Projects Gene (Moonlighter) Cromer's A/G Willys Resurrection

As well as the man who is a legend in his own time.

 

Danny, thanks for bringing this Up. Mr. Cromer is quite the Guy! I think that this build/rebuild had a big hand in the creation of the Southeast Gassers. Are you planning on going to any of the races this year?

 

This man is an inspiration!! Using his walker as a stand for his.....wait for it... Cammer valve covers!!! Made my day!

 

Catdad49 your right but it wasn't so much the restoration of Gene's car that got the Southeast Gasser Association started as it was Gene Cromer himself. As it states in the introduction to this thread I watched Gene race when I was 8 or 9 years old so to relive that childhood memory I designed a Gasser RACING group that mirrors what I seen back then as close as possible (Gene's car was a 4 speed then). Most everybody that has read this thread knows how I was laughed at for the SEGA (weight to cubic inch and 4 speed only classification) idea. Now that the hard work is done and everybody see's it will work the stage is set for the copy cats to come in and flood the market. As with everything else it will probably be short lived for that reason so lets enjoy the SEGA while it's still something special.

 

All I've seen so far are others that use the term gasser in their title/ advertisements (I mean some don't even use gas). I Love them All, but apples to apples. I don't doubt there will be others, but I don't know if they are willing to do the work and endure through the sacrifices. This group is Special in many ways and I hope they will continue to evolve without diluting their product. Like you said, enjoy it while we can. I have been to several races and always been more than a little impressed, both by the cars And the people. Long Live SEGA!

 

You mentioned the Executioner and I just stumbled on a photo of it.

 

‘This is Not Quain’s Executioner ( first version, later to become the Grand Illusion), but this Is the way Vettes were meant to be! Post this on the Corvette Gassers thread, Thanks for sharing.

 

Had it not been for Quain's dogged determination and his unselfish donation of time and equipment Gene's past accomplishments would have been something from the past, Quain and many friends, acquaintances and total strangers pitched in and help with the restoration of the Moonlighter.

I consider myself fortunate to have know Gene most of my life, as a kid he was my hero and as a adult he is my friend. HRP

 

Good lord willing. HRP

 

The thread is back, actually it never went anywhere and it was me that jumped the gun. The other thread had a similar name and I thought that it was this one. I like to go back and look at this thread once in a while. It is one of my favorites.

Your words summed it up perfectly HRP
I am also lucky to be able to call Gene and Quain friends and thanks to their efforts we have the Southeast Gassers which lets the younger generations see how it really was or at least very close to it and brings a lot of excitement and happiness to a lot of people’s lives.

 

Thanks so much guys for the kind words and thanks for helping keep this page going for now over 8 years. When I started the rebuild of Gene's car I didn't think anybody remember who Gene was but myself and a few locals of the area around here. Gene also thought he and his racing had been forgotten and would never be talked about again by anybody other than his close friends. I started this page only because it fit here and would be an interesting rebuild but never figured it would get the attention it did. At the start of the rebuild as this page documents the car was brought to my shop and keep under wraps except for a few open house showings and pics that were posted here as major progress was made. Thanks to this page and the people that came to the open house showings a lot of interest started to show. Once I finished all the fab work ( 606 hours) and it was time for paint and final assembly that's when the magic started. Gene and I had already figured it was going to be a 2 year project with just myself and Gene doing all the work and funding but friends and fans started coming by and pitching in with labor, parts and money. It got so bad / good at one time (as posted on this page) we had to rope off Gene's shop and have Bruce Dehaven stand guard so we could focus on getting the car ready for the scheduled unveiling that was coming up in just a matter of days.
I'm going through all of this to retell the story of how the original plan was just Gene and I rebuilding an old race car that only a hand full of people even knew still existed turned into a group of friends and family getting involved because of the power of the HAMB site. But most important of all the power of the HAMB reintroduced my / our hero Gene Cromer to the world and will keep his name in the eyes of many people for many years to come.
Special thanks to Bruce Dehaven for helping with the year long efforts of talking Gene and His family into trusting me with the car or none of this would have ever happened.
~Quain Stott~

 

Again, BRAVO to all involved.

 

Some of you old guys might like this.

 

Fantastic video, it was great to hear Gene and Melvin tell stories of the old days and see this documented for future generations. The Moonlighter is still looking great and I enjoyed the tour around Gene’s shop and hearing about he started out.

 

I ran across this photo of Gene & Brenda having a laugh just before the Moonlighter was pushed out on the track and was uncovered for everyone to see, then Gene drove the car down the track in Greer for the first in years, same man,same car. HRP

 

Mr Cromers car as of yesterday. (6-19-21)Was going to load for a car show. Throttle got stuck. They say he is going to make it but really hurt.

 

Seems stuck throttles are putting the hurt on a lot of cool rides lately.

 

Hate to see this. Hope no one got hurt.

 

What a story, and What a Man, Gene, and Quaint. Hats off.

 

On Gene's accident and subsequent passing away

As most of you know by now Gene was seriously injured while trying to load the Moonlighter on the trailer to attend the day B4 Fathers Day car show in downtown Anderson Friday evening June 18, 2021, apparently the car took off at full speed missed the trailer crossed the street hitting a ditch getting off the ground and hitting a recently fallen tree stump that causing a lot of damage to the front of the car and continued running until the car came in contact with a huge pile of brush and cut down trees.

Gene was just loading the car so he wasn't wearing and safety equipment no seat belt or helmet, Micheal Shirley was one of the first to get across the field and he said Gene was awake but in sever pain, he was rushed to the hospital where he was put in critical care with broken rims, a back injury and numerous cuts and lacerations.

Gene had so much trama to his chest from impacting the steering wheel that he had a lot of bruising and swelling in his chest and neck. This caused the collapsed lung and delay of the back surgery.
When he improved enough to with stand the surgery they went ahead and the surgery went well but he was again having trouble with his breathing and Anmed gave him a temporary tracheotomy and feeding tube, but due to the swelling and not being mobile, they have had to remove fluid from his lungs a number times.

Because of the long term nature of the breathing issue recovery, Gene was transferred to St Francis in Greenville SC for critical care and therapy.

Sadly, Gene passed away om July 14th.






Gene was one of the best men I have ever known and I had looked up to him since I was a kid living close by, he was a Godly man also as is his whole family, RIP my friend. Danny

 

Deep Sadness for all involved.One of the Great ones..

 

Man I'm sorry to hear that. Gene's story was really inspiring. May he rest in peace.

 

Some of the family asked for a reprint of the first design I did for Gene and Ruth in 2013.
Posting here to see if anyone out of town wanted the reprint of Gene Cromer's shirts.
I was asked to do a reprint of the designs from the 2013 debut of Gene's return in the Moonlighter. This is link if anyone wants to preorder before June 5th. There are a variety of colors that I haven't printed before and some tanks for women. These are printed by local car enthusiast and local screen printer Bruiser Brand Apparel. https://www.etsy.com/listing/568344...for-the-moonlighter?transaction_id=3029625477

 

Some of the family asked for a reprint of the first design I did for Gene and Ruth in 2013.
Posting here to see if anyone out of town wanted the reprint of Gene Cromer's shirts.
I was asked to do a reprint of the designs from the 2013 debut of Gene's return in the Moonlighter. This is link if anyone wants to preorder before June 5th. There are a variety of colors that I haven't printed before and some tanks for women. These are printed by local car enthusiast and local screen printer Bruiser Brand Apparel. https://www.etsy.com/listing/568344...for-the-moonlighter?transaction_id=3029625477

 

Thank you Cassandra, Don't forget, about the long sleeve T's and the sweatshirt's. HRP

 

I may do another long sleeve/sweatshirt order in the fall when I place my new nightstalker shirts. I have to order so many to get the price down. Hope to see you guys at the races. We have been round tracking here lately. We have a race this weekend in tri-county