Vehicle Description
The T-bucket is one of the most enduring and endearing styles in
all of hot rodding. Generally acknowledged to be the creation of
Norm Grabowski in the 1950s, T-buckets are the essence of the hot
rod: big engine, big tires, and a minimalist body to keep weight to
a bare minimum. The idea has always been that the T-bucket was
built from scavenged parts, but many of them, such as this 1923
Model T roadster, just look too well-finished to be junkyard
dogs.
The shape is archetypal T-bucket, with the tall, vertical
windshield and stubby pickup truck bed out back. Nobody's really
sure how that came to be, since Ford pickups never looked like
this, but today it's the accepted style of the T-bucket and it just
looks right. Despite its retro look, this one was recently built
and carries a bunch of upgrades that they could only dream of in
the 1950s. The paint is traditional black with old-school flames,
which is a nice change from either the primer black that has
recently come back into fashion, or the excessively metallic hues
that characterized T-buckets of the '60s and '70s. In fact, just
about everything on the car has an old school look, although
details like the wheelie bars out back and open headers suggest
that there's some serious blasting powder in that small block
Chevy. The traditional Model T radiator shell is chrome, as is the
front suspension, headlights, and taillights, and it does have
traditional pinstripe detailing on the stubby bed out back.
In their back-to-basics style, many T-buckets had bare interiors
with nothing more than a blanket for upholstery and if you were
lucky, maybe an oil pressure gauge. Not so here, where there's
beautiful button-tufted red upholstery and a full array of gauges
keeping an eye on the small block up front. Stitched up like a
wrap-around sofa, the seats are nicely done, and this one even
features a custom-tailored carpet set that helps with noise and
heat. The doors, of course, are simply for show, because no true
T-bucket driver does anything other than hop over the sides and hit
the road, so the side panels are a continuous piece of the design.
There's a traditional spoon-style accelerator pedal, upright
steering column with Grant GT steering wheel, and a hidden AM/FM/CD
stereo, just in case the drive isn't entertaining enough.
The engine is a 350 cubic inch Chevy V8 topped by an old-school
style Weiand 6-71 supercharger and dual quads up top. Chrome dress
up includes the air scoops and flamed valve covers, and the headers
are designed to get attention; you can hear this one fire up from
the other side of the planet! It's happy to run all day on pump
gas, and stays cool thanks to a custom radiator stuffed inside the
Model T frame. The transmission is a quick-shifting 3-speed
automatic feeding a chrome rear end with custom ladder bars keeping
it in line. Up front, a transverse leaf spring supports a
traditional tube axle with disc brakes. And the only rolling stock
you can put on a T-bucket are skinnies up front and massive meats
out back; in the case of this car, they're 165R15s in front and
gigantic 33x19.5-15 Mickey Thompson meats on shiny Center Line
aluminum wheels.
T-buckets are as popular today as they ever were, and their
combination of outrageous looks and potent performance makes them a
real party to drive. Anywhere you go in a T-bucket you'll make
friends, and the nostalgia alone is worth the price of admission.
Call today!
