Don Alderson
Don Alderson, more commonly known as “Muldoon” or “Dooner”, was born in Hawaii, where he lived until shortly after Pearl Harbor, at which time his family moved to Southern California. As a teenager, Don, like a lot of other young men around the country, earned his spending money working in a gas station. While waiting to reach the age in which he could get his learner’s permit, Don purchased a rebuild Model A roadster. After school, Don enrolled in college and shortly thereafter he and a friend competed a T-bucket roaster, which they competed with at the old Santa Anna Dragstrip. The top speed of 109 miles per hour they squeezed out of the car at Santa Anna isn’t very impressive by today’s standards, but it was great for that time.
After a tour in Korea, Don return to Los Angeles and went to work at an engineering company and was able to complete an apprenticeship in the design and manufacturing of aircraft components and assemblies, where he learned the fine art of producing precision parts and pieces. In 1957 Don and Milo Franklin formed Milodon Engineering Inc., which is primarily engaged in producing parts for aircraft and missiles. However, Don was still involved in racing and soon began to produce a lot of the parts that went into his own cars and engines.
By this time Dooner was fully involved with Bonneville racing, drag racing, and the dry lakes; plus, he was a member of the Gear Grinders Car Club, which was associated with the Southern California Timing Association. In 1946, Don drove his street roadster to a record speed of 131 MPH. Don was like several of his fellow racers in the early days of the sport who made parts for their own use that fit and/or performed better than what was available. As other competitors learn more about the level performance he was obtaining and the fact that his parts actually fit, more and more of them began to ask him to build the same parts for them.
In 1962, Don acquired sole ownership of the company which by this time had gone from producing a few special performance parts to producing hundreds of these parts. In fact, the demand was so great that Don had begun to steer the company from an aircraft component parts manufacturer to an automotive product development and manufacturing business. In addition to the increased number parts being produced, the variety of parts had also greatly increase, and soon Milodon engineering was a full-time race engine parts manufacturer. The product line grew from special main bearing supports, oil system, and oil pans to include complete 426 Chrysler and 350 Chevy style aluminum blocks and accessories. By 1985 the business listed over 900 parts in its catalog. The top names of the day, such as Don Garlits and Chris Karamasines, help make the Milodon engines a must-have item for the serious racer.
For Don, the 60s were the glory years of racing. In 1965, aerodynamics guru Bob Herda designed the body and Dooner built the engines for the Herda, Knapp and Milodon streamliner that Herda drove to a Bonneville record on its first outing. By building in running various size engines, the car was able to compete in both B and C classes. From 1965 through 1968, the car broke its own record 18 times, with eight of those times coming in one year. In 1967 the Autolight division of Ford contacted Don and asked him to build a special SOHC engine for the streamliner to go after the Daytona Beach record. In November of that year the car ran 357+ miles per hour to set a record that stood for incredible 28 years.
Like a lot of racers and enthusiasts, Don’s interests were not confined to just cars. His second love was the world of aviation. In 1953 Donner bought his first plane, a World War II era T-6 trainer. From there he moved up to a T-28 and ultimately wound up with a P-51 Mustang. Much like what resulted from his involvement in drag racing, Don was soon producing special performance parts for the major air races. Don owned several more normal planes during his life, but his ex-military ones were where his heart was.
Don gave the racing and enthusiast community a lot of leading-edge parts, but he also gave it a lot of advice and valuable information. He was a thinker, innovator, and a doer. With organizations such as NHRA and SEMA recognizing his contributions to the sport with special honors including induction into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2001.