Writer looking for Moonshine Car Research

This is a list of the cars in my novel, the time in the setting is 1959. I need info on how to supe up a car and make it faster using parts from that year. All info should not excede 1959 and should be told in laymen terms.

Moonshine cars:
1955 Oldsmobile Holiday Coupe
1950 Plymouth
1941 International Pick Up
1940 Willy Coupe Mark II
1954 Chevrolet High Boy

Family Cars:
1949 Mercury 4 dr.
1950 Dodge Coronet
1949 Desoto 2 dr. Sedan

If anyone has any suggestions on some good cars to use in moonshining, please list them-I am open to suggestions.

 

Well..........for 1 thing........
everyone knows that the 40 Ford coupes were the Moonshiners favorite vehicle.......

 

never seen a '54 Chevy High Boy

 

There was a TV show on this recently. Early 50s Hudsons & other large sedans for payload. Heavy Duty/truck rear springs, & the usual engine mods. Multi carbs, cam ect.

 

My 1940 Willy is much like the Ford Coupe you told me of. I looked up the photos just now. How about the Holiday? I have a main character using the Holiday as a moonshine running car.

 

DEFINITELY! '39 & '40 Fords.

No such thing as a "40 Willy Mark II". Maybe you mean just a '40 Willys (must have the S), and I don't think that was a usual choice for moonshiners because they had tiny engines and were extremely slow. Moonshine cars were stealthy. Drag guys eventually liked the Willys because they were much lighter than a comparable Ford. But a fast Willys would be a dead giveaway to the law that it was a Moonshine car.

Double check that they made a DeSoto 2-door because all I remember seeing is Four-Doors.

 

Thanks...I didn't know that. I will change the Willy to a ford....I had Mark II on the picture for some reason? As I said before, I know nothing about cars so its great to know this before I finish the book and the cars all tied up through the story.

 

When you get a final draft on the book get some knowledgeable gearhead to proof read the car stuff. If you don't the details will get nit picked to death when it is in print.

 

If you know nothing about cars, why are you writing a book about cars?

 

lol...It isn't about cars, it's got cars in it....

I want the story to be accurate and so that means I have to study what I'm writing. The cars are a small part of it, the action and characters are the story.

 

oh, I see. heh

btw... olds holidays are kinda rare birds.

 

and I think they were all hardtops.

 

Have you watched the movie Thunder Road. It was all about moonshining here in Tn. All the places named in the movie and song are real.

 

No. I hear the movie's corny. The song's cool though, at least the one that Robert sings.

 

NASCAR evolved from moonshine cars start there and reserch

 

Half your early stock car racers were Moonshiners Junior Johnson for one.It doesen't sound to me like this guy doesen't know cars ,just the moonshine business.this took place all over the country NOT just in the south where you couldn't run balls to the wall you relied on stealth or blending in to be more correct in New England rural areas you just wanted to be Joe Average every concievable vechile that could carry large loads and blend in was used heres some I know that were used localy from first hand information A residential heating oil truck with oil only under the fill bungs a model a Town car and a horse drawn milk wagon! not one of these vechiles got caught these were all used before ww2 in north eastern ct.We had a mass production still less than a mile from Thompson Speedway and while my ancestor did not operate the still he did drive 2 of those delivery vechiles !and the still operator was a family friend when the 2 of them got to talking the old days a lot of stuff came out!Try Travelermovie.com for more first hand information it's the story of Jerry Rushing and his Chrystler moonshine runner called Traveler thats the name of General Lee's favorite horse during the civil war if you get the video you'll see some of his actual old shine runners some of which were later used as stock cars thunder road is based on Jerry Rushing as was the later comedy show DUKES OF HAZARD you will see the real hazzard ville as well as the boars head tavern etc uncle jessy etc. are the names of real people in his family !

 

In 1955 85,767 Holiday hardtop coupes were produced, compared to the 41,310 produced of the hardtop sedan.

Also keep in mind when choosing what cars to use that they would have been using the older models that were cheap and replaceable.

1939-40 Ford coupe
1949-50 Ford business coupe
1949-51 Chevy Business coupes.

These were good choices for shine cars cheap very abundant and easily hopped up.

 

The first one I remember was a black '53 or '54 Ford Coupe. It was in the time period you are looking for. They had taken an engine and trans from a new Ford, think it was a 332 or 352 with a 9" rear. It looked stock except for the rear end sitting higher. It had been "de-commissioned" had the tank removed and a buddy of mine was driving it. I asked him where he had gotten it and he told me his Uncle had built a new faster car and let him borrow it.
Like the other guy's said, the '40 Ford Coupe was the classic hauler. My Father used to talk about them coming around the turn at Chestnut Hill sideways with the headlights shining in the service station in the curve.

 

Uh...Yep...I only know about the moonshine...I put that in the newbie forum, didn't I.

Oh..lol and I'm a girl. Yes, I am carilliterate...that's why the vehicles were not a major part of my book at this time.

 

54 Chevrolet high boy? To my knowledge, a highboy is slang for an unchanneled car. Since a '54 Chev most likely wouldn't be channeled technically the term is correct, but it wouldn't be referred to in that manner.

I'm partial to '49 Fords (also called a shoebox ['49-'51 Ford]. If you use the HAMB search function there's a ton of info and photos on here), and I'm told they were popular with shine runners.

No disrespect intended, ma'am, but you spelled dandelion wrong. You sure you're a writer?

 

if i remember correctly one of the model car companies in the early 70's (?) offered a model kit called the 54 chevy highboy. straight axel, ladder bars, jacked up high front and rear. maybe thats where that came from.

 

what part of virginia do you live in? if you are close to roanoke i can give you a guys name and he would be happy to tell you all about it, if he likes you he may even let you get a snoot full of his own hillbilly pop. and he has been doing since the late forties, he has every car he has ever owned, and is a wealth of information. not to mention he is one of the truly stand up guys.

 

My suggestion would be to find a copy of Thunder Road as suggested and take the time to watch carefully because all your questions are right there on the screen. All the cars are Fords, starting with 40 to later 49 to the late model 57 used by the Feds. No Willys, No 54 Chevy, No Olds. Nothing will take away credibility in a movie quicker than being inaccurate with the era.

 

A second vote for watching Thunder Road. It'll help you capture the people and way of life back then for your novel. Robert Mitcham did a good job with the screenplay. As for trip cars, add a '57 Chrysler 300-C to your list along with the Fords already mentioned. The Mopar had a VERY deep trunk for haulin' white liquor, tons of power with the Hemi and clung like a leach to those two lane roads with it's torsion bar suspension.

BTW, feel free to ask a lot more questions. This era means a lot to some of us and we really want you to get the details exact....

Jan

 

This is a 40 Ford MOONSHINE coupe.
Certified.......old tanker.
It is a businessman's coupe. It has a panel over the rear seat area ( from the factory ) and no rear seat. You could put more whiskey in one of these and no upset the way the car handles as much ( because the weight was between the front and rear wheels.........not in the trunk ) You could stop at a store or somewhere and nobody would see the ' load '.

40 Fords were also everywhere.......so you could slip in and out of a area without being noticed. The above 40 Ford was used until 1960...........when sadly the new cars of the day were just too fast to outrun. The above coupe got a 283 cubic inch Chevrolet engine with 270 HP in 1957....with parts from Honest Charleys ........the premier speed shop in the south ( Chattanooga TN ) WHERE ALMOST all THE Moonshiners bought their speed equipment...

My uncle was a moonshiner......until about 1963 or 64.....the Feds were tracking sugar real good and it became very difficult to make " SHINE "

.

 

Use the Hudson Hornet too...well known in the hills for it's roadworthiness.

 

very neat!!

so, with prohibition gone for decades... why were people running shine in the 60s still? dry counties?

 

If that '40 Coupe had a full load what would it be, and what was the retail value?

 

LOL this is my yahoo screenname I usually post on forums with...what? you don't like it? Look at it this way-had I been a man-I would probably had been a bit "funny" to have had a name like that...lol.

 

Dry counties today still make 'shine.