In September last year, my wife and I headed to the US and Mexico for our honeymoon. While I’m not the type of guy to go out of my way to do car stuff when I’m traveling – I didn’t even visit one workshop while I was in Japan! – I discovered that Mooneyes was in the direction we were traveling one day. I would have been crazy not to stop in, I’ve always been a fan of the brand and never once imagined I’d have the opportunity to go there in person. After buying up a bunch of merchandise in the showroom, I mentioned to the gentlemen behind the desk that I was from Australia. Upon hearing that, he asked one of the staff to take us on a little unofficial tour of the place. Apart from sitting in the front engine dragster (the seating position makes me wince at the thought of a diff letting go!), we got to see the Moon discs and tanks being hand spun, and heard a lot about the history of the brand, the building, and some cool stories about the founder Dean Moon, and current owner Shige Suganuma. It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget. Head below to see some of my photos from around the shop (click for larger versions) and please link back to the site if you choose to share them.
I can’t thank the staff at Mooneyes enough for their kindness and generosity on the day. They didn’t have to take the time out of their day to show us around, but they chose to, and that really says something, especially since we were just a couple of tourists. There was a really nice and chilled atmosphere about the place and the people who worked there, the brand is definitely more than just it’s parts and cool logo.
