The 1917 Moon Tourer saloon, owned by Travis Michelle, has an intriguing past.
The Moon Motor Car Co was established in St Louis in the United States in 1905, originally making buggies before transitioning to cars. The company aspired to create cars aimed at the higher end of the market and at one point even faced a lawsuit from Rolls-Royce for copying their iconic radiator design.
In 1917, Moon had a contract to produce about 270 cars for the United States Army, and it is likely Mr Michelle’s saloon is one of this batch of vehicles.
Under its light-tan coat of paint, it is possible to see the dark military-green original colour. The number 1146 had also been painted on the bonnet.
Another clue to the car’s origins is an original blanket which is coarse and heavy and a muted dark olive green in colour similar to an army-issue blanket.
However, an intriguing piece of history is that these models were apparently provided to the US Army under a lend-and-lease agreement, and were supposed to be destroyed after World War 1. So it is possible this car was actually stolen from the Moon company, and eventually made its way to New Zealand, perhaps thanks to the lucky happenstance of a New Zealand nurse marrying an American soldier, who brought the car back with him, to be used on a farm in rural Ellerslie.
The car then lay almost forgotten, stored from about 1923 in a stablehand’s quarters.
In 1968, collector Bill Shears bought it and discovered that it still had less than 9000 miles (14,500km) on the clock.
He restored it and owned the car for many years and it became a familiar sight at veteran rallies.
Mr Michelle said he bought the Moon car because after many years helping out at the Dunedin to Brighton rally he wanted to be able to participate in the event.
The Moon is a challenge to drive, with some curious quirks, including a clock on the rudimentary dash which is simply an old pocket watch. And the fuel gauge is a cork attached to a piece of wire which sits inside the fuel tank to show how full the tank is, which, unsurprisingly, was not very effective, Mr Michelle said.
