T Bucket History

[pwd72s]

Narrated by one who was there. Norm and Tommy...kind of heroes to this nerdy guy reading of them in the pages of HOT ROD smuggled into a high school study hall...a faithful viewer of "77 Sunset Strip" in the hope of seeing more of Norm's T bucket playing "The Kookie Car"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2jQhIRzG2A

[asphaltgambler]

That was AWESOME! If my memory serves me correctly, Tommy's injected nailhead was the first real street car to run into the 10's in the 1/4 mile

[RWebb]

thx for not posting a pool thread!

[pwd72s]

The October 2020 HOT ROD has an article on Grabowski's car. From the article:

"Norm was a frequent visitor at Valley Customs in Burbank, where under the watchful eyes of Neil Emory and and Clayton Jensen, the car was mechanically sorted out. One episode involved an incorrectly installed steering box, causing the car to steer opposite of how it should. Norm carefully drove the car to Burbank, where Neil and Clayton corrected the problem. Gary Emory, Neil's son and Clayton's nephew, was a kid at the time, but remembers Norm's frequent visits. 'Norm would build the car and put things together and bring it down to the shop where my dad and uncle would do finish work on the car, making it fit right and cleaning it up.' "

So guys, when lusting after one of Rod Emory's "outlaw" car, remember that Rod is Gary's son...and realize the roots of it all.

One remembrance of mine is going on a 356 "whinery" tour years ago. I took my 911S, an invite from friends with a lovely '58 Speedster. At Emory's parts obsolete in McMinnvile, I spotted a chopped deuce roller sitting in a field away from the Porsches. I wandered over to look at it. Gary, maybe surprised at my interest, came over. He described that this was one of his dad's old cars, pointing out the hidden door hinges, a trick developed by his dad. I asked if he planned on doing anything with it. Gary teared up a bit, simply said: "Someday." Seeing the emotion, I let things drop...

[unclebilly]

I’ve probably posted this before but here is the Dragster my dad and his friend built in the early 60s when dad was 17. They were the first in western Canada to run a supercharger in NHRA sanctioned events.

This was their second dragster, the first was a model T but the flat windshield sucked for aero...

The picture shown was taken behind my grandfathers garage on 92 street in Edmonton before the blower...



The cool thing is that I have all of his hot rod and car craft magazines from then.

[pwd72s]

That is cool...and scary as hell to imagine driving down the strip! Bolt pattern on the front wheels suggest VW?

[asphaltgambler]

Very cool! Keep the stories coming.....

[imaircooled]

I like it. Scary to drive I'm sure. I road in a Track T that only had a small block Chevy but it had two fours on top and it was scary.....nothing to hold onto!

[URY914]

Friend of mine told me he went for a ride in a guy's T Bucket years ago. It had a blown SBC, slicks on the back and 3" tires on the front w/o front brakes. Classic T-bucket setup. He said it was by far the scariest ride of this life.

[unclebilly]

Here is a photo of the T. The kid with it was my dad’s partner in the cars, Tony.

[unclebilly]

Here are some more photos of the Messerschmidt...

These were taken from 60-62. Not bad for a couple teenagers...

[unclebilly]

Most of these were taken in my grandfather's garage. They worked on it there and at my grandfather's Texaco service station.

[unclebilly]

A few more of the Messerschmidt...






And getting back on topic, here are a couple more of the T.

[pwd72s]

Pioneers of a sort who didn't have a clue they were making history...Just guys, messing around with cars.

[flipper35]

Back then they didn't really know any different, but getting in that today with the drive shaft where it is and no hoop!

[asphaltgambler]

Great pieces of automotive history- love it!

[Yorkie]

What happened to the Messerschmitt?

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Back then they didn't really know any different, but getting in that today with the drive shaft where it is and no hoop!

This, the seat is on top of the differential and I bet you put a foot on either side of the transmission.

[unclebilly]

Since you asked.


At the time, the local drag strip closed. The highways minister was a fan of drag racing so he allowed the one of highways near Edmonton to be closed for drag racing and attended many of the races.

These races were very popular and attracted many spectators and there were no seats, bleachers, safety nets... the clutch exploded in the Messerschmidt. They had a scatter shield and dad was ok. Unfortunately a young female spectator lost an eye. Nobody had insurance. The Alberta government settled with her for $20,000.

That was the last highway race.

Dad and Tony sold the car and engine and that was the end of racing for my dad.

An acquaintance of mine now owns the car. I would sorta like to buy it back from him.

[Yorkie]

I sincerely hope you get to buy it back. I spent the 70s reading Hot Rod magazines and these days I wonder what happened to all those wonderful creations. Probably tucked in the back of suburban garages.