Kevin Tomka first laid eyes on his 1964 Dodge Polara when he was about 11 or 12 years old in his hometown of Dodge, Neb. It cast such a spell on him that when he heard that it might be for sale in 2005 he drove immediately from his Overland Park home to Dodge to buy the car. He is the third owner.

 Dodge is a farm community about an hour and a half north of Omaha. The Polara was sold by Farmer’s Garage in Dodge, and the car always stayed in the town. Tomka is a huge fan of cars from the Chrysler Corp., in part because his first car was a 1966 Dodge Charger.

 “I shouldn’t say I purchased the car,” Tomka said. “It was more like an adoption. The first two owners were there and had to approve of what I was going to do with the car. I felt privileged and honored to own the car because of its heritage in the area.”

 Even though the car was in excellent shape, Tomka took it to Dan Hunt in Lincoln, Neb., for a complete frame-off restoration. The result, which was finished last August, is stunning. The paint is as smooth as a mirror. The chrome was replated and the stainless steel trim was polished. No detail was too small for attention. Tomka said it took him two years to find new medallions for the front fenders.

 Although the car has 102,000 miles, the 383-cubic-inch engine has only 2,400 miles since being rebuilt. The engine has been enhanced with parts from the Mopar Performance Package.  The automatic transmission has been fitted with a B&M shift linkage.

 After much thought, Tomka decided to give the car a more contemporary look by mounting 18-inch wheels in front and 20-inch wheels in back. While purists might cringe, the large-diameter wheels are a perfect exclamation point.

 Tomka’s Dodge won the Flowmaster Award at the Goodguys Midwestern Nationals at Kansas Speedway over Labor Day weekend and it was runner-up to Best in Show at the Arthritis Foundation car show in September.

 Last fall, Tomka trailered his car to Westpoint, Neb., near his hometown, for a car show, and it won the sponsor’s trophy.

 “They (people in his hometown) absolutely loved what I’ve done with the car,” Tomka said, “but some of the diehard locals were probably not happy that I took the car out of the area.”