The World’s First Fiberglass T-Bucket Hot Rod: Buzz Pitzen’s “Glass Image” – Part I

Buzz Pitzen T-Bucket
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Founder at TBucketPlans.com
T-Bucket fanatic since 1957 when my 8 year old eyes became glued to a full page LIFE magazine photo of Norm Grabowski in the wildest hot rod I had ever seen! I later discovered the fascinating T-Buckets of TV Tommy Ivo, Marty Hollmann, Bob Johnston and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s T-Bucket inspired Outlaw. I was hooked for life on T-Bucket hot rods!

TBucketPlans.com originated in 2005 as a personal blog extolling the virtues of T-Buckets. In 2009 I blogged about Chester Greenhalgh, the "how to" genius who wrote the legendary, out-of-print “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000”. That led to a friendship with Chester and our partnership in marketing the updated eBook version of his T-Bucket building bible. The T-Bucket fire burns stronger and stronger.
John Morehead
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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

The World’s First Fiberglass T-Bucket Hot Rod: Buzz Pitzen’s “Glass Image” – Part II

Buzz Pitzen T-Bucket
Follow me
Founder at TBucketPlans.com
T-Bucket fanatic since 1957 when my 8 year old eyes became glued to a full page LIFE magazine photo of Norm Grabowski in the wildest hot rod I had ever seen! I later discovered the fascinating T-Buckets of TV Tommy Ivo, Marty Hollmann, Bob Johnston and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s T-Bucket inspired Outlaw. I was hooked for life on T-Bucket hot rods!

TBucketPlans.com originated in 2005 as a personal blog extolling the virtues of T-Buckets. In 2009 I blogged about Chester Greenhalgh, the "how to" genius who wrote the legendary, out-of-print “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000”. That led to a friendship with Chester and our partnership in marketing the updated eBook version of his T-Bucket building bible. The T-Bucket fire burns stronger and stronger.
John Morehead
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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

Fiberglass T Bucket Body History

Fiberglass T Bucket Body Curt Hamilton Cal Automotive

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.

Cal Automotive: Fiberglass T-Bucket Body Pioneers, Part 1

Cal Automotive fiberglass T Bucket body
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Founder at TBucketPlans.com
T-Bucket fanatic since 1957 when my 8 year old eyes became glued to a full page LIFE magazine photo of Norm Grabowski in the wildest hot rod I had ever seen! I later discovered the fascinating T-Buckets of TV Tommy Ivo, Marty Hollmann, Bob Johnston and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s T-Bucket inspired Outlaw. I was hooked for life on T-Bucket hot rods!

TBucketPlans.com originated in 2005 as a personal blog extolling the virtues of T-Buckets. In 2009 I blogged about Chester Greenhalgh, the "how to" genius who wrote the legendary, out-of-print “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000”. That led to a friendship with Chester and our partnership in marketing the updated eBook version of his T-Bucket building bible. The T-Bucket fire burns stronger and stronger.
John Morehead
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Latest posts by John Morehead (see all)

We know from The Real History of the Fiberglass T-Bucket Body that ‘glass Model T bodies were first introduced in 1957 by the Diablo Speed Shop. But, that fledgling venture only produced a couple of bodies, one of which was sold to Buzz Pitzen who built The World’s First Fiberglass T-Bucket Hot Rod. However, the … Read more