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A T-bucket (or Bucket T) is a hot rod, based on a Ford Model T [1] built from 1915 to 1927, but extensively modified. T-buckets were favorites for greasers.[ citation needed ]
Model Ts were hot-rodded and customized from the 1920s on, but the T-bucket was specifically created and named by Norm Grabowski in the 1950s.[ citation needed ] This car was named Lightning Bug,[ citation needed ] better known as the Kookie Kar , after being redesigned by Grabowski and appearing in the TV show 77 Sunset Strip , driven by character Gerald "Kookie" Kookson. The exposure it gained led to numerous copies being built.
A genuine T-bucket has the two-seater body of a Model T roadster (with or without the turtle deck or small pickup box), this "bucket"-shaped body shell giving the cars their name. A Model T-style radiator is usually fitted, and even these can sometimes be barely up to the task of cooling the large engines fitted. Windshields, when fitted, are vertical glass like the original Model T.
Today, T-buckets remain common. They generally feature an enormous engine for the size and weight of the car, generally a V8, along with tough drivetrains to handle the power and large rear tires to apply that power to the road. The front wheels are often much narrower than the rear wheels, and are often motorcycle wheels.
Since the last Model Ts were built in 1927, most modern T-buckets use replica fiberglass bodies. By the 1950s, original steel Model T bodies that had not been completely worn out were becoming increasingly hard to find and in 1957 the first fiberglass T-Bucket body [2] (based on the 1923 version) was introduced by the short-lived Diablo Speed Shop in Northern California. Of the only two or three bodies built by Diablo, one was purchased by Southern California hot rod builder Buzz Pitzen and became the world's first fiberglass T-bucket. [3]
Most are built purely for street or show use, and the big engines are more for show than for need — many are more powerful than the vehicles can use. Although the body shell is original in appearance, engines of a wide variety of makes are commonly used. The small-block Chevrolet is a common choice, since it is relatively small, light, easy to obtain and to improve, and performs well. Four-cylinder engines are also common, especially if the car is used regularly. Some install superchargers on their engines, and some use modern fuel-injected engines.
A song celebrating the car, "Bucket 'T'," was written by Don Altfeld, Jan Berry, Roger Christian and Dean Torrence and first recorded by Jan & Dean in 1964. [4] [5] Subsequent covers of the song were released by Ronny and the Daytonas in November 1964 [6] and by The Who on November 11, 1966, as part of their EP Ready Steady Who . [7]
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relatively low price was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting. The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $780 in 1910 to $290 in 1924. It was mainly designed by three engineers, Joseph A. Galamb, Eugene Farkas, and Childe Harold Wills. The Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie".
The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It is the first production Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. The name Diablo means "devil" in Spanish.
The term 1932 Ford may refer to three models of automobile produced by Ford Motors between 1932 and 1934: the Model B, the Model 18, and the Model 40. These succeeded the Model A. The Model B had an updated four-cylinder engine and was available from 1932 to 1934. The V8 was available in the Model 18 in 1932, and in the Model 40 in 1933 & 1934. The 18 was the first Ford fitted with the flathead V-8. The company also replaced the Model AA truck with the Model BB, available with either the four- or eight-cylinder engine.
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made to go much faster." However, there is no definition of the term that is universally accepted and the term is attached to a wide range of vehicles. Most often they are individually designed and constructed using components from many makes of old or new cars, and are most prevalent in the United States and Canada. Many are intended for exhibition rather than for racing or everyday driving.
A Baja Bug is an original Volkswagen Beetle modified as an all-terrain vehicle to operate off-road, although other versions of air-cooled Volkswagens are sometimes modified as well. Baja bugs often race in off-road desert races such as the Baja 1000. There are different classes for bugs, namely class 11, class 5 1600, and class 5 unlimited. According to desert racing association Score International, class 11 is a stock VW beetle with modifications limited to ground clearance and strength. Class 5 1600 rules state that a 1600 cc VW engine must be used and the car must have the exterior appearance of a "baja bug" with body modification limited to whatever cutting is needed to install a consumer baja kit. Class 5 unlimited is any 4 cylinder VW-style engine, and it must have Baja-style fenders and side panels, and VW-style suspension.. Another version of Baja Bug is Old Fusca, used for dirt racing in Paraná, Brazil. They are equipped with the AP engine from the early Volkswagen Golf generations, and can be feeded by carburetor or electronic injection.
A torque tube system is a power transmission and braking technology that involves a stationary housing around the drive shaft, often used in automobiles with a front engine and rear drive. The torque tube consists of a large diameter stationary housing between the transmission and rear end that fully encloses a rotating tubular steel or small-diameter solid drive shaft that transmits the power of the engine to a regular or limited-slip differential. The purpose of a torque tube is to hold the rear end in place during acceleration and braking. Otherwise, the axle housing would suffer axle wrap, which is when the front of the differential lifts excessively during acceleration and drops down during braking. Its use is not as widespread in modern automobiles as is the Hotchkiss drive, which holds the rear end in place and prevents it from flipping up or down, during acceleration and braking by anchoring the axle housings to the leaf springs using spring perches.
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been altered to improve its performance, change its aesthetics, or combine both. Some automotive enthusiasts in the United States want to push "styling and performance a step beyond the showroom floor - to truly craft an automobile of one's own." A custom car in British usage, according to Collins English Dictionary, is built to the buyer's own specifications.
Volksrods are a style of modified Volkswagen Beetles that emulate the look of American hot rods. They are used as an alternative to traditional Ford-based hot rods, often by people who struggle to find affordable examples of classic Ford Model Ts and Model As.
Dean Moon was an American automobile designer. He grew up in Norwalk, California. Moon was around cars and racing from his youth. His father owned "Moon Café" and had a go-kart track he called "Moonza", a pun on Monza. Dean was involved in dry lakes hot-rodding in the late 1940s. He founded MOON Speed Equipment (c.1950) and worked to improve the quality and safety of speed and racing products his entire life.
Norman "Norm" Grabowski was a Polish-American hot rod builder and actor. The heavy-set crew cut-wearing Grabowski appeared in minor roles in many films produced by Albert Zugsmith and Walt Disney.
Fender is the American English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well. Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be damaged by contact with the road surface.
A nerf bar is a tubular device fitted to the side of a racecar, typically single-seat race cars that compete on asphalt or dirt oval tracks. A "nerf" is a small, sometimes intentional, collision between two cars in which one driver bumps the other to facilitate a successful pass. The nerf bar protects the sides of the vehicles and also keeps their tires from becoming entangled. If fast-spinning tires come in contact with each other, one or both of the cars may lose control or even become airborne. These are commonly used on Modifieds such as used in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series, and the wheel pods behind the rear wheels on a Dallara DW12 INDYCAR is often nicknamed the nerf bar because of the similar purpose.
Devin Enterprises was an American automotive manufacturer that operated from 1955 to 1964. Devin was mainly known for producing high quality fiberglass car bodies that were sold as kits, but they also produced automotive accessories as well as complete automobiles. The company was founded by Bill Devin.
The Munster Koach is the family car that was used in the television series, The Munsters. The show's producers contracted George Barris to provide the Koach. Barris paid show car designer Tom Daniel $200 to design the car, and had it built at Barris Kustoms, first by Tex Smith, but finished by Dick Dean, his shop foreman at the time. The Munster Koach appeared in over twenty episodes throughout the series' two-year run, and was also seen in Munster, Go Home! using different wheels. Tom Daniel's original drawing of the Munster Koach had it supercharged with a hood scoop and thin, round disc lights. Barris chose the ten-carburetor setup with the ten air horns and lantern lights.
Ready Steady Who is the first EP by the Who, released on 11 November 1966, about a month prior to their album A Quick One. The title refers to a Ready Steady Go! TV special the band had recently appeared in, but the EP contains different recordings from those performed on the TV show.
The Beatnik Bandit is a custom car created in 1961 by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. The car features a clear bubble canopy. Speed and direction are controlled by a central joystick in the cabin.
The Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt is a limited production, factory experimental, drag racing version of the Ford Fairlane produced during the 1964 model year only. A total of 100 units were produced; forty-nine 4-speeds and fifty-one automatics, enough to secure the 1964 NHRA Super Stock championship for Ford.
Von Franco is a self-taught American artist associated with the Lowbrow art movement and Kustom Kulture. He became involved at an early age in the burgeoning hot rod and Kustom Kulture scene of Southern California. His skill at drawing hot rod and monster art, popular in Kustom Kulture, caught the attention of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, for whom Von Franco later worked. Von Franco became a builder of custom automobiles, gaining notoriety for building clones of Norm Grabowski's Kookie, Kookie II and Lightning Bug t-buckets, as well as a clone/expansion of the Golden Rod. Von Franco is also known for his distinctive pinstriping and hand-lettering techniques. He was also the guitarist in the surf band The Bomboras and played the vibraphone in The Hyperions.
The Red Baron is a custom t-bucket hot rod built in 1969 by Chuck Miller of Styline Customs
Silhouette was a show car built by Bill Cushenbery in 1962. It debuted at the 1963 Oakland Roadster Show.
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