History >>>>The Rodders Journal Shows The Moonlighter Some Love<<<<

I don’t have to tell everyone on the HAMB how awesome The Rodders Journal is…..but I am. When they called me and asked about featuring the Moonlighter, I was blown away. We had talked for months about how we could get Gene’s hot rod featured in a magazine and it always ended up with someone saying, “yeah, but The Rodders Journal would be bitchin!” To be honest we all thought it deserved to be featured in TRJ but really wasn’t sure if it’d make the cut. I mean come on, Steve and his team features the baddest hot rods in the world, and here we sit in the woods all the way across the country from them. We dreamed big and all the hard work was worth it when I got the call.
Everyone was blown away at the news. Folks were making plans to be sure the Moonlighter was detailed, Daron was scouting photo locations, getting old photos scanned and emailed to the staff, etc. The day finally came and we met Steve Coonan at the historical Greer Dragway for an introduction and to begin looking at different locations. We spent the day cruising around, eating, and bench racing like crazy. Just let me say, Steve Coonan is a hot rodder to the core. We enjoyed spending the day with him and listening to the cool stories of various hot rods and race cars they’ve shot over the years.
Gene’s story is one that I could listen to over and over, and now that it’s in print, folks all over the world will be able to enjoy it every time they pick up that book. I can’t say enough nice things about Steve and all the kind folks at The Rodders Journal. It’s hard to say which issue of TRJ is my favorite…until now.
Daron snapped a few shots from a distance while Steve was working his magic. These are Daron’s pictures but when I get some from Steve I’ll post them up as well.
Quain

New issue


Steve Coonan working his magic



Moonlighter


Moonlighter


Moonlighter

 

Cream of the crop car - cream of the crop magazine. Awesome!

 

That was an awesome day. So glad for Gene and his hot rod....it's bitchin!

 

Thank you Steve,for the feature on The Moonlighter,but the back story of Gene & Ruth Cromer and the long association with his good friend Melvin Craft is a pure joy to read.

I, like Quain have been a fan of Gene since I was a teenager and I lived just down the road from his shop but in the last couple of years I have gotten to know Ruth & the rest of the family much better and they are all good Christian people.

People I call friends.

A big thanks as always to Quain,had it not been for his persistence,his hard work and determination to talk Gene into letting him spearhead the project all this would not have happened.

There are many people that supported and helped with the project and to help people like the Gene and his extended family I know all the work being acknowledged in a publication like The Rodders Journal is proof and validation of a job well done. HRP

 

AWESOME !

 

Man that thing looked good sitting up on top of that hill!

 

Very cool, thanks for your build pictures and the update!

 

Is that drag strip in northern Ga? I always see a cool old track off I-75 on the way to Fl. Great featurefeature

 

Greer Drag strip,,far end. HRP

 

The track is located in the upstate of S.C. Greer Dragway is one of the tracks that The Moonlighter terrorized in the 1960s.

 

God I love that car.... the things I would do just to ride in it, let alone own it I can't say on this website....

 

Steve had to get the perfect angle.

 

OK, I wish I had a video. I could get some money for that. LOL

 

I was told that Gene was going to have The Moonlighter at the downtown Father's Day Car Show in Anderson this Saturday. HRP

 

Yep, that's what he told me today.

 

The Rodders Journal write up on Gene is 16 pages. Some great pic and story.

 

Looks like sometimes the good guys do win! Congratulations to all of you. Guess I'm about to have to buy my first copy of The Rodders Journal.

 

Beautiful Willys.

 

Somehow that just didn't sound right. Let's just say it's one beautiful, historic gasser!

 

This Willy's is awesome. Saw the car in person last oct. in Henderson, Nc. I also met Gene. True gentleman. Hope to see Gene and the Moonlighter this oct.....JT

 

This is one of my favorites even though Julie and Robin are standing in the wrong order in the "now" picture.

 

Can't wait to get my copy


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I don't know if Gene is Going to Henderson this year, but I do know that he is planning to Race with the South East Gassers The Sunday (Oct 19) after Henderson At Piedmont Dragway not far from the Henderson show.

 

RJ did good, Loved the article.

 

Sweet Willy's

 

Is the write up in the issue with the 32 roadster on the cover?

 

They have 2 different covers just look in the top left corner it say's number sixty three. It also has the Moonlighter willys listed on the cover.

 

Here are both covers for issue #63. HRP

 

Hot rod history will prove that Steve Coonan was just as much a visionary for his time as Robert Peterson was in 1948 at the birth of Hot Rod. I'll admit that I was skeptical at first about the idea of a premier hot rod magazine selling for north of $10. I was wrong and happy to admit it.
Well, Mr. Skeptical now has a complete collection of all issues including both covers of all but a couple. I only read one cover of each issue and do so very carefully so as not to damage the binding or soil the pages. The other copy remains unread. I'm now looking for an antique book case to store and display them. Between the TRJ and a HAMB Alliance membership I'm getting better quality information and reading than the 8-10 magazine subscriptions I've dropped and getting it for less dollar outlay.

Frank

 

Frank,I think you just hit the nail on the head! HRP