Restored cars unveiled in Iola
By Holly Neumann
Two classic cars made their debut at this year’s Iola Car Show.
Custom painter Bill Stull and his team unveiled the vehicles at this year’s show, which drew thousands of car enthusiasts and vendors to Iola July 8-10.
Stull’s business, Kuzin’s Kustom Body & Paint of Polonia, refurbished the cars, a 1978 Z28 Camaro owned by Randy Karberg and Stull’s 1981 Corvette.
“Finally, we are all back in Iola,” Stull said before revealing Karberg’s Camaro. “I am so happy to be here to share what I love doing.”
The car, named Randy’s Z Stuck in the ‘70s, has a NASCAR front spoiler with big orange fog lights, hooker header side pipes, fog headlights and taillights, slapper bars and a rear window valance.
“The whole car has been ‘70s,” Stull said. “It’s a beautiful rust-free car with 29,000 original miles. It was given new interior carpet and a deep brandy wine exterior color. We put a three stroker in it and a five-speed for easy cruising.”
Karberg bought the car for $7,200 in 1978.
“I have had a lot of fun with it throughout the years,” he said. “The original color was yellow-orange and I ordered it with a black interior in case I ever wanted to repaint it. And here we are.”
Along with hundreds of people in attendance, Karberg was seeing his restored car for the first time.
“It is so pretty,” he said. “Bill did a great job. There is still a lot of stuff to do, but I am looking forward to getting behind the wheel again.”
Stull also unveiled his 1981 Corvette, which he described as wild.
“All I really had to do with this one is spruce it up a little,” he said. “We had a 500-horse engine built for it, a new transmission and custom wheels,” he said. “We didn’t really have a lot of body work to do.”
Show organizers wanted another 1970s paint scheme and that is exactly what Kuzin’s Kustom Body and Paint gave them.
“The car is orange, yellow, candy apple red, silver and black,” Stull said. “We spent a little over 90 hours painting it and it definitely fits the theme of the car show.”
Although Stull enjoyed working on a car of his own, he admitted working on his customers’ cars is a lot more fun.
“Seeing their reaction to the finished product is the best,” he said.
Stull is humbled at being known nationwide as one of the best in the business.
“There is no greater feeling knowing that you gave the customer exactly what they were looking for,” he said. “Each car is truly a labor of love.”