Folks Of Interest Jim "JAKE" Jacobs, The Original Traditional Hot Rodder ! "TRODA"

Jake is a hot rod god! Met him at gnrs and he is super cool.

 

I think it was a prop for a movie that he might of driven the car in.....so that's a definite "I don't know"....

 

Couple weeks ago I was sitting in Jakes 34 [parked in the showroom of Pete & Jakes at Peculiar, Mo] looking out the windshield and just feeling the old memories......so cool!

 

I live arond the corner for him. Great guy. Very fun to be around, you never know what he will do! This guy has built some really bitchen car's and still dose. He has a couple of projects going on, that are going to knock your socks off. Mad skill's. But best of all, a good friend.

 

I can't add anything other than to mention that Jake also spent time on the surreal side of rodding with his day job at Roth Studios a decade earlier. A legend.

 

Along with Dan Woods and Dirty Doug

 

The article from Street Rod Quarterly, Winter '71 is reprinted along with a lot of other great stuff in the new book "Hot Rod Reader"

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Rod-Reader-Peter-Schletty/dp/0760339686

It's worth checking out.

 

Here's my fathers photo of the Jim "JAKE" Jacobs owned "Niekamp Roadster" @ the 25th Annual Grand National Roadster Show (held February 16-25, 1973 at the Oakland Coliseum):

The 1st AMBR​

 

Edited out the lurker comment I see?

 

rusty bill, here on the HAMB, received this Club Card back in the '70z from Neil East, it came with a handful of old timing tags. Is this club still in existence? He was wondering if he could make copies for distribution if any interest? Thanks!

 

I see Jim around town all the time. Totally cool, unassuming guy who never brags about himself, although he's done more hotrod stuff than most of us combined. Very, very nice guy.

 

Pete & Jakes an the Jacobs coupe made a big impression on me.

 

What a great thread!!
I, like many others who have posted here, have followed Jim Jacobs' exploits ever since he was introduced by Bud Bryan in Rod and Custom in '69 or '70. I have liked his style and his attitude for traditional hot rodding. I once had all of the articles that he wrote or articles that were written about him. But alas......I have since been trying to re-collect a few of them. One that I'd like to re-get is the 20th anniversary issue of Rod and Custom (May 1973)...OR...I'd pay somebody to copy the article within about Jacobs. Any help?
So, how long has he lived in Apple Valley? That's also where Roy Rogers and Dale Evans lived.
Thanks for all the memories, Guys!!!
Dave...Somewhere in Indiana

 

That's Dan Woods in the goofy hat.

 

...and the headlights.

 

So can anyone tell me why the tub changed - initially it had a complete front wishbone, then its shown with split bones - did it get "modernized"?

 

Jim jacobs, has been and always will be my hero!!...Hell I even named my son after him...LOL..He is the original designer of the four bar front suspenison, along with many other brackets and parts that are still being copied today. My 2 favorite hot rods is his yellow coupe, and his model A pickup. Everytime I go down to Jerry slovers place I drool over the yellow coupe.

 

When the car was first built it had a SBC hooked up to a 39 Ford trans and a banjo rear end,..... If I remember correctly (and I could be wrong) The Nailhead that was originally in the NieKamp roadster and then in the "Screaming yellow Zonker" eventually made it's way into the tub with a 4 spd,.... But again, I'm not sure. ( The headlights were changed as well)

 

Whilst he is credited in bringing 4-bars to the masses, I am sorry to burst your bubble.

Normie-Poo Grabowski's Lightenin' Bug Caddy-powered 23 T had a four bar, back when it was built in the early 1950's. See Rodder's Journal #36.

My memory tells me that Jake used '64 Chev rear panard bars for his initial 4 bars.

 

Yeah I saw the changed headlights too.

Wow - a nailhead in the tub, imagine the powere-to-weight ratio!!!

 

Here's Bud Bryan scraping paint from the NieKamp Track nose.

 

Does anyone remember what color Jake's tub was before they painted it red?

 

Wasnt it white with graffiti?

 

A couple of years ago I sold a pair of original 32 rear bumper brackets to a guy in CA who seem to Know "Jake" pretty well, And he said he had the original Nailhead that was in Jakes yellow coupe before it was replaced with a SBC. I can't remember his name But he said he had offered it to Jerry Slover (who owns the coupe now) and he did not seem very interested. I can not remember his name Nor do I still have his contact number, I would like to have the engine, As since jerry won't sell me the coupe I plan to do a clone of it, And having original powerplant from the original car will make it that much cooler for me...

 

I have been good friends with "Jake" since 1963 when we were in our late teens.We were founders of the Early Times.Contact me thru email and I will see if he still has that nailhead.I don't think he still has it.Until last Aug when I was living in the desert near him it wasn't there.But he might know where it is.

 

In the early 70's I was reading R&C. Those guys were doing it right. Then, in '73, I saw Jake's coupe for the 1st time as the Tulsa NSRA Nats; I was hooked then, and have been ever since.

 

Pop's was a Prop for a Movie set. "There Goes My Baby" was the movie.
We filmed there in Oct 1990. I got Jake a driving part in the movie.
We stole the w/w's off the tub to make it more period. It was supposed to be Aug,1965. I think thin whites were more prevelent then.

Pop's was located at the Live Oak Drive In Movie Theatre in Arcadia, border of Irwindale to the East and Monrovia to the North. It's now a planned community housing developement.


It's funny to see the tub being painted at the then "Hi Tech West Coast Nats"=Goodguys 2nd year there at Pleasant-stone! Many friends in the background of that pic including my young self about 12 oclock!
What a day that was!!!!

Jake's set many a bar, some not only 4 bar though=. That's an idea he got from sprint cars that he'd see at Ascot, same for dead perches that the Deuce Factory would go on the make popular again. Don't see many nowadays though.

He definitely has driven the distance! I've been behind him in the rain. Rooster Tails who knows how high? Helluva craftsman! Killer Welder!
Serious at times and Joking at others. A true Hot Rodder!

I feel lucky to have grown up around P&J both and to have experienced their footprint in this way of life that we call Traditional Hot Rodding!

 

Was it maybe a light tan color? Man, my memory really sucks. It would be really cool if someone came up with a photo from the day...