Well finally found another story worthy of the HAMB All photos and captioning form here: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrxp-1207-legendary-tuner-dean-moon-pictures-history/ The early years of the hot rod industry stumbled about like a drunken sailor. Few manufacturers really knew what they were doing or where they were headed. Many of these young, innovative companies failed to grasp the limited lifespan of small firms supported by a narrow range of customers and a single source of income. Icons of the automotive world such as Vic Edelbrock Sr., Ed Iskenderian, Fred Oftenhauser, and Dean Moon, managed to survive their early years through a combination of hard work, good luck, and perfect timing. Dean Moon came from tiny New Richland, Minnesota, where his dad ran the Phillips 66 gas station. In the '20s, a temperance movement was the catalyst for the federal law known as Prohibition. Law-abiding citizens became criminals overnight to fulfill the continuing desire for alcohol. Depression-era financial struggles enticed many to join this lucrative underground. Dean's dad supplemented the family income and provided a public service, all from one location. You could get a can of 100-proof alcohol or 67-octane gasoline at "Pop" Moon's station. All went well until Pop Moon got busted and was fined $75. In 1934, relatives from California visited and expounded on the benefits of living in the Golden State. After two more severe winters, Pop gave in, sold the station, purchased a new Chevrolet, packed up the family, and headed for suburban Los Angeles to escape both the cold and his criminal notoriety around town. He purchased an established restaurant in the oil fields of Norwalk. It was surrounded by oil derricks and was a busy location, serving local workers and property owners. Dean and his younger brother, Buzz, worked at Moon's Caf before and after school. Across the road was the Shaffer Tool Works, where an old machinist took Dean under his wing and showed him a whole new world. Although he maintained good grades at Whittier High School, Dean did not enjoy traditional academic classes. Where he flourished was in the wood shop and machine shop. His first car, an Austin Bantam, was quickly replaced with a '34 Ford coupe. After high school, Dean served out the latter part of WWII in the Merchant Marines. His ship was one of the first to dock in Japan at the end of the war. Once discharged, he purchased his first real hot rod, a Model A with a Winfield head and carburetion. He was fascinated by how just a few such additions would bring a stock four-banger to life. He worked on creating even more power and started hanging out with local hot rodders who introduced him to dry-lakes racing. By this time, Dean was member of the Hutters Car Club of Whittier (so named because their headquarters was the Hula Hut Drive-In). Dean (right) posed with two fellow members of the Hutters, perhaps the only car club named for a drive-in restaurant. He joined the Russetta Timing Association, became its secretary, and recognized the growing demand for aftermarket speed equipment. Dean perfected his first product after hours at Shaffer Tool Works: a billet fuel block that he'd invented in high school. Mounted either on the firewall or the engine, it was designed to deliver equal fuel pressure to multicarb setups. The first few sold immediately at the Hula Hut and at the dry lakes, but the machining was a time-consuming process, not well suited to making either parts or money. He eventually realized that the solution was building a set of sand-cast molds and having the part cast in aluminum, on which he could quickly machine a single inlet and multiple outlet ports. Dean was soon selling large numbers both directly at the lakes and to early speed merchants that included Bell Auto Parts and Newhouse Automotive Industries. This initial success inspired an expanded product line that included fuel lines, multicarb linkage, and modified Lincoln-Zephyr dual ignitions. During these postwar years, Dean also built hot flathead V8s in the old garage behind Pop's place. He and brother Buzz built a B/Modified Sedan for the lakes, a chopped Tudor that set multiple records and ultimately topped 140 mph. The sedan was selected to appear in the 1951 Fawcett book Sports Cars and Hot Rods as one to the "Top 10 Hot Rods" in America. The business flourished, and in 1954, Dean produced his first spun-aluminum Moon Disc, an evolution of the smooth wheel covers that streamlined Ak Miller's roadster and the SoCal Speed Shop coupe. This simple, effective design was destined to cement the renamed Moon Equipment Co. as one of hot rodding's iconic brands. Although the name has changed slightly, the company operates today in the Santa Fe Springs, California, complex that Dean acquired in 1957. Moreover, along with ever-expanding lines of innovative products for cars and motorcycles, Mooneyes USA still supplies hot rodders worldwide with the same, timeless parts that its late founder developed in the formative years of the speed-equipment industry. Far right Mini Moon Tank Moon Beam Still busy in his later years. A short thread this time but rest assured I will be looking for more.
I visited Dean Moon's place many times over the years. He had a barber chair in his office that he would sit in and fire his .22 rifle through the shop to the target at the inside end of the building. One time when I was there he had out in his lot a Mercedes / El Camino snub nose type vehicle there. It was surely different.
I wonder...how many moon catalogs started the fire in so many of us in the formative years? (There's an early moon parts catalog on ebay right now, bid up to over $200) so it must be bringing back memories to at least two people
Norman Holtkamp had conceived his version of a race car transporter in the mid-‘50’s after seeing the Mercedes-Benz factory team transporter. Construction was started and later the El Camino cab was added. I think it went through a few hands before Moon acquired it in the 1970’s.
Man I used to enjoy finding stories like this in the Hot Rod mag archives but since Motor trend took them over they messed with the archives and now they are very hard to navigate to find more stories.
The Jalopy Journal
