Moon Motor Car

Moon Motor Car Company

Former type	Automobile Manufacturing
Industry	Automotive
Genre	Touring cars
Founded	1905
Founder(s)	Joseph W. Moon
Defunct	1930
Headquarters	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Area served	United States
Products	Vehicles Automotive parts

Moon Roadster 6-40

Moon Motor Car (1905 - 1930) was a United States automobile company that was based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company had a venerable reputation among the buying public, as it was known for fully assembled, easily affordable mid-level cars using high-quality parts. Often this meant the manufacturing process required more human intervention, leading to operating losses.

The company was founded by carriage maker Joseph W. Moon ^[1]. Moon produced both cars and trucks^[1]. Moon Motor's peak production year was 1925 when the company produced 10,271 vehicles^[1].

History

In addition to the Moon name, Moons were sold under the Hol-Tan name in 1908. Moon produced the Diana via its subsidiary the Diana Motors Company in 1925 - 1928. Another subsidiary produced the Windsor in 1929-1930.

The firm also produced a cottonpicker built under contract from the American Cottonpicker Corporation.^[2]

Beginning in 1924, Moon was increasingly unable to meet dealership orders. The company went out of business at the start of the Great Depression; the Moon factory was purchased by Ruxton automobile.

Moon automobiles are on display at the Missouri History Museum and Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. The amusement park Six Flags St. Louis also features a ride using the Moon automobile body.

There is a car club for cars built by Moon Motor Car Company. You can get more information about the club and see more car pictures at www.mooncarclub.com

Models

Trucks

Model	Years	Note
A	1913-19	Delivery Vehicle/Light Truck
B	1913-19	Heavy Truck

Cars

Model	Years	Engine	Note
A	1906	Rutenber 4 cylinder	a five passenger touring car
C	1907-09	Moon 4 cylinder	Louis Mooers designed engine with overhead valves and cams
D	1908-09	Moon 4 cylinder	Also sold as Hol-Tans in the Eastern US
30	1910-12	Moon or Continental 4 cylinder	George Heising designed engine
39	1913	Moon or Continental 4 cylinder
40	1912	Moon or Continental 4 cylinder
45	1910-12	Moon or Continental 4 cylinder
48	1913	Moon or Continental 4 cylinder
65	1913	Continental Straight-6	first Moon six cylinder
4-38	1915	Continental 4 cylinder	last Moon four cylinder
4-42	1914	Continental 4 cylinder
6-30	1916	Continental Straight-6
6-36	1918	Continental Straight-6
6-38	1919	Continental Straight-6
6-40	1915, 1922	Continental Straight-6
6-42	1921	Straight-6
6-43	1916-17	Continental Straight-6
6-44	1916	Continental Straight-6
6-45	1917-18	Continental Straight-6
6-46	1919	Continental Straight-6	also called 'Victory'
6-48	1920-22	Continental Straight-6	wire or disk wheels replace wood wheels
6-50	1914-15, 1924	Continental Straight-6
6-58	1923	Continental Straight-6
6-60	1927-28	Continental Straight-6	also called the 'Jubilee'
6-62	1928-29	Continental Straight-6
6-66	1916-19	Continental Straight-6
6-68	1920-22	Continental Straight-6
6-72	1928-29	Continental Straight-6	nearly identicle to Windsor 6-72
8-75	1928-29	Continental Straight-8	first Moon eight cylinder
8-80	1928-29	Continental Straight-8	'Aerotype' body
Series A	1924-28	Continental Straight-6
Series U or U6-40	1924	Continental Straight-6
Newport	1925	Continental Straight-6
Metropolitan	1925	Continental Straight-6
London	1925-26		export model

Note: This table is derived from the Curt McConnell reference

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} McConnell, Curt (1995). Great Cars of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3163-6
2. ^ http://members.core.com/~mcbeed/autos/directory/history/moon.htm Moon - St. Louis Missouri (1905-1929) Founder Joseph W. Moon

External links

• 1916 advertisement