I saw that "Steamboat Willie" (the first Mickey Mouse cartoon) was trending because of its availability on Disney+. Here to follow is a short story about my friend Bobby's 1927 Moon roadster, which played a part in the making of the film. 
In 1927 Walt Disney had established some success in Hollywood with his silent animated cartoons, featuring a live action Virginia Davis as Alice.
Walt apparently decided to indulge himself by buying a new Moon roadster, an expensive upscale car made in St Louis. The car he bought is the same one in the picture, the one my friend now owns.
Later that same year, the first "talkies" were released. Walt decided he would make an all-animated cartoon, with synchronized sound and music, featuring an unknown Mickey Mouse as the star.
However, brand new sound technology was very expensive at the time, and Walt was somewhat cash strapped. In order to raise money for the cartoon he reluctantly put his Moon roadster up for sale.
My friend Bobby has the 1927 Los Angeles Times classified ad offering the car for sale, available for inspection at 2719 Hyperion Avenue, LA (original home of Walt Disney Studios). I think the asking price was $1200.
In any case by the 1950s-60s the car eventually made it into the hands of a celebrity car private collector in California, where it basically remained out of sight and forgotten for 50+ years. Bobby obtained it from him about 2011.
Since then the car has achieved a bit of fame, partly due to our mutual friend Jay, who runs the "Cars" franchise at Pixar. It has visited the Disney-Pixar car fest and Disneyland.
Not sure if it was one of the things that attracted Walt to the car, but Moons featured a whimsical, almost cartoonish radiator cap of a cat jumping over the Moon.
quick addendum: The car was cheaper and a bit older than I thought. It is actually a 1926. Here's the 1927 LA Times ad offering the car at $525; apparently it resulted in no buyers, but sold the following week when price was dropped to $475.
According to Disney biographers, Walt was quite proud of his Moon and hated to see it go. Here he is with the car in 1927. Fortunately selling it turned out to be a happy ending for both of them.
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*quick footnote - the car underwent at least one minor restoration / repaint, I'm guessing in the 60s. Paint scheme is a bit off original, and is missing bumper, windshield sidewings and running board step plate. Otherwise the provenance is dead-on.
