History Driving the Kookie Kar back to 1958

Soooo glad its going back to its original form, lov that car, made a Huge impression on me as a kid.

 

I agree with what your saying as all the people involved and the tv show etc are all pieces of history, the car is a piece of history.

But the paint, body work, drive train , etc etc is junk at this point, the car is not even THE car for SS anymore, it looks like the prom queen 20 years later after 4 kids and a pill addiction!

Yes “stuff” is worth whatever people are paying for it, I just think this car is like OJ Simpson’s bronco, did some idiot not pay $75,000 for it back then? And now it’s listed at close to a million!!
It’s like the nuts who buy John Lennon’s hair, or Elvis’ shit stained boxers all this for nutty prices , I don’t know.
If the car was in it’s originsl Norm grabowski sunset strip paint etc, then yes I could see a 6 figure car, but like this I think someone just had to prove he had the biggest dick in the room.

 

Again, you could comission an exact duplicate of a famous painting like the Mona Lisa and for enough money, you could obtain a truly great copy. And you would still not own the Mona Lisa.

The owner did it because he wanted to. His cash, what he does with it has no effect on me. The owner is unlikely to ever call or comment on how I spend my money........

 

The Mona Lisa is old and faded and cracking. Why would anyone buy that piece of shit for millions of dollars when they can get a perfect glossy poster of it in the gift shop?

damn, jinx

 

With all the conversation about it bringing outrageous money (more than it's worth) remember the Fabulous Hudson Hornet just sold for $1.2 MILLION. I doubt Ross will have anywhere near that in it when it is the legitimate Kookie Kar again.

 

I am now up to Episode 15, Season 1 of 77 Sunset Strip, the '58-'59 season. It is only the third time the T-Bucket has appeared. In the first episode it was parked. The last two Kookie has driven the shit out of it and it was Kookie driving. Norm surely gave him some "driving it" lessons. It's ironic how much I have been able to tie things together watching this and Perry Mason re-runs. Have you ever wondered how Jan & Dean came up with their classic hit "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena". I have and now I think I know. In this latest episode the agency was hired by an elderly widow with a white bun hair-do. Kookie referred to her as one of the little old ladies from Pasadena. It was obviously an L.A. phrase in the 1950s. At the end of the episode the lol from Pasadena needed a lift back home and the only ride available was Kookie. It was absolutely hilarious seeing her sitting shotgun as Kookie sped away, and I mean sped away. Could this have been an inspiration for the song that came out a few years later? Who knows.

 

Funny to think that the Kookie T was being modified continuously from before Norm bought it, all the while he had it, and after he sold it. And that the present version is the "permanent" one, in the sense that it has been in that form the longest.

 

Now I'am confused Rusty, I always thought Norm built this car. What was it before Norm bought it?

 

Norm bought an A V8, a model A with a newer flathead V8 in 1952. So it was a hot rod when he bought it. It came without an ownership. It was very hard to get a replacement ownership but easy to get one for a newly constructed vehicle. That is why he replaced the model A body with a T bucket, to get a newly constructed ownership. Only later did he realize that he didn't need to do that, the engine swap already made it a newly constructed vehicle.

He worked on it pretty steadily when he owned it. The flathead gave way to a Cadillac V8 that he got for nothing. His mom had a 52 Cadillac, the motor blew up and the dealer put in a new one under warranty. He cabbaged the old motor and rebuilt it. The car had 2 or 3 paint jobs, different intakes, and smaller changes. It never had a top until he rented it out for a movie. He put the top on for the movie so you couldn't see the driver as he insisted on driving it himself. In another movie the car got wrecked and the front end and windshield had to be replaced. After that he wouldn't let any other actor drive it.

The different versions can be seen in different magazine photo articles done over the years. The model A was less than 20 years old when it was first turned into a hot rod and had something done to it every year until it took its present form in what, the early seventies? So it has been in its present form for 40 years, the longest stretch of time it has not been modified.

 

go to youtube,do a search for "hot rod heart"by john fogerty,click on the thumb nail photo of a red roadster-video of norms car with and without the blower and being driven hard!

 

When you say "ownership" do you mean Title for a motor vehicle ?


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Ownership, title, registration, pink slip. It goes by different names.

 

Love seeing this car with some of the ugly knocked off of it. Here is a screen shot from Brizio's instagram video....

 

Frank: Now you've got me thinking about the origins of "The little old lady from Pasadena". I recall seeing the phrase in some other context and this morning it hit me. Car Craft February 1961 has an article on a custom '51 Oldsmobile. The opening line says "No 'little old lady' drives this... Pasadena Pacesetter. The phrase clearly predates the Jan and Dean song. Look it up on Wikipedia. Now back to the kookie car programing...

 

It's on camera again in 77 Sunset Strip Season 1 Episode 32. The last episode it was in was # 15 so it has not been in nearly as much as I thought. In this episode it is in numerous times, about 4 times and the close-ups are the best so far. But one thing that puzzles me is when Kookie cranks it he pushes the long floor shifter forward and takes off. It looks to me like he is taking off in second gear but as light as it is and with the torque the Cadillac engine has that could be what is happening.

 

Here's the latest pictures of the Kookie Kar before it gets fully disassembled at ROY BRIZIO STREET RODS shop in South San Francisco, CA:

All images by Roy Brizio (from his September 17th Facebook feed)​

 

Thanks @HEMI32 for following this restoration...geeze it needs some good lovin bigtime...
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N O T E :​

Per @J.Ukrop's "RJ TIMES: EVOLUTION OF THE KOOKIE KAR" article in issue #79 of the Rodder's Journal, new owner Ross Myers wants to debut Brizio's restoration (in "Sunset Strip" guise) at next years Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (i.e., August 18th 2019).​

 

The current dually version is awesome I don't care what anybody says.

 

77 Sunset Strip is into Season 2 (1959) and Kookie is driving the "T" in almost every episode and is very good at it. He looks like he can handle it as good as Norm. When he cranks it your typical piped in "sound effects" are not used. It is the real deal. It spins over very slow making you wonder if it is going to crank but when it does there is no doubt about it being a hopped up V-8 engine. In the latest episode he backs it up and reverse is left and up and he is still starting out shifting far right and up so he is starting out in second gear. I've said it before and I will say it again this is THE hot rod that got me interested in hot rods. It's a very special car to me.

 

Round #2 comin up Frank albeit I doubt being the iconic Hotrod it is that it will see Sunset style antics...but seeing it under it's own power back in Sunlight will be a experience that's for sure.

 

I sure hope to see it when it is finished!

 

I'm really enjoying the photos of the tear-down of this old hot rod. It's really beginning to "show it's ass", revealing workmanship that pre-dates Norm's ownership I'm sure. But back then hot rods weren't "street rods" like today as many iconic hot rods have shown as they too were torn down in preparation for restoration. They were put together "quick and dirty" to have fun in, not to babysit at some car show in a lawn chair. Glad to see the Kookie Car is no exception. I can't wait to see what the next set of Brizio photos reveals.

 

@missysdad1 I like ruff around the edges driven myself...I had a look at the latest round of pics and the former steering column pedal area and the trans tunnel itself looks to have been drilled larger...yupp raw dirty and make it pretty. I thought he was the builder but you are saying it was possibly a former jalopy or hotrod before he got it...I have to read that auction write up again.

 

Here's the latest “spy photos” of the Kookie Kar at ROY BRIZIO STREET RODS shop in South San Francisco, CA:

"Traditional Spring Spacer"






All images by Roy Brizio (from his November 13th Facebook & Instagram feeds)​

 

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AWESOME!!!

 

Great pictures, lots to look at there