In Great Bend, Kan., the Denning family had six boys and three girls. The boys all worked and that meant they needed cars to get to their jobs.

But you know boys and horsepower. Most of the Denning boys chose Plymouth Roadrunners. Because there were so many cars in the family, Jim said his mother referred to them by nicknames based on their colors. She called his 1973 black and white Roadrunner “Skunk.”

“We liked Plymouths because it was the smallest car company, and we liked our cars to be different,” Jim said. “Most of the other kids drove Super Sports and Camaros.”

Jim, and his brother, Frank, were well known in Great Bend for having fast cars. When challenged, they would head to the local drag strip to defend their honor. Several times it was settled going to stop light to stop light on Main Street.

It may seem unlikely, but Great Bend is legendary in the drag racing world. The first National Hot Rod Association “Nationals” were held in Great Bend in 1955. The track is still in operation.

Today, Jim Denning, 56, of Overland Park, represents the 19^th District in the Kansas House of Representatives. He is also owns four Plymouth Roadrunners. His brother, Frank, is the Johnson County Sheriff, and he owns and races a highly modified Chevy Nova.

“Back in high school, Frank and I built a 1955 Chevy to race,” Jim said. They were challenged to a drag race but blew the engine at the starting line.

“The challenger asked if we would be interested in racing my ’73 Roadrunner street car instead,” Jim said. We won the race by a car length. The challenger later bought the Roadrunner. “If I can’t beat it, I’ll buy it,” said the challenger.

As happens to so many enthusiasts, Jim put his car passion on hold as he raised a family and established his career. After his three daughters were through college, he decided it was time to revisit his Roadrunner passion. Now he and his wife, Marearl, have four: a 1969, a 1970, a 1971 and a 1973. All are in exceptional condition.

The black 1973, now wearing the nickname Skunk like his car from high school, was a rusted mess when Jim acquired it in 2008. He said the ’73 Roadrunner represents the end of the muscle car era because that was the year the OPEC oil embargo brought long gas lines and rising prices.

Jim said Hot Rod Express in Blue Springs restored his ’73. They took all of the body parts to an idled Nissan plant in Alabama and had them electrocoated. “It won’t rust for 100 years,” Jim said.

Once reassembled, the black ’73 was outfitted with 4.11 rear-end gears and the 440 engine was stroked. Jim has entered it in several vintage drag races where it turns an 11-second quarter mile. That’s fast, even for today.

“That car is so powerful,” he said, “it can be dangerous if you don’t know what to expect when you tromp on the throttle.”

Once spring comes, Jim takes his Roadrunners out of storage. He likes nothing more than driving them, so each weekend he picks one, cleans it up and uses it for the weekend.

Growing up in Great Bend may seem long ago, but not when he slips behind the wheel of a Roadrunner.

John Muller loves the design of early Corvettes more than any other American car. He once owned a 1955, but in spite of how much he liked its styling, he wasn’t happy with the way it drove. What he really wanted was an original look with modern drivability.

Muller, formerly of Kansas City, now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. He sold Muller Advertising in 2007 but is still an employee of Muller Bressler and Brown. He opened the M80Art gallery in Scottsdale’s Borgata Mall and does commissioned paintings.

Muller has owned and restored several historically significant cars, namely the Pupilidy Special, the Pooper, the Mongoose Spyder and the Tojeiro Climax. He is currently restoring the Dick Williams Sports Special. Muller still competes in a couple of vintage sports car races each year.

Muller found this well-used 1954 Corvette on eBay in 2004. The former racecar was, in Muller’s words, “nearly a basket case.” It was a perfect candidate for a transplant. Muller found a 5.7-liter, Corvette LS1 engine and six-speed transmission, plus new brakes and suspension pieces. Hot Rod Express in Blue Springs spent nearly two years transforming his ’Vette.

A few years later, one of Muller’s friends was driving the car when his hip went out as he was turning a corner. His right leg jammed the throttle wide open and the car jumped a curb, hitting a 100-year-old oak tree at roughly 50 miles per hour. The car sustained significant damage.

Muller had the wreck taken to Carriage and Motor Works in Kansas City, Kan. The staff began the tedious process of rebuilding the car from the ground up. They completely disassembled it and repaired or replaced nearly every body panel. They straightened and reinforced the frame, rebuilt the suspension and reupholstered the interior. David Henderson said the overhaul took about 1,700 hours.

Although the car was painted red before the wreck, Muller and Henderson decided to give it a period-correct metallic blue paint job accented with a fawn colored leather interior. The air conditioning system is tucked up under the dash so the car looks complete original to the casual observer.

Non-stock magnesium-style wheels and a lowered ride height are the only clue that this is not a stock 1954 Corvette, at least until you open the hood and find the late-model V-8 in place of the original six-cylinder.

The Corvette is now in Arizona. It may look like a senior citizen, but it performs like a youngster, and that’s just what Muller wanted.

When it comes to restorations, a 1962 Plymouth Belvedere is one of the last cars to come to mind, but the Belvedere was precisely what Jerry E. Ward wanted. Ward said he loves Camaros, Mustangs and the like, but there are thousands of those. He prefers restoring cars that are different and more unusual.

Ward, 71, of North Kansas City, has owned numerous cars throughout his life and his enthusiasm is contagious. His son, Jay Ward, is the guardian of the Cars franchise for the Pixar Animation Studios. He credits his dad’s love of cars for stimulating his interest in autos. He has been an automotive consultant for the two Cars movies and is the organizer of the annual Pixar Motorama car show. Jay was born in Kansas City but moved to California as a youngster.

Ward said that since 1975 he has worked on 10 or 12 cars that he classifies as “special.”  He keeps them for a while after they’re finished but the challenge is in taking on a new project so he eventually sells them at a classic-car auction. In 2010 he rebuilt a 1955 Studebaker Commander Starliner and sold it last spring.

The idea for the Belvedere began a couple of years ago when Ward bought a V-10 engine from a wrecked Dodge Viper. He envisioned dropping that monster engine into a vintage Chrysler product. This 1962 Plymouth was inviting because its body was completely free of rust, a result of living its life in Texas. The ’62 was the first Plymouth with unibody construction, and that meant a sound body was even more valuable because it cannot be removed from the frame for restoration.

Once Ward got the car to his shop he discovered that installing the Viper engine would require a great deal of surgery on the car because the engine was so long. He didn’t want to do that because it would be quite costly and it would destroy the structural integrity of the car. He decided to keep the 318-cubic-inch V-8.

The’62 Belvedere was slightly smaller than the 1961, and that was done at a time when downsizing was not part of the automotive lexicon. In today’s terms, it is still quite a big car. Five or six people can fit inside.

Ward’s restoration routine starts when he takes the car to Bodyworks Unlimited in Kansas City. “They give me a corner of the shop,” he said, “and I prepare the body for painting. Once I get everything ready, they apply the final paint.” The result is nearly flawless.

Ward then takes the car to Don Kite for upholstery. Kite, who lives in the country not far from Harrisonville, is well known for his automotive interiors and he has done several of Ward’s cars. He upholstered the Plymouth in black and silver leather.

Much of the Belvedere’s bright trim is stainless steel, and Louis Myers of Fort Osage polished it back to brilliance. The bumpers have been rechromed.

As Ward walks around his finished project he beams. His pristine Belvedere reflects more than his perseverance and perfection, it also reflects his deep-seated love of cars. And, in a distant way, it is one more connection with his son, Jay.

Tiny cars have intrigued Duane Saunders since he first saw a BMW Isetta at Fort Sill, Okla., in 1963. Saunders, from Downs, Kan., was in the Army after graduating from K-State in 1961.

“Many soldiers brought Isettas home from overseas duty,” he said, because it only cost $50 to have the car transported. Saunders bought one for $200 and kept it for five or six years.

Saunders was a physical therapist, and he lived in Great Bend until 1981, when he moved to Prior Lake, a suburb of Minneapolis, because his wife was from Minnesota. He had several clinics and 17 patents on sports medicine equipment. One of his most famous items was the Saunders S’port All, a back support combined with compression shorts which was popularized by pro golfer Payne Stewart.

In 2007, Saunders sold his company, and his daughter said he needed something to fill his time in retirement so he wouldn’t get bored. He decided to tinker with tiny cars again, and he bought a Subaru 360. That led to the purchase of several BMW Isettas in both 300 and 600 configurations, and then Saunders hired a body man.

“I took ’em apart and he put ’em back together,” he said. Before long, his hobby had turned into Saunders Classic Cars that specialized in restoring mini cars.

 The Isetta 300 is powered by a 298cc single-cylinder engine and has a top speed of 53 miles per hour. More than 160,000 were produced between 1956 and 1962. Two passengers can fit inside, and there is only one door, in front. The car weighs 770 pounds and is 89.8 inches long. It gets 63 miles per gallon.

One of Saunders’ wackier notions was covering one of his Isettas with cork. It was on display recently at the Greater Kansas City Auto Show, and it attracted people like bees to honey. Saunders’ meticulously cuts each cork in half lengthwise before gluing it to the car, and he often uses a Dremel tool to shape the backside of the cork so it fits flush to the body.

The Cork Isetta is but one example of how Saunders has fun with cars. He is an avid K-State alumnus, and he travels from Minnesota for football games. Each year he dons a purple Elvis suit and drives his 1963 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, painted silver and trimmed in purple, in the homecoming parade.

So far, retirement is far from boring for Saunders, and he intends to keep having fun.

An icon is a recognizable, famous symbol, but the dictionary says it is also an image of a holy person. I smiled when I read that because when it comes to worshipping at the altar of automotive performance, few icons are as easily recognized or worshipped more faithfully than the Porsche 911.

For engineers and stylists, designing a new 911 is a delicate process, like balancing on a knife’s edge. The goal is to innovate and move the concept forward while keeping its essence, or DNA, alive and well. The task is like reinventing Coca Cola or the Big Mac.

The 2012 is the seventh generation of the 911 that was introduced almost 50 years ago. The new car, technically known as the 991, is light years ahead of that first car. Compared to last year’s model, the 2012 is longer, lower, has a wider front track and a new rear axle compared to last year’s model.

In spite of the changes, you can see and feel the first car in this one. The shape that has evolved through seven redesigns is still instantly recognizable. The raspy, high-strung wail from the flat-six engine is deeper and more mature, but it’s still that of a 911. Porsches have a distinct feel, and this car maintains that. It is direct, but refined. Some writers have criticized the new car for being too refined, not as edgy as before, but I embrace the change.

The 2012 comes in Carrera and Carrera S models. The Carrera’s base price is $82,100 and the Carrera S starts at $96,400. Porsche lets buyers tailor their cars with many options, but that also bumps the price considerably. The test car had $23,000 worth of options.

I drove a Carrera S for a little more than a day, and I was captivated by its ability to be as docile as an economy car one minute and viciously fast the next. Porsche’s introductory video says the 911 will run out of driver before the driver runs out of car, and that certainly was the case with me. The performance of this car is so prodigious that you need a race track, or maybe the autobahn in the wee hours of the morning, to explore its capabilities.

Technological development has long been a Porsche trademark, and the 911 continues that tradition. The 3.4-liter engine in the Carrera is smaller than last year, yet its 350 horsepower is greater than last year’s 3.6-liter engine, and it gets better fuel economy. The auto start/stop function shuts off the engine at stoplights and a “sailing” function enables the engine to idle when the car is cruising a long stretch of downhill expressway.

Transmission choices include a seven-speed manual and a seven-speed PDK, or dual-clutch automatic. The PDK is essentially a seven-speed manual gearbox with two automatic clutches and it changes gears in milliseconds. In normal mode, the transmission shifts like an automatic, but the driver shifts manually with steering wheel paddles.

The Carrera S has a 3.8-liter engine with 400 horsepower, yet it’s rated at 20 miles per gallon in the city and 27 on the highway.

The Carrera can sprint to 60 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds and has a top track speed of 179 mph. The Carrera S squirts to 60 in 3.9 seconds and its top track speed is 187.

At normal speeds, the Carrera S purrs like a kitten and is plenty happy to chug along as low as 1,400 rpm in seventh gear. Click the Sport or Sport Plus button on the console, stab the throttle and it summons the demon from within. Acceleration is explosive. Because the test car was brand new I did not take the engine to maximum revs, but it was still exceedingly fast.

For Porsche, cornering and braking are as important as acceleration. It is hard to explore the car’s road holding capability on public roads, but suffice it to say that the car grabs the pavement as if the tires were bear claws. The Dynamic Chassis Control and Torque Vectoring rear axle are major contributors to the car’s stability in cornering.

For 2012, the 911’s wheelbase has grown by nearly four inches, although the car’s overall length is just 2.2 inches longer. A new rear axle design enabled the engine to be moved forward for better weight distribution. And speaking of weight, this car is about 100 pounds lighter than before due to the use of aluminum for the doors, hood, roof and engine lid.

The longer wheelbase gives a roomier cabin. The center console is now similar to that of the Panamera.

The cabin is surprisingly quiet, helped in part by having the outside mirrors mounted on the doors instead of the windshield pillars.

Porsche brakes are extremely powerful, and those on the 911 erase speed immediately.

Safety items include anti-lock brakes, traction control and vehicle stability control. Front, side and side-curtain airbags are standard, too.

Price:

The base price of the test car was $96,400. Options included metallic paint, black leather seats, Bose audio system, sport suspension, PDK, 20-inch Carrera wheels, park assist, sunroof, multi-function steering wheel and the premium plus package. The sticker price was $120,585.

Warranty: Four years or 50,000 miles.

To get in touch with Tom Strongman, send e-mail to tom@tomstrongman.com.

SPECIFICATIONS:

2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S

Engine: 3.8-liter, 400-hp 6-cyl.

Transmission: Seven-speed PDK

Rear-wheel drive

Wheelbase: 96.46 inches

Curb weight: 3,120 pounds

Base price: $96,400

As driven: $120,585

Mpg rating: 20 city, 27 hwy.

ST. LOUIS — Cliff and Jack Reuter have been playing with cars since Cliff was born, and some of the 37 cars that have passed through Jack’s hands have been the stuff of legends.

The list is staggering, but it includes such famous Ferraris as 1962 Ferrari GTO, a 1954 250 Monza “Loud Mouth,” a 1953 166 Mille Miglia that was the personal car of Enzo Ferrari’s son Dino and two Short Wheelbase Berlinettas. He also owned such luminaries as a Birdcage Maserati, Porsche 550 Spyder and a 1927 Bugatti Type 37.

Jack, now 77, owned many of those cars in the 1960s and 1970s when the prices were relatively modest, but had he kept them, their value would be staggering. Jack sold the 250 Monza in 1968, the year Cliff was born, but in 1999 it brought $2.9 million at auction in Monterey, Calif. Today, a GTO may be worth as much as $30 million.

While describing all of the fabulous cars he has owned, Jack said he has no regrets. Just knowing that he owned some of the most iconic vehicles ever built seems to be satisfaction enough.

More recently, Jack and Cliff have been involved with all manner of tiny Italian sports racers, most notably Bandinis. The Bandini was a tiny Italian sports racer not much bigger than a golf cart, and 750 cc American Crosley engines powered many. Some later models had Bandini engines.

Cliff is so enraptured by these tiny cars that he has developed a website, www.etceterini.com, to chronicle brands such as Moretti, Abarth, Volpini, Nardi, Ermini, Stanguellini and Siata. Cliff’s site is also a repository of hundreds of racing photos, result sheets and programs from the 1950s and 1960s.

The Reuters’ newest acquisition is a 1951 Bandini Siluro Motto Crosley 750cc Devin Monza. The original aluminum body was replaced by a Devin Monza fiberglass body in 1957. The car was raced at one time by Clair “Sonny” Reuter of Naperville, Ill., (no relation to Cliff or Jack). In 1953, this car was raced at the Chanute Air Force Base sports car races that were photographed by my father, Bob Strongman, for Road and Track magazine.

“I got into collecting because of my dad,” Cliff said. “He had some of the greatest cars on the planet but always liked little, obscure Italian cars.” And so they continue, gathering information and maintaining one of the most complete archives about these little racers in addition to restoring cars.

Will they restore this fiberglass-bodied Bandini or leave it as is? They’re not sure at this point, but they have acquired some of the original cycle-fendered body pieces in case they want to return it to its 1951 configuration.

Last Christmas Eve, as Dick Weber and his family left mass at St. Agnes Catholic Church, he spotted a 1961 Chevy Bel Air hardtop.

“That’s my car,” he blurted as the car drove around the corner. “That’s just like the car I want.”

He didn’t see that his son, David, from San Diego, was behind the wheel.

“That is your car,” said his son Michael.

Weber said he was speechless. “David has a big heart like his mom,” Weber said. “He likes to make people feel good.”

As David wrote in an e-mail, “The look on his face as I drove around the corner is one I will never forget and will always hold a special place in my heart. Finally I was able to surprise dad and give him such a special gift.” This was that third car that David bought while trying to find just the right one.

This story began several years ago when Weber and David saw a ’61 bubble top Bel Air at Wagner’s Classic Cars in Bonner Springs. The car is called a bubble top because the roof pillars are thin and delicate and the back window is huge.

“You could always see the gleam in his eye whenever he was in the presence of one or was thinking about one,” wrote David.

About five years ago, David bought a 1961 Bel Air in Florida on eBay but when Weber went to get it he discovered it was nothing more than a pile of rust sitting in a ditch. He left it as he found it and came home empty-handed.

A couple of years later, David found a ’61 Bel Air two-door in California and had it shipped here. It was not a bubble top and it needed considerable work, but it was a ’61 Bel Air. Weber still has it.

David kept looking for the elusive bubble top, and found one about a year ago in West Palm Beach. But he lost his phone and with it, the seller’s contact information. He figured the car was gone.

About 10 days before Christmas, David received a text from the man asking if he was still interested in the car. The car was shipped to Weber’s daughter, Molly Voris, and it arrived here on Christmas Eve.

Weber, soon to be 65, retired in 2007 after 35 years with the post office. His wife, Marianne, works at Village Presbyterian Church. As youngsters, the couple lived four houses apart near 71^st and Metcalf. They grew up together, never dated anyone else and have been married for 42 years. They have six children and six grandchildren.

Weber wants to take this car on a cross-country trip on Route 66.

“At least now they are one step closer to accomplishing the ultimate dream,” David wrote. “My parents are nothing short of amazing. They are living saints upon this earth . . . they have always put others before themselves and sacrificed so much for the family growing up, and still do today. They sent all six of us kids to Catholic school from pre-school through high school. I don’t think there is anything we can do to thank them enough for everything they have done for us. I think I can safely speak for the rest of the five Weber children when I say we love to spoil them every chance we get.”

Talk about Christmas spirit.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — When Paul Epperson and a friend looked at Corvairs in a southern Missouri barn he spied a Lotus buried under layers of garage junk, but it wasn’t for sale. Yet. Talk about serendipity.

Epperson, 46, is a former airline pilot who likes to restore cars and he was haunted by the hulk of the Lotus, which he later discovered to be a 1958 Lotus Eleven Series 2 LeMans.

He stayed in contact with the owner, and about a year later he returned to show the man a picture of the Corvair that he and his friend restored. The man asked, “Are you still interested in the Lotus?’’

“If I can afford it, yes,” Epperson said, and with that, the two agreed on a price. That was 2008. Thus began an odyssey that is still unfolding.

The Lotus Eleven, built in England by Colin Chapman between 1956 and 1958, is the epitome of a streamlined, lightweight, road-going racer and many consider it to be one of the most beautiful racers ever designed. In racing, it dominated it class, winning hundreds of club races but also scoring class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Sebring. The Eleven was powered by a tiny four-cylinder engine, but the excellent aerodynamics, strong brakes and leech-like road holding meant that it could outrun cars that were bigger and more powerful. Epperson’s car has a 1498 cc engine that produces about 100 horsepower, but it only weighs 850 pounds.

Epperson, and his wife, Christine, attacked the restoration as if they were archaeologists, for unearthing every bit of documentation regarding the car’s history and provenance was as important, and in some cases, more time consuming, than actually restoring the car. The original chassis plate was missing, but by consulting a Lotus historian who came to see the car, they were able to verify that the car was a real Lotus and not a replica.

The Eppersons spent countless hours of searching all kinds of records, old race results, programs and even tax roles to track down previous owners. They found that Gregg Brumm raced the car in 1964 and 1965 while working on an MBA from Stanford University in California. Brumm graduated in 1965 and returned to St. Louis, where he raced the car in 1966. In 1967, he sold the car to Gerry Watson.

Their search eventually connected them with Watson. He lived just two miles away. He said he had removed the car’s original chassis identification plate for a memento when he sold it. Watson came to see the car and brought the missing chassis plate and several photographs.

Epperson decided to restore the car as it was during Gregg Brumm’s ownership and his work is first rate. Every detail, including the 1955 Packard Sapphire Blue Metallic paint is just as it was when Brumm raced it.

Last July, before the car was displayed at the Concours d’Elegance of America (formerly Meadow Brook) in Michigan, Epperson reunited Brumm and the Lotus for a few laps around Michigan International Speedway. What could be more fitting?

The Eppersons have compiled nearly 200 pages of information about the car and may write a book. They continue to seek information about the car.

You would think Bob Holloway’s 1947 Cadillac Series 61 Sedanette is a lovingly restored classic until he turns the key and the Northstar V-8 rumbles to life. That’s when it becomes clear that this is more than just another pretty restoration.

Holloway, of Leawood, is a retired businessman whose company did body and paintwork for over-the-road trucks, fire trucks and trucks of all kinds. He started his business in 1975 and closed it in 2010.

Because Holloway has a background in body and paint, it’s no wonder that his cars (he has several) all look pristine. The paint on the Cadillac, for example is a very subtle two-tone of Corvette Pewter and Mercedes-Benz Silver.

“I wanted to keep the richness of the Cadillac without the brightness of a street rod,” he said, but he went to a modern drive train for safety, reliability and comfort.

The Caddy’s original flathead V-8 was dumped for something more modern, a 4.6-liter Northstar from an Eldorado. It had just 16,000 miles. Installing the Northstar was a challenge because the engine was originally mounted transversely in a front-wheel-drive vehicle. Mounting it longitudinally to a GM 700R4 automatic transmission was quite a challenge.

“The conversion fought me every inch of the way,” Holloway said. Progress, he said, was like one step forward and two steps back. In the end, however, he found someone who scoured the country for the right parts, and the conversion was complete. The rear axle is an eight-inch Ford.

The Caddy now has power disc brakes, power windows, air conditioning and power steering. The steering wheel came from France.

Holloway said his first vehicle was a ’54 Ford truck, and he got it when he was 14 years old. Since then he has had15 Corvettes. He drag raced them and road raced them for several years.

Twelve years ago, Holloway sold a big boat and bought a 1946 Ford coupe. That was his first foray into street rods, and he still has it. He painted it Vermillion Red and Indian Silver, and a 5.0-liter Ford V-8 sits under the hood.

“A lot of people thought I should use a Chevy V-8,” he said, “but I wanted to keep a Ford engine in a Ford.” He said it gets as much as 26 miles per gallon on the highway.

To Holloway, his cars are for driving, not for showing, and that’s why he wants them to have all of the conveniences of a contemporary car.