1932 Chevrolet Moonlight Speedster - body by Holden

Possibly the rarest body that General Motors - Holden's Ltd. ever produced is the 1932 Chevrolet Moonlight Speedster. 

Moonlight Speedster

Virtually a copy of the British-built 1929/30 Vauxhall Hurlingham Roadster (which was also sold in Australia), they were built at GMH's South Australian Woodville Plant in 1931/32. The total volume produced is not known and the only identified surviving car is now owned by Michael and Jodi Ferguson.

While GM-H referred in all advertising and sales literature to the car as the Chevrolet Moonlight Speedster, a Holden body tag nailed to the floor of Michael's Speedster has `CHEV HURL RDSTR' stamped into it. Both the printed GMH Technical Specification and the body plate refer to the Chevrolet as a `Hurlingham Roadster' in what could be construed as an acknowledgement of Vauxhall's registered design.

On June 4, 1931, as the new Chevrolet range was being released, the Perth Daily News correspondent `Servo' referred to the fact that the Chevrolet Moonlight Speedster ... " shows very sporting and attractive lines which reflect the influence of the Hurlingham Vauxhall sports model seen several times at shows in other parts of the metropolis." According to advertising of the time, the 1931 Moonlight Speedster was available in just two colours, Two-tone Blue or Glamour Red, while the 1932 was available in Glamour Red or Black.

Owner Michael Ferguson has written a history of his car which also records many details about the specifications and features (some very unusual) of the Moonlight Speedster.

You can read Michael Ferguson's "History of the Moonlight Speedster" at this link.

The  GM Design Archive & Special Collections group in the Detroit GM Heritage Center also has a set of images taken c.1970 of the same car that Michael now owns.  It was then in the possession of Ron McCann and was still painted white, courtesy of Dennis Lane and his father George in 1956.  The images are shown here with permission of GM Heritage Center.

 

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Michael often exhibits the car which creates much interest whenever it is shown. A recent appearance was at a NSW GM Display Day in Penrith, on Sunday 7 May 2023 and Marcus McInnes has provided some photographs of the Moonlight Speedster with two of the other cars exhibited.  The yellow vehicle is a Vauxhall Hurlingham Roadster, and the blue sports car is a Chevrolet Corvette. 

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 An earlier showing of the Speedster was at the Veteran & Vintage Chevrolet Association of Australia Ltd's 25th Anniversary Rally, held in Cowra NSW in September 1992.  General Motors-Holden's Ltd was a sponsor of the event and on 16 September 1992 issued a press release to publicise it, featuring the Moonlight Speedster being driven by the then owner, Darryl Stark. 

It may be downloaded here.