When did "Moon" tanks first appear on the front of rods?

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I'm not sure when it started but I remember them back in '57. I think they started at the drags on some of the altereds,

 

Thats a good question,I always wondered this to,I run a moon tank on the front of my 32,and I use it for coolent.

 

They are in fact fuel tanks although some folks use them now for overflow tanks. My earliest memories of them were on gassers in the 60's such as Stone,Woods, and Cooks' Willys', Big John Mazmanian's Willys' and Corvette, and many others. They held just enough fuel for a single pass and didn't carry the weight of larger tank full of fuel.

 

The fuel systems were pressurized with a hand pump to get the max fuel to the carbs. Mounting the tank in the front let inertia help the flow.

 

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Oh and they do look bitchin' on the front of a '32 Highboy no matter what they are being used for!!</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
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i use mine for coolant overflow

 

my '34 coupe had one of the earliest moon tanks on it but it was mounted in the trunk, it was 1.5 gallons and was a rolled aluminum construction, not spun, and had moons original address on the tag. I believe it was from circa '51 or so. I gave it to Shige, the owner of moon a couple years ago as a thank you for having my '38 over to Yokohama. it's now on display there....I wish I had a picture of it, it looked pretty different than the ones we're all used to.

 

They were indeed originally fuel tanks. Lots of early gassers and altereds ran them. Most were not hand pressurized in these applications as they were usually running Injection so they were feeding a fuel pump. Some Bonneville and street guys ran them with a hand pump but i think by the late 50's most were running a pump of some sort, electric or mechanical.
When I worked for Tom McMullin, he told me that his was separate from the standard gas tank and he would run "Fuel", as versus gasoline, in his with a valve that let him switch back and forth. If he picked up a street race, he would switch to fuel and race, then back to more economical gasoline after. Tom did run a hand pump on the early version, later took it off.
Using them for Overflow tanks is a fairly new deal (last 10+ years or so?) to have that look and still do something.

 

I thought it was when we started seeing straight 6 powered gassers!

 

I started building this car in '59. I am sure there is no original thought on it so moon tanks must have been pretty common at that time.

 

For sure before the 60's. I saw them in the early 50's; but, I was only a "dumb kid". They coulda been "pony" beer kegs. Fuel tanks like that might've been used in the 30's and 40's. I don't know when Dean Moon started making them; and his famous wheel covers.

 

Pretty sure Dean starting making the tanks in the early 50's

 

Like this one? The very early tanks were WWII surplus hydraulic tanks.

 

I knew they were used for fuel tanks in the early days,I was trying to go for the look,and making it a coolent tank worked out well.

 

It seems like when "Cadzilla" came out (whenever that was), that suddenly Moon tanks were the new cool thing to add on to everybody's cars for a while. Before that I think they had been out of style for a long time. After Cadzilla came out, all the guys who had old scratched up and dented Moon tanks started to bring them to sell at swap meets at inflated prices like they were made of diamonds and gold. I think they look cool sometimes, but sometimes they look like a gimmicky add-on. I guess it depends on the type of car they're put on.

 

That's a cute dune buggy, Rich! I bet it hauled ass with that Hemi. Any more photos/details?

 

I totally agree on the gimmicky addon... i rarely see a car with one that actually looks "good" with it.. thats in my eyes though.

 

Sounds like a bit of the ol' leg pulling here. IF he meant Nitro when he said Fuel. Can't run the same jets for gas & fuel. Maybe he meant avation gas?

 

Just what a high school kid would do in the late fiftys. '31 American Austin pickup cab with some other trunk brazzed on. "T" frame. "A" front end. '49 Olds rear. '54 241 Dodge power with '49 Ford trans. Homemade floor shift. (Cut down colum shifter). ran mid 12s at about 112mph. These pictures were taken after I got out of the Army in '63-'64. Don't have to many more, some builders.

 

hey Mutt, thats exactly what mine looked like, but my hand pump and fuel shutoff switch were in the car and the tank was in the trunk. the fuel cutoff switch looks just like that too, and it's mounted kind of where the left kick panel would be. the hand pump which is an eelco was mounted on the floor next to the shifter. The tank had a dent in it, but Shige was pretty stoked on it I think. I would love to get another one someday.

 

I'll second that nomination.....Moon tanks look ridiculous on most cars....Cadzilla being a prime example. I'm not sure it could have look goofier with a big red nose on the front! The Moon tank just makes it look like it's holding a tic-tac between it's teeth!

 

they do look good when on the right vehicle

 

Hey Mike you wanna sell that???

 

I love my gimmicky add on.

 

That one isnt mine, I stole that pic of ebay a while back. Both of the ones I have are newer. The 3 1/2 gallon is mid/late '50's and the 2 gallon is mid '60's.

 

I will throw my two cents worth in....the blacked out tank was one of the items that sold me on the car in the first place......and I love all the questions I get about it at cruise nights and such......

 

The first one I remember seeing in a magazine on a 'street' car was on Tom McMullin's roadster in the 60's. They used to go by the name..

'Weekend Warriors'

They were supposed to be for alternative fuels on drag strip days, but became another fashion accessory very quickly.

Cheers, Glen.

 

Scans from old Moon catalogs:

1960:



1962:



1965:

 

Because his street car was his drag car, Mc Mullen gets the credit for having it on a street car first..... his car got the ink in the West Coast magazines. It got the ink because it was the quintessential hot rod in the early 60's (maybe of all time).