Over the last couple of years, the world has been suffering through the Covid pandemic and the horrible aftermath it left behind. We’re not here to give statistics on the pandemic or give advice because we’re not qualified. What we are qualified for is reporting on custom cars, trucks, motorcycles, and anything else that goes fast and makes lots of noise. Hence our name, DRIVE! Magazine. The reason we mention the pandemic is it has affected the custom car community in a huge way as with the thousands of other industries that cater to the public.

The good news is we are coming back and doing it in a big way with the help of custom car icons like Mooneyes Speed Shop.

Founded by Dean Moon in the 1950s and continues to this day as Mooneyes USA headquartered in Santa Fe Springs CA.

The Mooneyes Christmas party was originally a customer appreciation day to celebrate the end of the year with all the great customers who purchased Moon equipment for their race cars and show cars, not to mention the huge apparel line and accessories. What started out as a small gathering in their parking lot using backyard grilles cooking hot dogs and hamburgers with about 20-25 custom hot rods on display made for a rad mini car show. It has now turned into one of the largest custom car shows in California. So large in fact that the show now has to be held at the famous Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale California. Because of Covid regulations, the annual 2021 Christmas party had to be postponed to January 2022.

With over 800 custom cars, trucks, and motorcycles in attendance the lot was full. Yes, Mooneyes was back! Now named the Mooneyes New Year’s Party it was back with a vengeance. You can’t keep custom rodders at home any longer.

The day of the show was crazy as the line to get into the show stretched for blocks and the speedway security worked with local police to keep things moving. The line of customs was long and rumbled in for set-up as were the many vendors that ranged from delicious food truck cuisine to custom t-shirts, sunglass eyewear, and barbershops doing onsite haircuts for those dapper show attendees.

As fans continued to stroll in, we walked the area watching row after row of custom everything. From the ‘20s to the ‘70s custom cars and trucks were on display. So Cool, we wanted to talk to everyone there.

We did talk to Eric Anthony and Seth Sielert of Steady Clothing who had a rad display with all their vintage-inspired clothing for both men and women. If you miss them at the show you can still buy them from their website https://steadyclothing.com/

While we’re talking about vintage clothing we met a super cool couple Mario and Missy Vigil owners of Vigil Kustoms in Bakersfield California. At first glance, the artwork in the booth caught our eye, and upon asking the dapper gentleman at the booth who did the awesome artwork? We found out it was none other than Mario Vigil himself. A self-taught artist with a vintage flair. His renderings of custom cars and vintage signs are awesome!  Mario and his wife Missy can be seen at custom car shows throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada. If you get a chance stop by their booth and tell them DRIVE! Magazine sent you there.

As we strolled around the rows of cars we caught up with Dean Moon Jr. and had a chance to talk for a few minutes. We expressed our gratitude to him, his dad Dean Moon Sr. and the Moon family for giving us all great products and memories.

Just as we rounded the corner of vendor row we ran into another legendary custom car family. Peter Chapouris IV son of the late Pete Chapouris co-founder of the infamous SoCal Speed Shop. We were surrounded by custom car royalty. Pete 4 and long-time sales guru Rob Noriega were manning the booth. There’s something about seeing old friends after a 2-year shutdown of car shows. After some catching up we were told that SoCal has got exciting news of a new shop, warehouse, and location in Upland California, and new stores opening in Waco TX and Surrey B.C yes, you read that right British Columbia. Hot rodding is coming back with a vengeance. Ain’t no Teslas in this parking lot.

Keeping with the old friends’ warm and fuzzy feeling theme we rounded another corner and saw alumni of the SoCal Speed Shop era, none other than Jimmy Shine who now owns Shine Speed Shop in Orange County California. Jimmy, his wife Nikki, and his band of custom car fabricators turn out badass customs on a daily basis. Jimmy offered us food and drinks and old-time bench racing and colorful storytelling ensued. We all ventured to the race track to watch a multitude of drag cars race down the eighth mile dragstrip. The smell of burnt rubber and high octane fuel brought back memories of why we do this.

The 2022 Mooneyes New Year’s Party gave us an opportunity to meet new friends and reconnect with old friends too. We also want to give a special shout-out to Chico Kodama and his Mooneyes crew for putting on another fantastic show. Gone are the days of a few backyard grilles and hot dogs but the friends and relationships are still there stronger than ever. Thanks, Chico and the Moon family for giving us a place to hang out!

https://steadyclothing.com/
http://vigilkustomdesigns.com/
https://www.mooneyesusa.com/

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