The completed kipe looks like a crinoline made for a giantess; from the slender waist the skirts swell to a diameter of eight feet at the hem.
The kipe is only the mouth to the fisherman's elaborate trap and is fixed so that it faces up-river.
Source: wiktionary
Johnny imagines all manner of chrome gadgetry that he could kipe and give to his father to jazz up his ’fifty-six Ford Vicky ragtop.