I worked in Canoga Park for a couple years in the early 80s, enjoyed the car scene, did some canyon carving on my old Kawasaki on weekends. In later years, work sometimes took me west, if I had a weekend out there I would try to fill it with hobby interests. In early 2020 I worked in Fullerton for a while documenting acceptance tests for KC-46 tanker electronics bits and pieces, set aside some time to go to see Leo Fender's radio shop but it was closed for some restoration work. So I bought some car magazines and searched the advertisers index, Googled their locations trying to find something hot rod -related close to my hotel, found Moon not too far away. On our last Friday, the boss wanted to take us all to lunch, I begged off, drove to the Moon shop, didnt get a chance to see any aluminum spinning but the yellow cars that I remembered were on display. Bought a bunch of t-shirts and coffee cups and Mooneyes decals and knicknacks in the gift store, stuff that I could cram into my one carryon bag. Grabbed lunch at In-n-Out and got some bumper stickers...my version of a great work trip.
So glad that Shige was able to buy Moon and keep it the Hot Rodding institution that it is. I'll never forget my first visit in January 1993 not long after they'd had to chop off the original front of the building. The guys were so friendly and extremely helpful. I'd driven from Venice Beach to get there and unknowingly driven right through the heart of South Central. Not the place to be after what took place there in 1992. The guys gave me directions on how to bypass South Central and get back to Venice. I'll always be grateful for that. Anyway, Congratulations to Shige and all of his crew for keeping Moon alive and well!
denis4x4 Thanks for posting link. for those of us raised in So Cal Mooneyes was a dominant brand for Hot Rodders
I remember being at Moon's in the days when Dean would sit in his barber chair at the front of the building and shoot his .22 caliber rifle at targets in the very back of the building. Going to Moon's you always expected something different.
One of the first times I was at Moon's, saw Carol Shelby in the back transforming an AC Bristol into a Cobra. Dean's office had a platform for his desk so he looked down on you. Dean had the Mooneyes logo tattoo and was one of best at promoting the industry when he was president of the SPEED EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURES ASSOCIATION (SEMA). Ran the Mooneyes EFI on my ModelA powered Zipper.
Got the grand personal tour last year when I was down there, my buddy (who makes deliveries there sometimes) took me and it was just us there for a few hours. Amazing to a Montana fella to be in the presence of so much history.
Great article on Dean Moon & his American dream....very well written. ..thanks for posting that on the 75th anniversary. I have a little collection of his panels & was always wondering if anyone knows the entity that actually did the castings of his panels, etc. I was always under the assumption that, because of the sheer volume, he did not actually do them. Any inside scoop that?
Wow, for us, it was 4 times heading out to Santa Fe Springs for “stuff.” In the 68 years of old hot rod cruising/racing days, time flies…but, distinct memories last… Hello, In 1962, the girl that hung around our group at school had an older brother that we knew. He was already established in business and was a nice guy. He was not a hot rod guy, nor a surfer, but liked it, each time I went over to his house to see his sister. He liked my Impala, as that was the first car I took over there to meet him and, yes, her dad. They were both impressed with the cool hot rod sedan. 1962 Then a month later in the summer, I drove up with the 1940 Ford Flathead Sedan Delivery and that caused a little discussion as to all of the questions a protective older brother asks. So, he asked and we both laughed and answered. Ha! Then the next time I drove over in the sedan delivery, I had my surfboard sticking out of the window. Now, the older brother was really impressed as the sister told him of my weekly surf trips and abilities. Now, there was something in common. In his garage, was an old wooden surfboard hidden under several piles of boxes and just garage stuff. So, we dug it out and now sitting before us was a perfectly clean Dale Velzy Balsawood Surfboard in almost pristine condition. What, a balsawood surfboard? By Dale Velzy? In pristine condition? Had not been ridden for the last 10 years… etc.. So, my eyes and ideas widened with the instant valuation of such a historic surfboard. Then, it blurted out… Do you want to sell it? I have no idea that I could even buy it as pocket change was a common place and it was all I could do to deplete my savings to buy food on our road trips and dates. I tried it out in the local waves and it did not ride as well as my own surfboard, but it was valuable as a historic item. Today, it is located in Santa Barbara with my brother’s family. But, the answer was no. it was not valuable to him but, since he had just bought a new black 1963 Buick Riviera that was also in the garage, he made a proposition. Since he knew from our discussions about hot rodding and our little speed shop business, he asked if I could get him a good deal on a set of 5 American Racing Equipment 5 spoke wheels for his Buick Riviera. He paid for the discounted wheels, mounting, balancing, wheel alignment. He even paid for the gas his sister and I used to cruise around our teenage cruising grounds of Bixby Knolls to Belmont Shore via the coastline. The last vision was the black Buick Riviera was a cool ride around our cruising area of Bixby Knolls. old Internet photo... Note: In my early photography and films, the Hill Acala/Hunter Oil red roadster had the giant Moon Eyes drawing on the sides of the red roadster. We assumed it was a giant decal, but it was the original painted set of eyes that eventually became the logo for Moon Equipment. old Friday Art… Hill Acala Modified Roadster with the original Moon Eyes!
Here are more interesting old goodies. The tire pressure gauges were made by U.S. Gauge in Sellersville, PA. I like that Moon stamping on the one with the hose.
Moon flip top fuel cap, there are knockoffs available (from India) that look the same but BITD Dean sourced his from a firm by the name of Enots, Birmingham, England.
Santa Fe Springs, with a lot of oil wells pumping all over the place in the late 50s... Hello, My neighbor started a great home business, when home businesses were not so popular. The industrial shops for rent were horrendous and he needed a cool place to work. So, he lived in a two story house and his home was built on a downward slope with the driveway level. One road was level with his first floor of living space. But, if one drove around the corner to his house driveway, it was level and that created a garage for two cars. In the back space of the garage wall was an empty space that we could stand up freely. He cut in a door and now, the empty space was at least 7 feet. This created a empty space perfect for his home business. We decided that he had to create a sealed off area and since he was using flames of a sort for heating, he needed firewall protection in that area. His other friend was a fireman and he told the owner if the fire had a vented exit, it was within the rules. But, needed a space all around the flame as a barrier. So, in this empty space, he insulated it with fire protection walls and the ground was already dirt. So, he brought in plenty of sand to fill up a foot tall floor packed down. Now, it was safe for what he was going to use for his business. He melted blocks of wax to have a liquid pot and now as he poured the liquid wax into the ready made form in the wet sand, he added color and wicks. If it was a series of 8 inch tall candles, the holes were ready formed with coffee can hollow shapes. Inside of each was a wick held up vertically with melted wax. Now when he poured the new liquid wax, the hole filled up fast and the wick was centered for a finished vertical candle. Then he went to a free form shape for multiple wicks in a larger format for coffee table displays or counter placement. His business was thriving. Jnaki It was something that we had no idea that would be a money earning project, being distributed to major department stores and home good stores all over So Cal. He was a busy guy and as soon as he made some of his products, he delivered it to the stores. What was his delivery vehicle? An Oldsmobile 442 convertible that his wife drove, but had more space than his small two door coupe. What a delivery vehicle. So, despite the distance, we drove to Hildebrandt Mfg. across the street from Moon. But, it was during one of those gas crisis times and he was running out of wax. The major source of wax was foreign oil and that caused less production for local sources. So, we had to drive to Santa Fe Springs across the street from Moon Equipment to buy the last remaining blocks of wax. Not bars of wax, but box size amount of block wax. Picture a paper box with printing paper sold at Amazon full of solid wax. Commercial block of solid wax inside, filling up the whole covered box. As we loaded the boxes into the trunk, the Olds 442 got a little lower. I told him we should have taken my 327 powered sedan delivery, but he said he was buying the last of the available wax for a long time. And it would fit in the convertible. We cruised all the way back to his house with the Low rear end almost tail dragging and the nose in the air. What a sight, two 20 somethings in a 442 convertible, nose in the air, lowered tail, cruising almost 50 miles back to the beach area, on a sunny day in So Cal. Ha! A couple of surfers, not custom lowered car guys… out for a cruise…YRMV Of course we bought some Moon Eyes decals... Note: As my neighbor and his wife were from the Chicago area, having lived in coastal So Cal, their idea was sunny days, blue ocean and great climate during the winters. They were in heaven… So, as we were waiting for the wax in the boxes to get set up, we walked next door to Hildebrandt and across the street to Moon to see all of the cool stuff available. He was not a hot rod guy, but was amazed at the two major shops of their days…
Eight years ago,for my 69th birthday visited Moon and Shige was too busy to give us a tour. Told him we were from “hot rodders” from Texas;he said we could explore the place on our own as long as the closed doors were unlocked(locked doors meant keep out).We spent a couple of hours with him trusting us enuf to obey his wishes. What a gracious person he was to total strangers!! Took a few pics of some unlocked rooms including their own “personal collection”
The Jalopy Journal
