VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1932 Moonlight Speedster

I wish I could tell you that this vehicle was in my stable but that wouldn’t be true. These three pictures were provided by Chris Osborne from down under. He has offered to send some pictures of the moonlight coupe also. I will post them when I return from the NW Meet which starts the day after tomorrow.

That is absolutely a magnificent car! I have a complete photo album of the car in my collection, along with photos of a 1932 Moonlight Coupe in a barn that is the only one known to exist.

What are the two things on top of the cowl, large cowl lights?

Why is it called a coupe? Most like this are called Roadster, speedster??? Is the one in the barn a different model then the pics?

What do you think a '32 Moonlight Coupe is worth?

Gator;
I think this is a shot of the Moonlight Speedster. Pictures of the Coupe may be in the works.
I too would like to know more about the cars and why the "scoops" or lamps up on the cowl? Where the engines differant that the normal 194ci.? Who made the body? (Burlingham Speedster?) Interesting that this car has a full bumper in the rear. I've seen pictures of one that has bumperettes and the squared off tail looks like it might have carried a spare.
What is that on the instument panel in front of the steering wheel?
Very cool car!

Gator: Go back and read the postings. The car pictured is a Moonlight Speedster, not a Moonlight Coupe. The Moonlight Coupe (a totally different body style than the featured speedster) has a coupe body and not a speedster body, and there are no pictures of it posted.

What's the Moonlight Speedster worth? More money than you can imagine. The owner can ask pretty much anything that he wants for the car and someone out there will pay the price. :eek: :eek: :eek:

RGwiz: The "thing" in front of the steering wheel is an "open air" glove box.

Gents
The speedster was made by "Holden" as were the majority of Chev bodies of this era.
It was based on the Vauxhall Hurlingham speedter but is a smaller version.
Not sure why the rear section was squared off, probably 1932 udgrade from the 20's pointed ones. It wouldn't have been for a spare whell as all the speedsters were 6 whell equiped.
99 of these were made from 1930 to 1932, I think from memory only a couple of coupes and the rest speedsters. I have a photo taken in 1964 of a 31 Moonlight speedster
They were aluminium bodied
The scoops on the cowl are the predessor for cowl vents and allow air in, although I don't know why you'd need extra air, probably more of a dress up item
They ran the standard 1932 engine with no modifications
JYD is right about the open glove box, had one on either side
I have known the past 3 owners of the speedster and have photos of when it was white, I've had it parked in my driveway and could have bought it a long while ago for twice the price of a Chev 4 tourer, but it was pretty rought and a dog (sorry JYD) to drive. The current owner has back to as good as you can get.
The car cannot be valued and if it was for sale it would be a long queue, i'd guess over $100k US would be indicative
I'll email Ray the photos of the very rusty only known coupe, currently under restoration, I believe
Chris

It appears to have a rumble seat, else why the rear windscreen, with no steps. I realise that the off side isn't shown. I wouldn't mind having even a knock-off of thar car. If I were an aluminium panel beater, maybe I could convert one of JYDs planters into one.

George

Even my wife is in awe!! :love: :love: :love:
An'I tell yer that ain't often?? :o :o :o

My '32 planter box? Holy Cow!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Chevguroo;
Thanks for the info. 60 years of Chevrolet was wrong again by using the word "Burlingham Speedster".
They also say that (at that time, 1970's) it was owned by Ron McCann, South Wales, Australia, and only 100 where built. They show it in white.
George, they mention in "60 yrs of Chevy" that it has a step plate attached to the rear fender to get into the rumble seat which only holds one person.
I was thinking of Holden as the body maker. I believe they are now producing the GTO body.

Like George said; "I wouldn't mind having even a knock-off of thar car."

I agree, it would be the only 'Kit car' I would like to have.

Next to mine I love this car. As a treat I'm going over to Bennie's house and photograph his Chevy race car and will post it! Its not as slick and shiny but sure is pretty.

Gents
Ron McCann was the original owner and it's changed owners twice since him.
Holden are producing the GTO. It's called a Monaro over here and the Monaro has a long history of as a collectable muscle car. It started in 1968 and was availale with an Australian six or a Chev 307 and 327. The next model (1969) had a 350. They have a good record in motor racing.
I have a 1968 Monaro currently under restoration.
It stopped production in 1975 and due to public pressure was re introduced about 5 years ago.
The GTO marketed in the US is basically the same car with cosmetic changes, it is rear wheel drive and runs over 400 hp, a genuine muscle car.
Holden have just announced this week they are stopping production this year which should make the existing cars quite collectable.

I have sent Ray 4 photos of the 32 Moonlight coupe, he will post them when he gets back from his trip
Chrs

A couple of weeks ago Mike Ferguson and I visited Darryl the owner of this car. He has not enjoyed the best of health for the past few years and the car has not been run for at least a couple of years. After a bit work we got it running and took it for a run.Although I did not drive it on this occasion I can tell you that it no longer a dog to drive although it takes a bit of getting in to. The seating is lower than a normal 32 and along with the lightweight body and a mild owner installed cam it gets along quite well. Of the many interesting stories about this car one that Darryl relayed the other week was about the old fellow who came into his shop about 20 years ago and claimed that he and his brother helped assemble these cars when they worked for Holdens. He claimed the bodies were made in sections on a wheeling machine and then welded together by a woman who was Holdens best aluminium welder. To enter the rumble seat there is a step on the leading section of the rear fender. The scoops on the cowl as Chris. points out are air scoops and can be spun around to stop air from entering. One thing I find very doubtful is the claim that 99 were built. Darryl estimates about 12 to 15, and he has a few photos of other speedster taken in the 1930s to early 1950s. This car is body no 10 and he has the windscreen off body no6. This car is fitted with a slightly modified 1931 firewall indicating that the bodies may have been made in that year and were fitted as required. Also of interest is although they were advertised as speedsters the body tag calls it a Hurlingham roadster.

345 chevy,

that's great info and I was fascinated reading your post...thanks...


epi

That was one great story! :cool2:

Thanks for the story, can hardly wait to see photos of the coupe.
Regards, Gary

345 that is good reading. Please tell us more...

Where there any suspension changes, and what if any changes to the fuel and timing to work with the mild cam?

If you sit lower, the sight line must have been reduced quite a bit.

For those of you that were holding your breath to see the Midnight Coupe, here it is courtesy of Chris Osborne:

I don't see the fender wells or a boat tail. What's with that?
I do see the cool roofline.
Has this car been restored from what we see?

That is a great photo! I also have the same photo of this car (and more) in my collection as well. While the car featured in the photo is an extremely rare '32 coupe in it's own right, it is not the 1932 Moonlight Coupe! Yes, I know...many in the past have thought that it was the Moonlight Coupe, but in reality the car featured in the above photo is actually called the "Club Coupe". However, the only known "real" Moonlight Coupe is also alive and well and it is undergoing a very slow restoration. :eek: :eek: :eek:

The "Club Coupe" (shown in the photo above) is still in a state of deterioration, and from what I understand, it looks worse now than it did when the above photo was taken years ago! :( :(

There were no fender wells, and none of the pictures were explicit as to a boat-tail.

The real Moonlight Coupe does not have a boattail body like the Moonlight Speedster, nor a conventional type of coupe body either.

The rear fenders look wider than my 31? It appears low. Has it been channeled?

No. The rear fenders on the Club Coupe in the photo are as wide as shown. And, the front pillars for the roof are not on the car so the front of the roof is tipped down. That's why the car looks so low.