one best because it most resembles the first muscle car he ever owned.

Last year alone, The Finer Details had five cars featured in magazines. At this year’s Indianapolis 500, they’ll display the restored 1971 pace car — the only one that’s ever been wrecked — along with the car that actually paced the whole race and the car given to Al Unser for winning the race.

Mosier’s expertise lies in the parts area of the operation. It’s also his job to find the cars, buy them, and do the final detail work.

It’s his crew, some of whom he’s know for more than 20 years, that he calls the “artists.” He met Jerry Jones through a trade magazine decades ago. Jason Smith, who owns a body shop here, has done a lot of paint work for Mosier over the years. The others on staff are Kevin Engel, Windy Adams, Brian Shrek, Kent Raby, and Jeff Schwartz.

“They’re very good at doing all the restoration work on the cars,” Mosier said.

They have to be. Some of their projects are much more challenging than others. The worst, Mosier says, was a 1970 Barracuda from Hawaii.

“People would think coming from Hawaii, it would be a nice car because all you see is sunshine there,” he said. “Well, the salt air there, if cars aren’t protected, just eats them from the top down.”

The car’s owner sent photos. Mosier told him the car was too rusted to restore, but the guy was persistent. It was his dream car — one of only two ever produced.

Each car at The Finer Details gets stripped upon acceptance into the stable. This car was so rusted the roof came off during this stage.

“I called him up and said I have a new idea for you,” Mosier said. “It would be cheaper if you just left it as a convertible. He didn’t know what I was talking about. I told him the roof just came off his car.”

Mosier’s proficiency remains in the classic Mopar makes.

“Today’s muscle cars, it’s a whole different ball game,” he said. “You’ve got to be a rocket scientist to work on those things.”

While there’s still a steady stream of Chryslers to return to glory, Mosier’s goal is to expand to General Motors classics next. Don’t expect a quick transition though.

“It’s taken us 25 years to learn these cars inside and out,” Mosier said.



Wade Coggeshall writes for the Hendricks County Flyer in Avon, Ind.

        

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