The 1912 Moon Raceabout Owned by Henry Austin Clark Jr is heading to Pebble Beach (Updated: 7/19/16)
A rare 1912 Moon Model 30 Raceabout,one of Henry Austin Clark Jr.'s favorite automobiles in his collection, will be shown at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Leland Powels, the current owner of the Moon, and his wife Marissa are looking for any photos, stories and documentation of this 1912 Moon. Please use the Comments section below or email information to [email protected] .
Thanks for your assistance!
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
History of the 1912 Moon (Photos courtesy of Walter McCarthy)
Henry Austin Clark, Jr. in the 1912 Moon in 1948
Sometime before 1987, the 1912 Moon was sold to Bill Harrah. In 1987, it was purchased at a Harrah's Car Auction by Leland Powels' father.
According to Marissa Powels:"The Moon has only been out of the garage twice since Leland’s father purchased it in 1987. One of those times was for the 75th National Horseless Carriage Show in Van Nuys in 2012. The actual 1907 Around the World Thomas Flyer was there on display and at the end of the show, the gentleman who had brought the Thomas Flyer (an employee of Harrah’s) actually gave rides to a few people after the show was over as a kind of present to the people who helped put the event together. My husband Leland fired up the 1912 Moon, this gentleman had the Thomas Flyer, and another friend of ours had a 1911 Fiat that was there as well......and they all drove around the tarmac at the Van Nuys Airport giving rides to people!"
Current Views of the 1912 Moon (Courtesy of Leland and Marissa Powels)
1909 Moon Racer
A 1909 Moon Racer participated in the 1909 Wheatley Hills Sweepstakes. Driven by Philip Wells, the Moon finished fourth.
Hammond's Historical Happenings (Submitted by Gary Hammond)
The B&W postcard dated 1951 (from Ebay)
Two versions of color postcard #6532 - in front of the LIAM in Southampton 1953 (both Ebay)
The list of HAC postcards with # 6532 1912 Moon Raceabout listed
The Antique Cars by HAC book that I own- Cover; page with the Moon postcard in B&W & reversed; and the plates sold by LIAM, including. the Moon
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As suggested by Walt I looked through the finding aid for the HAC Collection at the Henry Ford & didn't see a file on the Moon.
Swanson's Surprises (Submitted by Bob Swanson)
The 1912 MOON was on the Glidden Tour in 1950, along with the 1912 Model T Ford that has been in my garage since 1983.
Comments
The Moon was one of Austin Clark’s favorite cars. I believe he gave the story of the car in his column “Young Nuts and Old Bolts” that he wrote for Old Cars Monthly (that publication eventually became a weekly) . Old Cars published a bound volume of articles that appeared in that newspaper and it is quite possible if anyone has that compilation that they could locate the article, the volume was titled “the Best of Old Cars”.
The Moon was on a Glidden tour revival in the late 1940s and was being driven by a friend of Austin’s and I recall Austin telling me “he not only wrecked the car once but twice on the same tour” I don’t imagine the car was badly damaged, but I shall be discreet and not mention the person who was driving the car . Austin had a filing draw in one of the cabinets in his library at his estate in Meadow Spring in Glen Cove that had a file folder for each car he ever bought and sold and the receipts, etc that went with the car. I am not sure if that file of all the cars went with the rest of his library to the Henry Ford Museum (now known as just The Henry Ford)
It is very nice to see after all these decades that the history if the car is finally being attempted to be sorted out; I only wish this had been done a quarter of a century ago when more people who were around and knew the car were still alive.
If Harrah’s bought the car from Austin, did they do it at one of the auctions he held at the L.I.A.M. ? if so it should be listed in one of the auction catalogs he published. I have most of these but at the moment am swamped with research and story commitments I have to finish to look further for those.
Wow! Another gem!
Walt you mention that the Moon was one of HAC favorite car, the reason I am asking is some years ago about the late 70’s?, there was a car show in the Theodore Roosevelt memorial park in Oyster Bay, HAC probably coming from Glen Cove, showed up in a red vintage roadster like the Moon, he stayed in the car looking rather puffy at the time, stayed only for a short time there. Question is, was that the Moon (in red) that I had saw or another roadster that he had? Also I remember I had seen the Thomas Flyer unrestored in the late 50’s at the museum in Southhampton,
and then again in 1978 at Harrah’s fully restored on some scenery set.
The 1948 Glidden driver is still collecting cars on Long Island and can probably give you the story of the car. He still tells the story of his drive.
The 1912 MOON was on the Glidden Tour in 1950, along with the 1912 Model T Ford that has been in my garage since 1983. My T was once owned by Elmer Bemis. I can finally check off Pebble Beach from my “Bucket List” this year and look forward to finally seeing the MOON. There are photos of it in the January 1951 Issue of the Bulb Horn, along with full coverage of the 1950 Glidden.
The Moon was in one of the garages behind the main building of the museum..along with a Biddle, the Model T Ford fire engine and several other cars when my son and I were visiting the museum….approximately 1969-70… The Moon was always grey….never red. This day was somewhat notable…as HAC discovered someone had stolen the radiator cap from the Moon. We often visited the museum, and on one occasion, Mr. Clark drove us in the Fiat “Jolly” to John Duck’s Restaurant for lunch which he generously paid for….I am left with a very favorable memory of this man…I had several business dealings with him and he was a tremendous help to me in my research of Mr. Finley Robertson Porter…very generously providing me with photos and a lot of information….truly one of this hobby’s early pioneers…