1932 Ford Coupe - Mooneyes Special
It's a bitchin' coupe. A big motor, fenderless body, and enough safety gear to ensure you'll race again. But these are all lessons pioneer racers like Fred Larsen taught us years ago. When a car looks effortless, that's when you know you've done something right. It might be the stance or the body line. Often it's even hard to put into words, but something works. You can see it. You can hear it.
After a noticeable void left by the Larsen & Cummins streamliner, seeing a Moon Equipment-sponsored racer back on Bonneville's sacred salt is notable. And better yet, this car is a regular competitor at the El Mirage meets. Long overdue, the freshly painted '32 highboy has stepped straight into the dry lakes spotlight. From the wide-eyed logo perfectly placed, peering out from the bumblebee stripe on the grille shell, to the tasteful signature of renowned pinstriper Hiro "Wildman" Ishii tucked in the corner of the decklid, this coupe hits the wow button.
It's funny how worlds collide, coming together through serendipitous events. Deuce owner Tim Cunha from Monterey, California, and Willie Dorsey from San Diego met years ago at the L.A. Roadster Show. Through their shared interest in all things hot rod, the pair became fast friends. So when Tim acquired a vintage dry lakes coupe, he did what all good racers do: He asked his friend to be the crewchief.
Willie had just finished restoring the notorious Fred Larsen '27 T roadster that held about a billion SCTA records from back in the late '50s and early '60s, so they had plenty to talk about. While Willie restored the legendary roadster back to museum quality, he got to know the entire Moon crew, including owner Shige Suganum and company president Chico Kodama, as well as Fred Larsen and his wife, Marylou.
During their first season of dry lakes racing, Tim campaigned his Deuce in the same configuration as it was purchased. With silver scallops and blue paint, sporting Cunha's and Dorsey's last names proudly on the hood and a base motor that Dwight Strobel installed, they began the steep learning curve. Unfortunately for them, by this time Fred had gone on to the big race in the sky, so when they ran the coupe at El Mirage or Bonneville, the folks from Moon would check in on them. Even Marylou would come by the pits to make sure they were doing fine.
Explaining the lure of land speed racing in his West Coast surfer voice, Tim described it this way, "There is something about being out there! You look at the hills around you, and they have been there from the beginning. I was looking at an old photo from the late '30s, and I thought, 'I know right where that spot is!' It's like you're stepping into those pictures and living a part of history. It's great to be living and making your own history. It doesn't matter if it is big, because you are a part of it ... doing something you have appreciated your entire life."
Forging their raucous crew in the first year, Tim and Willie grabbed anyone within arms' reach, including Chico and his nephews and Tim's son Steven. Picking up the cell, they recruited more folks: Cain DeVore, an independent filmmaker from Los Angeles; machinist Scott Bruner; and Neil Burns. It didn't matter what your day job was; everyone got dirty. By midseason they were having so much fun that they started offering the crewmembers the opportunity to drive, adding countless rookie stickers to the communal helmet.
For years, Chico had been too busy with his duties at Mooneyes to even consider going racing, but it was always in the back of his mind. Then he finally got his chance. Putting on the firesuit and looping his foot into a Dean Moon gas pedal was surreal for him. Carefully selecting his words, Chico said, "Driving the car on the salt was my dream. Tim and Willie made it happen for me, and I really appreciate that opportunity. It's not that often that you find someone who will let you hop in and drive. I don't care what kind of car it is. So that opportunity really meant something to me."
With his D and C licenses proudly in hand, Chico laughed and continued, "There is no way to describe it. It's such a feeling. Even though it was only 150 mph, it was such a rush! It got me hooked! Once you are strapped in, it is like nothing else. All you can see is the line straight ahead of you. Once you start the motor, you don't really think about it, other than concentrating on how you are going to drive it."
Judging from all the excitement on the Mooneyes Web page and in the company's new catalog, it seems an epidemic of Salt Fever has broken out in the bright-yellow speed shop in Santa Fe Springs, California, and Tim Cunha and Willie Dorsey are to blame. Suddenly there's talk again of tech inspection and rule books, rookie passes, and even the Two Club. The frenzy has spread so far that Larsen protge Doug Shaw is building his own rendition of Fred's modified roadster, and Chico is so juiced about returning to land speed racing that he sold his '36 three-window coupe and is building his own modified roadster. Mooneyes is even in the process of recasting and putting into production the Potvin-style inline blower that Fred used.
All of this isn't surprising to Marylou, who kindly explained to us in her soft tone, "If you don't catch salt fever after you have been there ... well, there must be something wrong with you, I think." She should know, as Marylou was one of the first women to attend Speed Week, with Fred in 1954.
Quick Inspection: Mooneyes Special '32 Ford coupeTim Cunha * Monterey, CA
Powertrain
Engine:
A 427ci big-block Chevrolet wears GM aluminum oval-port heads and a Holley 4500 Ultra HP Dominator on an Edelbrock Victor 454-R Air Gap intake. The race mill is dressed with all the classic Mooneyes speed parts, including the company's famous finned valve covers and high-rise breathers. George Striegel at Clay Smith Cams ported and polished the heads and intake and also spec'd out a hydraulic roller cam (284 degrees of duration and a 0.609-inch lift), while the custom zoomie headers were crafted by Lem Tolliver.
Power: At a recent trip to the chassis dyno, the fenderless highboy recorded an honest 528 hp at 5,800 rpm to the rear wheels. A Bonneville best of 178.410 mph came in the second mile at Speed Week '07, with Tim behind the wheel.
Transmission: Tim uses a close-ratio Muncie M-21 with a Hurst four-speed shifter.
Rearend: We have seen it a million times, but the ever-popular Ford 9-inch rearend gets used because it's proven, not because it's pretty. Gearing is 2.75:1.
Chassis
Frame:
This yellow highboy sits atop original '32 Ford framerails that have been boxed and have new crossmembers.
Suspension: It's a fairly basic setup that includes an I-beam axle and split '32 wishbones on the front, with ladder bars out back. Afco front shocks and rear coilovers are attached with Heim joints.
Brakes: Up front is a set of Chevrolet aluminum-fin drum brakes, and stock Ford drum brakes are on the rear. Most of the stopping power is from simply letting off the gas and popping the chute.
Wheels: Painted black and covered by Moon discs, the front wheels are 15-inch steelies with welded reinforcements. The rear wheels are special 18-inch steel Taylor Made wheels, built solely for land speed racing.
Tires: Tim has collected several pairs of rear tires with different outside diameters to adjust the coupe's top end. A set of Goodyear Eagle 28x4.5s came with the car. Since then, he has purchased a set of Firestone 7.00x18s from Al Teague and a set of Dunlop Racing 7.00x18s from George Poteet. Up front he always runs 24x3.6-15 M&H Racemasters.
Style
Body:
There's nothing better than an all-steel fenderless Ford three-window coupe that's been chopped 3.5 inches with required aerodynamic roof rails mounted on top. Creating the perfect line across the nose, Jack Haggeman Jr. fabricated the tastefully louvered hood that connects the unique Pines Winterfront grille with the original cowl.
Paint: Handling the bodywork and laying down the countless coats of Moon Yellow were Jessie Cruz and Enrique Guillen at DBO Motor Racing in Monterey, California. To finish the coupe, Moon Equipment Co. owner Shige Suganuma flew the company's famed pinstripe artist Hiro "Wildman" Ishii all the way from Yokohama, Japan, to hand-letter and stripe the coupe during the annual Mooneyes barbecue.
Interior: The hand-lettered Fred Larsen quote spells it all out: "Keep your foot in it!" The driver is wrapped in a Scheel racing seat with a five-point harness and is protected by a six-point rollcage. Fire-suppression bottles are within easy reach along with Stewart Warner gauges mounted in the original dashboard. Proudly fixed to the jockey box is an SCTA timing tag, and clamped to the beefy steering column is a big Auto Meter tachometer with a shift light.

Photo Gallery: 1932 Ford Coupe - Mooneyes Special - Hot Rod Magazine



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