Hot Rods Gabby Garrison Model T Ford

On the MTFCA forum there is a discussion on the many ways you can lower a Model T. One contributor posted photos of Gabby's T. I thought the front axle was pretty neat, I decided I'd copy it. BTW, What a super easy and cool looking 5 inch drop.

 

Cool pics, I had never noticed it before. I love the G.G. car.

It almost looks like raising it before the perches negates some of the drop.

 

By bending before the perches it adds an extra inch to the drop.

 

That's awesome.

 

Amazing how the drop and the later model wire wheels totally change the look of an otherwise stock looking T.

Thanks for taking the time to post... very cool indeed.

 

Those are my pics of Gabbys car. I have more I can scan and post if any one wants to see them.

Gabby was a great guy.

Those are Plymouth 19 " wires by the way. He later had some new buffs laced up for the T and then put the Plymouth's on his Chevy touring.

 

Flyin-t, you've got to ask? Yes, for sure, I know I'd like to see more.

 

Another shot of Gabby's first (actually second) T. This was marked on his display board that the picture was taken at the top of Mount Wilson which is just North of L. A. Very high, like 9,00 feet. He told me before he died that the picture was taken on the back side of Signal Hill in Long Beach which is just a little bump of a hill, where the old T hill climb was held. Gabby said his car wouldn't make it past the city of Bellflower back in the day. lol Bellflower is 2 little towns North of Long Beach, all run together now with homes and development but in the 30's it was separated by wide open land.

2nd shot is of Gabby in his roadster, windshield down, ready for a run.

Oh, his first T was in the shop class at Poly High school, in Long Beach, when the big earthquake hit in '33 and the building collapsed and smashed his car. I think he said he had 5 bucks tied up in it and it was street ready. He had eight dollars in the second T complete with buffs.

 

Is the car still around?

 

The newer one? Yes, it was bought from his family by a member in the Long Beach T club. He's changed a few things, but it's basically the same.

The other one in the old pic was sold in '34 or so to a rich kid in Long Beach and was never paid for in full. A feature in American Rodder told the story. 50 years later on a whim Gabby went to the rich kids house in his new T and low and behold the guy was still living there He remembered Gabby and also remembered not paying him.

 

Gabby's T is one of my faves! Thanks for the pics!

 

Cool, thanks for posting.

 

Few more shots .

The early shot is Gabby in his cut down Chev touring. He built this car after he sold off the T. After he built the nice T he built the black Chev touring. This one was featured in one of the hop up annuals.

He said the chev was way faster than his T and the one he built when I knew him ran great too. 3 port Olds head, Nash rockers, home made headers and so on. Back in the day mud flaps were cool to run and the kids used old conveyor belt material, he duplicated the look on the new car.

It was a fun car to drive as he let me a few times.

 

great pics...and info, thanks

 

flyin-T,

WOW! If you have any mre pics/info of his Touring, I KNOW that us early Chevrolet nuts would be VERY appreciative

 

Man! I usually am an A man, but this T really gets me going!

 

That thing is waaaay cooolll! Awesome pics and info thanks Antiqueautomike and flyin-t

 

I scanned these from hop up 2. The large pic is kinda crappy because it covers 2 pages and I didn't want to flatten the book and bend up the binder too much. Anyway, you get the idea.

The flying skull was on the T usually. Gabby couldn't find an original or a re-pop skull so he had a friend carve one out of a chunk of aluminum. He about crapped when I found the one I ended up with because it was out of a set of old original molds from the 30's.

I really like the closing lines of the article in the hop up article...
"Some things started out cool and stayed cool; Gabby is a special guy. A Hop Up guy. Hell, he may be the original one."

I've included (again) a shot of my touring to show his influence on me and the windshield treatment I used....which was his .

 

antiqueautomike, how much width did you lose by bending the axle rather then stretching it like the 28-48 axles?

I've got a T on the back burner.....

Zach

 

I run a 26 T P/U, I'm diggin his ride!!

 

I can't speak for antiquemike but Gabby took his axle to a local spring shop here in long beach and they built a jig to bend up his and then stretched it back to stock width and spindle angles.

 

Gabby had style, that's for sure. Great to see some more pics of both his T and the Chevy touring.

-Dave

 

I'm not a fan of eary T's with fenders but Gabby's T has me rethinking that. What a great looking car!!!

Ron

 

thanks!
thats what I was originally thinking... mix this with some Chevy spindles and she'll be fender rubbin' low!

 

I lost a 1/2", and the spring had to be shortened 4 inches. A Crosley front leaf spring is almost the correct length but the hole for the spring bolt is off center.

 

I figure if I use Chevy spindles I will have 2" of clearance before the stock T oil pan drags.

 

Zach,

I may have an extra pair if you need some?

 

AAHH Cool

Yet another post on Gabbys cars.
They sure are one of the nicest Hop Up's I can think of. So few of these kind of cars beeing buildt these days. I guess the number of T&A guys lowing this old shit is low.

Thanks for the pics Rick. Some of these I did not have in my files. Please share if you got any more.

Paul

 

1/2 is nothing, you won't even notice it. Nice!

 

Wow!! I was online searching for old newspaper articles about my grandpa, the one and only Vernon C. "Gabby" Garrison, and I stumbled upon this thread. So many years after his death, I am so happy to see that his legacy and love for his cars lives on!! Thanks for posting these photos, guys. They definitely bring back a lot of memories of my hanging out in Grandpa's backyard, watching him build and re-build his cars. I don't think a day went by without his working on some project!