North Carolina’s Dr. Mopar’s High Performance Celebrates 25 Years

This article originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of THE SHOP magazine.

By Maura Keller

Located two miles from downtown Burlington, North Carolina, Dr. Mopar’s High Performance LLC is a family-owned and operated business specializing in modern and classic AMC (American Motors), Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep and Ram/Mopar vehicles in both stock and performance formats—but particularly performance.

The company offers complete engine and TorqueFlite transmission rebuilds for stock and performance projects, and it also sells and installs racing parts as well as new tires, drag slicks and other vehicle accessories.

The origins of Dr. Mopar’s High Performance began with grandpa “Pappy” John Ketteman in Benton, Illinois.

“Our family has over 50 years of working on AMC/Mopar products,” says Chris “Doc” Ketteman, owner of Dr. Mopar’s High Performance and Pappy’s grandson. “Pappy was not only a diehard Mopar man, but he was also a great innovator and entrepreneur.”

Besides operating the Gulf Oil service station with his wife and 12 kids and helping Southern Illinois’ largest Dodge dealer, Stotlar Motors, Pappy also took time to pursue many business, sports and political ventures.

“Aside from his deep love of black Chryslers—of which he had many—he loved his family dearly and did what was necessary to take care of nine boys and three girls,” Ketteman says. “It wasn’t uncommon for Pappy’s shop to have many well-known people stop in and pay a visit, including Anthony ‘Andy’ Granatelli, the CEO for STP, George Harrison of the Beatles, actor John Malkovich and many well-known athletes.”

In October 1971, Pappy decided to sell the service station in order to pursue other business interests in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Meanwhile, his children continued to invest their time, talents and treasure into the automotive industry, following his passion.

Pappy’s eldest son, Raymond, worked at Stotlar Dodge as the head parts man and mechanic. Pappy’s son, John, went to work for the Benton Ford Dealer as a mechanic/paint and body and owned nearly every performance car that was available at the time—one of his favorites being a 383 4-speed Plymouth Roadrunner.

Pappy passed away on April 9, 1993, and never saw his grandson carry on his legacy. But Doc knows he would be proud.

RAISED ON PERFORMANCE

As a child growing up in “The Dukes of Hazzard” era, cars were like music to Doc Ketteman.

“My fondest memory as a child was when our next door neighbor pulled into his driveway with the General Lee,” Ketteman says. “I remember him putting me through the window, as the doors were welded shut, and seeing the tan-colored interior, the roll bar cage and some writing on the dash. He honked the Dixie horn for me and then proceeded to fire up the monster Mopar big block. I’ll never forget that rumble and I was the happiest kid on the planet. From that moment on I had caught the bug—horsepower!”

Ketteman signed up for the U.S. Army Reserves while a junior in high school and did boot camp in between junior and senior year. His job was 54B10 Nuclear/Biological/Chemical Warfare Specialist Ops.

Although Ketteman signed up for eight years, he stayed for 15, including inactive time. During his time in the service, he also worked with a mechanized smoke unit. He ended up taking some courses in automotive technology while still in the military and in 2000 founded Dr. Mopar’s High Performance.

“I may not have the resources the big shops do, but the quality of work is what speaks for my shop. I can guarantee that I put forth my best efforts to provide a quality product to the end user,” Ketteman says. “My goal from the beginning was to focus on performance for classic models, but the business model changes as you find different opportunities. I set out to forge my own path and to carry on my family legacy.”

Throughout the history of Dr. Mopar’s High Performance, Ketteman has had the opportunity to work on several unique projects, including a 2014 Dodge Durango RT, known as “The Dame.” The build created a friendship with customer George Beato and his family, earned magazine coverage and also inspired the local Advance Auto Parts in Burlington, North Carolina, to host a car show for the first time, Ketteman reports.

Most of Dr. Mopar’s High Performance customers are those who “eat, sleep and breathe” AMC and Mopar vehicles—both classic and modern.

“The majority of our customer base is looking for performance upgrades or engine rebuilds in both stock and performance formats,” Ketteman says. “On occasion, we do have general maintenance work on stock vehicles.”

To expand his company’s reach, Ketteman has tried sponsoring school T-shirts for sports teams and placing ads on restaurant menus. He has also left business cards at local auto parts stores and put cards on community boards at grocery stores, etc.

“Frankly, since social media has become such a huge part of the community, that is where the majority of our customers come from,” Ketteman says. As such, he promotes his company on Instagram and other social media sites including Facebook, Pinterest and elsewhere.

“Every project, race, car show or event attended, or subject pertaining to our target audience, gets posted,” Ketteman says. “Sometimes I will try something different, just to see the results. I will also try to differ when possible from other pages. For example, there may be a recent post that has a lot of engagement, so you may share that on your page in order to try and grow new viewers or to maintain what you have. Other times you may look for something unique with low views and share to your page to spark interest. I try to share humor on occasion as well. But I always try to have the main focus be about our business.”

One example in which Ketteman used “bad” feedback to promote his page included a post asking, “Which motor would you like to see Stellantis bring back in modern form?”

“Our example was the Chrysler 340 in modern format—modern fuel injection, aluminum heads, etc., still be a pushrod V-8, or the Chrysler 383 in a similar format. Several people flipped out, saying we were trashing the great heritage of the 340 and 383, while others saw that it was only a hypothetical to get more engagement from our followers and express their ideas.”

He plans to post more videos of projects and related content in the coming year.

TEAM EFFORT

As a small shop with just one bay, Dr. Mopar takes all the help it can get when things get busy. Over the years, Ketteman has formed alliances with local businesses that have proved beneficial.

For instance, he has worked with several machine shops that perform quality work.

“We have found that Rick and Sherri Gerringer, owners of R&R Performance in Mebane, North Carolina, have not only performed high-quality work at a favorable price, but also created a lasting friendship,” Ketteman says. “They also operate the Classic Gear Jammers, the largest stick-shift bracket-style drag racing organization in the U.S.”

Ketteman says the greatest part of his job is the time that he’s able to spend with his father, who is often at the shop.

“We’re never promised tomorrow and he is now 70. It’s best to cherish the time spent; even something as simple as telling old stories while driving to pick up parts,” he says.

Ketteman says the industry is filled with “great people.”

“In my office I have what I call my ‘wall of fame.’ Some items are collected memorabilia, and others are autographs from those I have met or corresponded with at one point or another through the years. The other satisfying part is the moment after all the sweat and hard work is poured into a project and hearing that performance-modded vehicle roar to life.”

Looking ahead, Ketteman sees the industry heading toward the emergence of more aftermarket shops specializing in a specific brand or model of vehicle or a specific engine type.

“I also see more places leaning toward subscription-based services or remote-type services—whether it’s tech-based or the like,” he predicts. “If I had the means to do so, I’d develop a platform that allows you to choose the vehicle you need a performance-based tune on, then you get scheduled with a tuner for that vehicle. For example, you select your vehicle options to get your submission with the best-qualified tuner. If you have a supercharger, you get your request sent to tuners that have experience with that application versus sending you to someone who is only good at tuning basic bolt-ons.”

In that scenario, each tuner would be sent several requests daily and then pick and choose the ones for their skillset. They’d schedule a time that’s convenient for them and send a file with instructions.

“If a tune is needed for a race that day, they could schedule for that day for a live tuning expert to reach out and tune for them. I feel this could be very profitable and the tuners could keep their name anonymous and just be on a first-name basis.”

After being in business for nearly a quarter of a century, Ketteman has experienced his fair share of challenges and opportunities. He’s proud of his accomplishments over the years, whether it be the car shows and races he’s hosted to help hospice, or building his brand to where it is today.

“Most of all I’m proud, and I like to think my grandfather “Pappy” John Ketteman and my grandmother, Mary Lynch Ketteman, would be proud as well, that their grandson has carried on their legacy in his business,” Ketteman says. “Also, my grandfather’s passion for Dodge as well as family members’ passion for classic cars, street racing and the family stories, as well as hard work through the good times and the bad, motivated me to turn it into something positive and honor my family.”