Kookies Tee in a plastic kit ?

[Richard Bartrop]

Oh, the Isky roadster is definitely noteworthy if only for surviving so long. and Grabowski's T still deserves to be recognized for it's influence on hot rod design.

[High octane]

You're right as I don''t care. The builder did a grat job building the car and enjoyed it as well. I know it would look great sitting in my model case, or even in my die-cast case right next to my Danbury MInt Kookie's car.

[Art Anderson]

13 hours ago, TooOld said:

One often overlooked detail is that the Kookie T has a "cut down ' '32 radiator shell , the Tweedy Pie has a "sectioned" radiator shell .

Also, if one looks closely at Kookie's T.  the body is a cut-down T Touring, not a true roadster T-bucket.  The body side forward of the rear door area clearly shows at the rear of the front seat.

Art

[Jon Haigwood]

10 hours ago, Art Anderson said:

Also, if one looks closely at Kookie's T.  the body is a cut-down T Touring, not a true roadster T-bucket.  The body side forward of the rear door area clearly shows at the rear of the front seat.

Art

I believe Tommy Ivo's T was also built using a Touring body 

[Dennis Lacy]

On 10/5/2018 at 10:25 AM, dodgefever said:

The proportions are pretty far off too. Wheelbase is way too long and the body and frame aren't raked enough, wrong pickup bed set too low, headlights are in front of the grille shell...  nice model, but nowhere close to being a replica.   To be fair, we can't see what's written on the card - it might just say "inspired by" rather than "replica of".

Then the builder fixed everything that's wrong with the Grabowski car! 

[Greg Myers]

4 minutes ago, Dennis Lacy said:

wrong with the Grabowski car! 

Then you'd change the smile on the Mona Lisa ?

[Dennis Lacy]

1 minute ago, Greg Myers said:

Then you'd change the smile on the Mona Lisa ?

No, I'd build my own T-Bucket that didn't look like it got rear-ended! 

[Snake45]

24 minutes ago, Greg Myers said:

Then you'd change the smile on the Mona Lisa ?

I wouldn't change the smile on the Mona Lisa, I'd just paint Sophia Vergara instead. 

[dodgefever]

7 hours ago, Dennis Lacy said:

Then the builder fixed everything that's wrong with the Grabowski car! 

Haha, that's one way of looking at it.   I don't mind the Kookie T but I've always preferred Ivo's - much better proportions.

[Dennis Lacy]

5 hours ago, dodgefever said:

... but I've always preferred Ivo's - much better proportions.

Absolutely!

[Greg Myers]

This isn't about building a better mouse trap, but more to celebrating an icon.

There are surely many Tee Buckets built since the Grabowski Tee and the Ivo Tee that are much more pleasing to the eye. This is not the point.

Whether you like one or the other or something new These two Tee buckets will remain the cornerstone of our Hot Rod heritage.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Greg Myers

[Jon Haigwood]

The Ivo T looks like every other T Bucket out there. The Lightning Bug with it's odd proportions  draws attention. When I build I try and not make it look like all the rest.

Still think it's the "Ginchiest"

Edited October 7, 2018 by Jon Haigwood

[Jon Haigwood]

Just noticed that the exhaust pipe was setup two different ways . One version it went straight up and in another it went up and back along the bed.  

[Greg Myers]

What ever your cup of TEE

[Richard Bartrop]

Oh, I think the Ivo T is by far the better looking of the two..  It is the classic T-Bucket.

But if the goal is to build a replica, the bad is just as much a part of it as the good.

[Phirewriter]

If you have Amazon Prime check out "The Car That Ate My Brain" Artist Von Franco's quest to build an exact replica of Norm's T. Has lots of historical video and is excellent reference for building any one of the versions, many of the changes are explained in the narrative.

[Jon Haigwood]

35 minutes ago, Phirewriter said:

If you have Amazon Prime check out "The Car That Ate My Brain" Artist Von Franco's quest to build an exact replica of Norm's T. Has lots of historical video and is excellent reference for building any one of the versions, many of the changes are explained in the narrative.

Also on youtube 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Not to pull this thread off-topic, but two of my favorite radical T-rods (Greg already posted pix of both), and definitely worth modeling, are Danny Eichstedt's "Leg Show" T, and Chauvin Emmon's Indy-roadster-inspired T.

Though I'm not a huge fan of no-go showboats in general, the Leg Show is just flat cool. And it was actually a driver at times in its career.

Emmons' car was at the other end of the T-bucket spectrum, with a tube-chassis, a Watson nose, and trick torsion-bar front suspension.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Draggon]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Not to pull this thread off-topic, but two of my favorite radical T-rods (Greg already posted pix of both), and definitely worth modeling, are Danny Eichstedt's "Leg Show" T, and Chauvin Emmon's Indy-roadster-inspired T.

I completely agree with this. I saw Leg Show at the '70 GNRS and my 16  year old mind was blown. I still have the copy of Rod-n-Custom with it on the cover. My number one favorite T of all time, even above my love for Grabowski's and Ivo's. Chauvin Emmon's was way ahead of his time, and I don't think he's ever gotten the recognition he deserves. 

Greg knows how much I dig the Leg Show 

[Richard Bartrop]

the Leg Show is pretty cool.  It looks almost like a roadster version of the Uncertain T

[Jon Haigwood]

Some info on the Lightning Bug (Kookies T) from Rod Authority 

Lightning Bug Specs:

• 20-inches removed from the rear frame
• Rear rails supported with Z configuration
• Front frame extended five-inches
• Steering column mounted near vertically
• Body channeled six-inches over the frame
• 1952 Cadillac V-8 with a GMC 3-71 supercharger
• Black paint
• Red rolled and pleated upholstery by Tony Nancy
• False rails covering the patched frame

"Originally painted a sinister black, the car began to make it into magazines and on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in 1955. Norm added Dodge Royal blue paint and a flame paint job to the rod, highlighted by pinstriping by Dean Jeffries, which adding to the bad boy look. Next he swapped out the GMC 3-71 blower with a four deuce manifold with four Stromberg 97s bolted to the top of the powerful Cadillac overhead valve engine.

Shortly after, he added more rake to the body and tilted the windshield back. In this configuration the car appeared in Car Craft and Life magazines. Norm’s Lightning bug became a star when it was chosen to be the vehicle driven by the Ed Byrnes character Gerald “Kookie” Kookson in 77 Sunset Strip. The car was referred to as the Kookie Kar after that.

Grabowski rented the car out to several movie and TV shows after that. Norm sold the hot rod in 1959 to show-car enthusiast Jim Skonzakis and unfortunately the original car has gone through several owners and has been repainted and hacked beyond recognition. Franco “Von Franco” Costanza built two highly accurate clones of the car. The Kookie Kar clone, now owned by John LaBelle, is a living tribute to one of hot rodding’s most iconic cars."

[Russell C]

On 10/4/2018 at 12:10 PM, Greg Myers said:

..... Danbury Mint had a diecast 1/25th scale but get your check book out if you can find one now.

Eeek. This current ebay listing might be an indicator of the going rate for one.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Danbury-Mint-1922-T-Bucket-Kookies-Kar-COOL-CAR-1-24-very-rare-limited-edition/163294338750

Nevertheless, there are estate salers out there who occasionally put $19.99 buy-it-now prices on items that just look like toys to them, so it is sometimes possible to get expensive diecasts for cheap when they have broken parts and are missing the original box.

[Greg Myers]

21 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

Some info on the Lightning Bug (Kookies T) from Rod Authority 

Lightning Bug Specs:

• 20-inches removed from the rear frame
• Rear rails supported with Z configuration
• Front frame extended five-inches
• Steering column mounted near vertically
• Body channeled six-inches over the frame
• 1952 Cadillac V-8 with a GMC 3-71 supercharger
• Black paint
• Red rolled and pleated upholstery by Tony Nancy
• False rails covering the patched frame

"Originally painted a sinister black, the car began to make it into magazines and on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in 1955. Norm added Dodge Royal blue paint and a flame paint job to the rod, highlighted by pinstriping by Dean Jeffries, which adding to the bad boy look. Next he swapped out the GMC 3-71 blower with a four deuce manifold with four Stromberg 97s bolted to the top of the powerful Cadillac overhead valve engine.

Shortly after, he added more rake to the body and tilted the windshield back. In this configuration the car appeared in Car Craft and Life magazines. Norm’s Lightning bug became a star when it was chosen to be the vehicle driven by the Ed Byrnes character Gerald “Kookie” Kookson in 77 Sunset Strip. The car was referred to as the Kookie Kar after that.

Grabowski rented the car out to several movie and TV shows after that. Norm sold the hot rod in 1959 to show-car enthusiast Jim Skonzakis and unfortunately the original car has gone through several owners and has been repainted and hacked beyond recognition. Franco “Von Franco” Costanza built two highly accurate clones of the car. The Kookie Kar clone, now owned by John LaBelle, is a living tribute to one of hot rodding’s most iconic cars."

Ross Myers ( no relation) the recent purchaser of the fabled Norm Grabowski "Kookie's T from the TV show 77 Sunset Strip is shipping it off to Roy Brizio's Street Rods for a complete rebuild to it's former Iconic glory. Upon completion it will make a trip to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2019. This all from Joey Ukrop's "Evolution Of The Kookie Kar" in the recent Rodder's Journal.

and here we are, full circle.

[Jon Haigwood]

1 hour ago, Greg Myers said:

 

and here we are, full circle.

Yes back to the original question and "on" topic,