Rest in Peace; Hunsbloger 1954-2019

DT E-i-C Vince: It is with some degree of difficulty and much sorrow that I inform you, our readers, of the passing of a DT writer and dear friend.  Hunsbloger has joined those who have flown to the great junk yard in the sky…and he will be missed.  I’ve known Huns for over 20 years, and in that time I’ve found him to be a fantastic car builder, a prolific storyteller, a great dad, a dedicated husband, and a wonderful friend.

I first had the pleasure of knowing Hunsbloger when we worked together for a small alternative fuels engine development company in the San Diego area — I was a fresh faced engineer and he was a veteran salesman.  Wise and wisecracking, he was the kind of the person who could challenge you with a smile and he had the most incredible barn sized garage in an unlikely urban San Diego setting. I think it was a 900 square foot house with an 8 car garage.  Huns was building this restomod 1967 Mustang, long before the Gone in 60 Seconds craze mangled many 67 bodies.  The car was his masterpiece and it had to sit the way he wanted, have no back seat, and it was covered in Honda Odyssey green paint (Huns was very proud of the paint choice from a modern family minivan) with gold stripes.  The car had functioning AC, a Mustang II rack-and-pinion, and a fire-breathing V8 mated to a tremec 5-speed manual.

Our paths continued to cross over the years at BBQs and family activities — but when I started Daily Turismo in 2012 our friendship became even closer.  Huns wasn’t just another reader, he was a fan, an acolyte, and eventually, a writer. He was a constant source of encouragement, excitement, and prolific pedantry with all things automotive and DT.  The thing about Huns is that he wasn’t just a one trick pony car guy — he built that amazing custom 67 Fastback and then sold it when he moved across the country and a few years later picked up the raddest vista window equipped Buick on the block.

The Buick SportWagon is the Vista Window equipped cousin to the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser…and Huns originally wanted a ’67 SportWagon, but he ended up buying this Seafoam Green ’65 SportWagon with the Deluxe Interior and upgraded Wildcat 355 V8.  Actually Huns originally had a strange obsession with the ’57 Buick Cabellero Wagons, but Barrett-Jackson style price speculation pushed them out of reach and Huns went for the ’65.  A few years later he sold it to me for a great deal, and now I use it to haul my family around town.

Huns had many cars over the years, including this ’65 Corvair ragtop that was in really nice shape and surprisingly quick for what it was.  You can read all about Huns various cars in the DT fleet update here, just scroll half way down the page to see his impressive collection of cars from over the decades. 

I have certain reasonably held opinions about the afterlife, but I can’t tell you for certain that there is a place with a magical cloud and that Huns is looking down at us, smiling. But I can say this;  If anybody is polishing wrenches in some heavenly workshop, it is Huns and he is preparing the most insane Opel Manta build that you’ve ever seen and it will fit his family, his friends, and anyone who cares to join him.  Read Huns’ DT articles here, listen to his hour on the DT radio show here, and say a prayer for Huns and his family. Rest in peace Mark “Hunsbloger” Hunsberger 1956-2019.  You are missed, my friend. 

“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” — John Steinbeck