Bet you didn’t know that the first rail dragster was actually a stripped down Model T roadster. While Big Daddy Don Garlits’ first dragster had its roots as a T roadster, I’m talking about the first rail dragster ever that appeared 70 years ago. “Some dang fool gave me a Model T roadster when I … Read more
This is a major update of my original post about David Gadberry’s “Low Bucket” T-Bucket from 2010. You’ll find oodles more great pics, plus you can hear David tell the story of how it all came about in our recent Hooked on T-Bucket Hot Rods Podcast episode at TBucketPodcast.com. The December, 1996 issue of Hot … Read more
Beyond Norm Grabowski’s “Kookie Kar”, one of my other significant influences was a short wheelbase T-bucket built by Californian Bob Johnston, which appeared on the cover of the December, 1959, issue of the “little mag”, Rodding and Restyling. At the time, it was flathead powered and had one of the coolest profile’s I had seen. … Read more
It’s time to update my original two-part story done over ten years ago about Buzz Pitzen building “the world’s first fiberglass T-Bucket hot rod” back in 1959. You’ll find a lot of added new details and photos that will give you even more perspective on this monumental T-Bucket. In my 2013 post about The Real … Read more
As noted in Part I, Buzz Pitzen’s T-Bucket was the world’s first using a fiberglass body. It paved the way for tens of thousands to follow and it can’t be emphasized enough that had Buzz not taken the time to correct the flaws in that fiberglass body built in the 50s that the ‘glass bucket … Read more
Martin Hollmann is without a doubt the most underrated T-bucket builder of the 50’s and 60’s. I first wrote about Marty’s T-Bucket over ten years ago and since that time we’ve gained many new followers and added many new posts to our blog, so it’s quite likely this is the first time you’re seeing this. … Read more
While checking out all the cool T-Buckets at the 2017 T-Bucket Nationals in Carson City, Nevada I did a double take when I came upon this yellow Pontiac-powered T. Taking in that rare for a T-Bucket engine, the steel ex-touring body and the unique pickup bed treatment, my degenerating brain cells thought, “wow, this looks … Read more
You could say that the Norman Letendre traditional T-Bucket and the Bill Strickland T-Bucket roadster are birds of a feather. They both evidence a strong Tommy Ivo T-Bucket influence, were built around the same time and are both New England T-Buckets. Norman Letendre of Ludlow, MA took inspiration from TV Tommy Ivo’s T-Bucket roadster when … Read more