Ron Mooney a.k.a. Tufbuick has passed

TTT

 

I wrote the following article for our NE Club newsletter. Sent a copy of it to Ron's wife along with a printout of this thread. Thought you guys might want to read it.

Ron Mooney (1945-2019)


On December 21 2019, we lost club member and my good friend, Ron Mooney. I got a call in the early morning from Ron's wife Josephine. From what she told me, Ron didn't suffer, but had a heart attack in his sleep. Ron was gone by the time EMS arrived. Ron had bypass surgery well over 20 years ago when I first met him, and he had a scare back in 2010 when he had to be hospitalized so doctors could put a stent in one of his coronary arteries. None of this slowed Ron down one bit or dampened his love of life, family, cars, or his incredible sense of humor and his ability to make you laugh so hard it hurt. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, and Buick events will never be the same for many of us due to his absence.

In many ways, I owe Ron for introducing me to the Northeast GS/GN club, and the Long Island crew who are some of my closest friends today. Back in October of 1999, I bought the 1970 GS455 Stage 1 I still own today. I had been a member of the GSCA and the NE GS/GN club for many years after owning a 1972 Skylark and 86 Regal. I had never really gotten involved with either club as by then my 72 was a basket case and the 86 had the gutless Cutlass 307 motor. All that changed when I purchased the Stage1. I had listed my Stage 1 in the 2001 GSCA member directory a year before, and that is where Ron found me in early 2000. He was looking to buy a Stage 1, and he called me on the telephone to ask if mine was for sale. I told him I had just bought the car because I always wanted one, and they would likely bury me in it. We talked for awhile and Ron asked me if I had ever been to Bellmore cruise night. I hadn't, but I promised Ron I would make it a priority as soon as the weather warmed up. That Spring, Ron again called me to ask if I was going to Bellmore that Friday. We made up to meet there. I never realized there were so many classic cars meeting in one spot right in my backyard. That same night, I met Bruno DiPaola. I had the hood open, and Bruno walked over and proceeded to tell me everything that was wrong with my car. While some might have been insulted, I wasn't, I wrote everything down. With Bruno's help, I corrected everything that was wrong. In subsequent car cruises, I met Alan Wander who owned Big Red, his 1969 GS400. Ron then found his 1972 GS455 Stage1. The 3 of us would meet at Bellmore and then cruise our cars around on the island afterwards. One thing Ron always told me. was that he liked the car cruise nights, but he loved driving his cars more, and that's what Ron would do, he drove the wheels off every car he ever owned, "these cars were made to be driven" he'd say all the time. While we were cruising around, Ron and Alan would always mix it up with some street racing. I would just hang back as, quite frankly, I was afraid of my 70, it was the fastest car I had ever owned. At one point, I raced the car at Englishtown and somehow got it to hook with street radials. It ran a 13.6 @ 101 MPH. I was thrilled. While we were cruising around, Ron would always try to goad me into racing him, but I never took the bait. Anybody who knows me knows I always try to do the right thing. Street racing scared me, I had read enough newspaper articles about the tragic outcomes of street racing and I told myself that would never be me. That didn't stop Ron from trying though, LOL. Ron's 72 had run 13's but never broken 100 MPH. I think his best was a 13.45 @ 98 MPH. One early Sunday morning, Ron and I were in our cars on our way out to Captree car cruise. There was a big car cruise there on Sunday mornings in the off season before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. To get there, we were on Ocean Parkway, a two lane long roadway that runs along the water in both directions east of Jones beach and west of the Robert Moses Causeway. It is flat with no trees, or anything else for that matter. No where for Police to hide and lots of visibility to see them if they tried to. That morning, I was following Ron in the left lane and there was no one on the road except Ron and I. At one point, Ron moved into the right lane and slowed down. As I pulled up alongside him, he was laughing and pointing. Go, was all he said. I looked around, and figured, what the hell, let's get this over with. I matted the gas at 60 MPH, and the transmission downshifted to 2nd, and the car was pulling. I remember looking down and seeing I was north of 100 MPH. I looked in the mirror to see Ron a good 10 cars back, and he wasn't pulling on me but fading further back. I got out of it and as Ron got back along side me, I could hear him say, "Your car is faster". Ron's 72 was a beautiful car. An original Silver Mist car, the guy Ron bought the car from had it painted blue, I think it was a Corvette color. It was a real eye catcher. With it's Flowmaster exhaust and JW converter, it was loud and a real street contender, and Ron was always testing it against whatever he found on the roads of Queens and Long Island. With the 750 Holley double pumper he had on the engine, gas mileage was pretty dismal. My Quadrajet made my GS a lot more economical for sure. One weekend, Ron and I went cruising around on the island with our cars. I don't remember why we were out, maybe to check out some cars or parts for sale, or maybe just to drive around. In any case, we got back to Queens, and Ron was on E. I still had a 1/4 of a tank showing, and Ron suggested we go fill up before calling it a day. At one point, we went under a highway underpass, and Ron could never go under one with out gunning it just to hear those Flowmasters. After that, we were up on the Service road of the Long Island Expressway when I got caught at a red light. Ron continued and I lost sight of him as the roadway went up hill. The light turned green, and as I came up over the rise, there was Ron, outside his car, driver door open, pushing his GS down the hill, right into the gas station, he had run out of gas, LOL.

I continued to meet other NE club members and Long Island guys, and in the Spring of 2000, Alan, Ron, and myself went to my first GS Nats in Ron's 1987 Most optioned GN. For us, that trip is over 900 miles one way, at least 16 hours with stops for food and gas. I think we laughed most of the way there and back. My sides literally hurt when I got home. Besides seeing more Buicks, parts and racing than I had ever seen in my life, there was the adventures. Whenever Ron was out cruising his cars, he would go exploring. I swear he knew every road on Long Island and the quickest way to get somewhere. Bowling Green was no exception. Alan, Ron, and I went exploring the back woods of Kentucky. Well, we found some rolling hills and winding roads, and Ron had the GN in boost for some "spirited" driving. At one point, I spotted a Crown Vic on one of those hills. I mentioned to Ron, that I thought I saw an unmarked Police car. It didn't seem to concern Ron until we heard the siren and saw the lights behind us. As a side note, Ron always carried some breath spray, and that has alcohol in it and he used it a lot. When the officer approached the car to talk with us, he asked Ron to step out and walk to the back of the car. Alan and I stayed in the GN. At one point, we heard the officer say "Now Mr. Mooney, blow into this until I tell you to stop". With the banjo theme song of the movie Deliverance playing in my head, I hear Alan say to me, "You're next". Ron escaped that encounter with just a warning, but we laughed about that for years, and still do today.

I think most of us are going to miss the late night parking lot antics at our various Buick events. Ron had a back ground in advertising, and he had a very creative mind, and a quick wit. If Ron liked you, you were golden and laughed whenever you were around him, but if he had a beef with you, you would get tormented and there was no way to get the last word. He had a running feud with Jim Rodgers on V8Buick.com, and the turbo boards. Ron always got their goat, and it was hilarious to watch and follow along. I thought for sure he would get his butt kicked at some point, but it never happened. More often than not, he would end up shaking hands with the tormented party and laughing about it. Ask Dave Shaker and Jim Rodgers about that if you see them. Occasionally Ron would cross the line on V8buick and he would get a time out from Jim Weise. You think that stopped Ron? Not a chance, LOL. Ron would just register under a different screen name. Ron created a whole cast of characters on V8 and a story line that lasted for months. Anybody who has been on V8 will remember Buckwheat, Daisy Swallows, and Tom Larkin to name a few. It was a running joke for a long time. At the 3rd Annual BPG Nats, we had name cards made up. Ron's card had more than one name,



I hope there is drag racing in the afterlife. If there is, I know Ron is right in the thick of it, breaking balls, laughing, and driving around with his hair on fire. Godspeed my friend.

 

Thanks Denny, I tried to include my favorite stories about Ronny. It still makes me laugh when I think about them. I wanted to share that with V8.

 

I don’t think Ron would take Dolly away fromYardley.