Howard Moon: Saving Grace

By Pete Vack
Photos by Mary Decker Vack

The below article first appeared in the April 1991 issue of Car Collector and Car Classic magazine. We republish it as a tribute to the late Howard Moon. A postscript follows.

There have been, at various times, Jaguars, Citroens, Alfas and BMWs parked at Howard Moon’s halfway house in Falls Church, Virginia—most of his boarders are halfway between the local scrap yard and total restoration. Moon’s unspoken mission is to save them from the former whenever possible. But despite the attempts to maintain diversity, Moon is best known for his 25-year dedication to saving pre 1975 Lancias. In his words, post-1975 Lancias are “gross parodies of a once-proud house tradition, originally typified by quality, innovation, and an almost sculptural approach to parts manufacturing,” and as such, simply not worth saving.

Welcome to the house of Moon. His collection will, at any given time, run the gamut of Lancias from Flaminias to the rare and exotic Aurelia B20 coupe, with the odd Fulvia or Flavia to round things out.

While the cars he owns are not as immaculate as critics think they should be, Moon remains unrepentant. “I don’t subscribe to the Pebble Beach mentality.” It is, perhaps, enough that he has found and saved numerous examples of a marque few had even heard of just a decade ago. Suitably preserved and always running, Moon’s Lancias eventually end up in the hands of collectors who can afford the high dollar restorations Moon shuns. A car found is a car saved, Moon has his fun, and finally, others realize what he has known all along.

The cycle seems continuous. A decade ago Moon was able to purchase any number of Aurelias – B20 coupes and B24 spiders – for what now seem to be giveaway prices. He would do what he could to provide new parts, get the cars respectable and running, then pass them on to the next Lancia enthusiast. A few years ago, when Flavias were still easy to find, Moon bought a 2000 sedan and a 1500 coupe and kept them for years.

What may seem simple speculation is not. Until just recently, Lancias were undervalued and few collectors could have foreseen the tremendous price increases which have occurred in the past four years (since 1987). And Flavias have resisted resisted the price fever of their Italian contemporaries, and are still undervalued. No one, including Moon, is sure that they will every be worth more than they are today.

Nor does he care. He won’t make much money on the Flavias no matter when he sells them but it’s not important. What is important is that they have not been reduced to ashes or crushed.

Just as important to Moon is the search, the chase and closure of a deal on a rare car he has desired for years. Recently, he got word of a large collection of cars in Kansas. “There were over 120 cars, predominantly European, hid away in two dairy barns. And I knew there was a rare Lancia in there…”

And so it was that among the Delahayes, 327 BMWs and Jags was a lone 1938 Lancia Aprilia, that last great work of Vincenzo Lancia. There are maybe four in the U.S. After six months and at least one trip into the heartland of America, the Aprilia arrived in Falls Church complete with three flat tires. In the course of its journey the Aprilia had taken in more water than the Andrea Doria. It looked sad. But Moon felt it had potential, and being an undaunted optimist about such things, he sallied forth.

In true Moon fashion, he embarked upon a save-the-Aprilia campaign. Within a few weeks the old Lancia was cleaned up and with a little help from his friends the Aprilia’s V4 engine ran again after 30 years. Remarkably the car was generally rust free, and by the spring Moon’s art-deco wonder with its muted dorsal fin would be roadworthy.

The Aprilia was truly advanced for the time, with a narrow angle V4 engine, unit frame construction, de Dion rear suspension, and pillarless door openings. Such pioneering technology interests Moon, who is incidentally the author of a book about the Soviet SST effort, and was featured in a BBC/Nova TV documentary about the supersonic transport plane.

If the eventual fate of the Aprilia is uncertain, Howard Moon has it halfway home.

Postscript

Dr. Howard Moon passed away on Thursday, August 20, 2020 at the age of 81. We, the Editor and Mary Decker Vack (who also took the photos of Moon above), recalled a few fond anecdotes about Moon, who was a dear friend who will be sorely missed.

Pete: One might wonder what, with all those Lancias on hand, did Moon drive on a daily basis. He was very practical, and with the Lancias safely in the back yard, his main transportation was always SAABs.

Mary: He was always a gentleman and very polite, despite his education- he had a doctorate in History – and position. I enjoyed watching him lecture at the College of William and Mary on his specialty, Islamic religious leaders. He was a marvelous speaker.

Pete: Whenever I’d have a story to send to a magazine, I’d bring it to Howard for proofing, and he would take out his red pen and correct all my silly errors in one rapid reading. He always had time to help with manuscripts.

Mary: I remember when he’d come over to our home, bedecked in aviator goggles and leather helmet, looking like something out of WWI, driving his prewar EMW convertible. He had a great sense of humor and never took himself too seriously.

Pete: He once went to Wolftrap with us to see “Cosi fan Tutte”, and during the performance, he was lying on the grass, singing the arias with the opera company. He told me that as a young student, he’d sneak into Carnegie Hall to watch the Met on Saturday afternoons.

Mary: Though he had many teaching jobs, he found a home at the C.I.A. and lectured on Muslim history. One day there was a shooting outside the agency and someone in a black SAAB was hit. We were worried that it might have been him, but it wasn’t.

Pete and Mary: We don’t want to forget to mention that his appearance on the BBC/Nova show on the Soviet SST was a real thrill for him and for his friends. This was a follow up to his very successful book, Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics of The Tupolev-144.