Freaking love that lil bucket! Only things I'm not crazy about are the rally stripe & instrumentation on the floorboard - different for sure!
And still it could have been simpler with only two headlights and no blower. I am always stopping myself from putting something dumb on mine. I thought real hard before I put the motorcycle horn on it. Still not sure I really like it.
I like T-buckets when they are simply done.I don't like anything where somebody overdid it.Extreme design,extreme reactions.....
By tiller steering do you mean a vertical or near vertical steering column? No real trick just mount the box between your legs and make a longer steering arm. The reason for doing it is more foot room in the confines of a T body. Really pretty comfortable to drive too. I kinda lay on mine. If you think of it, many trucks and busses have their steering in the same place. Gary
May have hauled ass, but how much does something like this actually get driven? Has plates though. Like the period upholstery, never see it anymore.
Gary...Rebel that you are, that steering angle (7*?) is right on. (exact!) The vertical ones are horrible to drive, (I removed a Corvair vertical from an old Andy's Instant T, replaced it with an aluminum Dodge Saginaw, 7 degrees tilt, 32" high at mast) The customer loved it. Norm Grabowski said his was out of a milk truck...That gave instant 'permission' to T builders to go near-vertical with masts. Never seen a T guided by 'tiller', though...Didn't Roth or Jeffries use some kind of tiller in one of the bubble tops? There's a company doing T buckets now, but they use this giant tilt column, angled about 30 degrees, and sticking up out of the bucket around a foot! BTW, the motorcycle horn looks loads better up there than the Foglamp fad...(but is it on the correct side? Most 'Billys' run the fog lamp on drivers side...LOL
In 1972 Calif., Ts like this were more common than you'd think. Blown smallblocks were affordable (then) Hallcraft wheels were popular, and almost never had brakes. Motorcycle calipers and hand made disc rotors were fitted to a few, but weren't for anything more than a fixit ticket. Later, some were fitted with better disc setups... San Jose's Otto Bartholdi built a '23 T on a dragster tube frame, blown Chevy, M21, Chev rear. VW pedals, everything light...a 1300 lb. car! No front brakes, 22 degrees positive caster, car got driven 4 and 5 times a week. (extremely fast...ask me!) Roadster Roundup in Calif. had more of these blown T types than one could count on both hands, from Northern and Southern Calif.
I like that one. Reasonable size wheels, front brakes and more horsepower than you need for a lightweight car. I would have driven that when I was 18. I'm not much interested in cars cars with big blown motors but not enough safety equipment to actually run at a drag strip, or any car that makes me afraid to put the right pedal to the floor.
Is the question if that car got driven, or if T-Buckets get driven? Mine is my daily, even last week when we had a few 115 degree days roll through, so yes, some get driven. The car that you posted did use the frame as it's gas tank and has been discussed several time on my thread "The Bucket Of Ugly" and on the "Traditional T-Buckets" thread. These things are an absolute gas to drive, and the most fun in my opinion you can have without spending everything you will make to build a car. With a fifty five year history, I'll argue to the end that even a 'glass 'Bucket body is traditional as long as it's built in a traditional manner. With all the repro stuff going these days "building in a traditional manner" isn't nearly as hard as it was just ten years ago. Getting the proportions right is a different manner altogether though, as most of the "kits" today follow seventies fad "T" proportions. It's all discussed on the "Bucket of Ugly thread"... Gary, (Steel Rebel) very graciously allowed me to take his little car for a cruise around the grounds at L.A.R.S. last weekend, and I hadn't driven a vertical steering column car in quite awhile. I was kind of surprised at how comfy it really was, and might explore that a bit further with the next one I build. Last but not least, I have over exposed this picture a bit lately, but I just love looking at mine....
Hell, might as well add that I'm about to jump in mine, load my weld helmet and gloves and go build a steering column for another T-Bucket today! Oh, it's 107 out...
My dad had some killer old T's that's I'd do bad things for if I could track them down. And believe me... I've tried. I'll dig up some pics.
I drove mine almost every day the sun was out, 'course here in the great wet northwest that's not saying much
Remember that car from back in the day, in Santa Ana and around Orange County. He drove the p*ss outta it. He later built 1 with a round tube chassis (That was the gas tank also) with a DOHC Ford in it. I had the opportunity to drive it once,it was an animal and a blast 2 drive.
I love T Buckets because of their uncompromising devotion to only one goal. Going fast. Built correctly, which means without all the shit that tends to get tossed on a Hot Rod, they are "balls to the wall" fun. That's it. They are usually over powered. Can only hold two people, but like a motorcycle, seem to be more fun when you ride solo. No power anything, no cup holders, no radio, no top and no fenders. Just fast. No one has ever built a T Bucket because he had an expanding family or needed to haul stuff. You don't build a T Bucket to blend in. A crazy ex girlfriend once told me, "When we're sitting at a light, I can feel people staring at me." That's a T Bucket. To most civilians, Hot Rods are hopped up old cars. A T Bucket is just plain crazy. Period. They are beyond judgment because logic and rules do not apply. Don't try to "get it". Just get the hell out of the way.
Damn 'Fred, I wish there was a "love" button rather than just "like", 'cause you just firmly nailed that statement!!!!
Is that a dune buggy? Is that legal? Some of the questions most T bucket drivers have to contend with. Goes with the territory, I guess. Best one was, " Is that one of those California hot rods?" This made me swell with pride and made my day.
I've really been digging T-Buckets lately. I really like the traditionally styled bare bones T's. I like the look of that tribute T that Speedway puts out. My uncle had a T-Bucket built in the '70s. He took me for a spin in it after he bought it - that thing was a wild ride.
Ha, IMO, you are overexposing the wrong pic! That one is just good, Its the rear 3/4 thats F&*%ING KILLER!!
Well, I'll tell you what Gary, between what you had to say, and looking at old photos of the Penry and Thompson T buckets, I'm sold. When I do mine, its gonna be about 5 deg. off verticle, and through the floor, not the firewall.
Yesterday, by chance and choice, I was made an offer on something that refueled (Is that even possible for me?) my mental and physical Model T membrane. If all goes as planned, something wicked, this way comes.
Sounds interesting Fred. Is an announcement forthcoming? I'm still waiting on current photos of my latest. Same thing, it just kind of fell into my lap. Well, walked in the front door of my house actually!
I'm holding back, while I do some extensive research, work out logistics and do an assessment of my skill level. I can say this, it is Henry steel.
The Jalopy Journal
