Category: T-Buckets of the 1950′s
The World’s First Fiberglass T-Bucket Hot Rod: Buzz Pitzen’s “Glass Image” – Part I
In my earlier post about The Real History of the Fiberglass T-Bucket Body, it was noted that the first fiberglass T-Bucket roadster was built by hot rodder Buzz Pitzen. The story of how Buzz came to purchase that first fiberglass T-Bucket body is a fascinating look at why over 50 years ago someone would use [...]
Andy “The Rodfather” Brizio and the “Instant T”
The T-Bucket phenomenon was really building momentum by the mid-1960s when Ray Sisemore’s multi-part “How to Build a Hot Rod” series began chronicling a bucket build orchestrated by Ted McMullen of U.S. Speed Sport in Santa Fe Springs. Not long after that, a young San Francisco Bay hot rodder who mounted all the wheels at [...]
How a T-Bucket Became Key to “Big Daddy” Don Garlits Drag Racing Success
In the early 50s a young Don Garlits was frustrated that his 1950 Ford daily driver couldn’t beat local Florida drag racer, “King” Charles Hogan, and his brutish V-12 Lincoln. A friend of Don’s had a used car lot and was planning to build a ’27 T, but instead sold it to Don who built [...]
Larry Ryan’s T-Bucket
The October, 1961 issue of Rod & Custom magazine had a special feature on “Midwest Rods” and the one I found most memorable was a very cool, very stubby T-bucket built on a budget by a Kansas City teen named Larry Ryan. I understand that mechanical genius George Barnes contributed significantly to this bucket’s build [...]
Ed Roth’s Outlaw/Excalibur/Excaliber
Nine years ago (April 4, 2001), we lost Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. I felt fortunate that two months prior I had a chance to say hi to Ed and get him to autograph a couple of T-shirts at the Chicago World of Wheels car show. Growing up, Ed’s T-Bucket inspired fiberglass creation also had a [...]
Bob Johnston’s T-Bucket, Later to Become Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Tweedy Pie: Part 1
Tweedy Pie was a short wheelbase, flathead powered T-bucket built by Californian Bob Johnston in the 50s. It was cool enough to be a magazine cover car, but really rocketed to stardom after being purchased and updated by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.
TV Tommy Ivo’s T-Bucket
Shortly after becoming aware of Norm’s Kookie Kar around 1959, I was also struck by another T-bucket that had the “look” and received Hot Rod magazine coverage: “TV Tommy” Ivo’s Buick nailhead powered T-bucket. On a recent visit to the NHRA Wally Parks Museum in Pomona, CA, I had a chance to snap a few [...]
Norm Grabowski and the Kookie Kar T-Bucket
In the Spring of 1957, my 8 year old eyes were transfixed on a full page Life magazine photo of Southern California rod builder Norm Grabowski …
The Real History of the Fiberglass T-Bucket Body
We take the fiberglass T-Bucket body for granted. It seems like they’ve always been around, in abundance and economically priced: the ideal starting point for an exciting, budget hot rod.
Marty Hollmann’s Hugely Influential T-Bucket
I first saw Marty’s T-bucket on the cover of January 1961 Car Craft and was fascinated. I didn’t understand the beauty of symmetry, but I loved this T-bucket.
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