There’s a very limited supply of original vintage hot rods to find, and with the popularity of events such as The Race of Gentlemen, these old rods have an entirely new set of enthusiasts wanting them! This Model T rod is a “new” unfinished construction and is listed for sale here on eBay. The buy it now price is $6,500, but the seller is inviting lower offers as well.
Based on the pictures and the seller’s feedback, builds like this are something they are familiar with. We’re told that the seller needs space at the shop so this project has to go. The body has been shortened already but as you can see, there’s some finishing work to be done. Or not, if you like the rugged look it has now. Your choice!
Those rims are from a 1937 Ford, and the engine is an 8BA flathead (1948-53). There’s also a top-loader transmission case, but it’s empty at the moment. Those chassis rails are from a Model T truck.
You have to love the fuel tank — very period and very, very cool!
The grille shell is from a 1932 Ford and just sets off the period appearance perfectly. Overall, this car is a great project to be — could it be your rod to finish? Let us know what you think in the comments!
I’ve see 1 or 2 of these on the road in Calgary over the years, and the people in them look scary volnerable. I think I’d rather be on a bike then in one of these death traps, I can’t imagine how smashed up you’d be in this in a car wreck. Can you imagine being in this in a roll over. At least with a bike you have handling capability, and when your on a bike at least for me there is safety gear. I would have no desire to own this.
Your first sentence explains why people chose to chance a horrible end by deciding to drive something like this on the street.
The fact of the matter is, if you actually chose to drive it on the street, it’d most likely be a very rare occasion, under absolutely perfect conditions and for a very short period of time.
Why? Because this is a car that you build, drive or most likely trailer, to a show, sit around and enjoy the admiring looks and commentary, then bring it home and tuck it away in the garage.
A buddy of mine had one just like this, although a lot more complete and show quality.
It was a joy to look at. The star of the show. And one of the most abysmal excuses for an automobile one could possibly imagine.
Loud, hot, cramped, horribly uncomfortable, with evil handling, unpredictable steering and brakes, and a ride straight out of the de Sade School of Automotive Engineering.
Tires last forever because they spend very little time in actual contact with the road, Progress down the road is a series of leaps as it bounds from frost heave to pot hole.
Yeah, you risk your life driving it. But anyone with a brain wouldn’t drive it very far, if at all.
Absolutely the best description of our beloved MG TC. As an added bonus, we have the steering shaft just waiting to impale the driver in the probable event of failed brakes and ramming the golf cart ahead of us.
We don’t live in a gated community, but the town residents think so.
Was it Nigel who described a TC as a coffin on four harps?
Looking at it is no fun needs to be driven and driven regularly and hard to have real fun owning something like this
The problem with these cars today, is that the open roads that used to allow fun driving are now clogged with ignorant people who do not really know how to drive a car, which to them is either an appliance or a video game.
These cars can still be fun for a “cruise night” or “show & shine” , but unless you have access to back roads with very little traffic, sadly, that’s about all they are good for now.
A local couple had a pair of nice T Buckets they drove around the area. He led the way she followed, including on statisticly the most dangerous US highway in the region. Geared low with tiny spoked wheels up front they looked and sounded great ( and looked deadly). They drove so slowly they looked like they’d be rear ended at any moment. This went on for a couple of seasons. He then moved up to a really nice early ’70s Cuda. Meanwhile she’s putting along at 30 trying to follow him. After that season they seemed to drop off the face of the Earth. I never saw the Cuda or the T Bucket again.
Maybe I’m a bit careless but I’m of the opinion that if your ticket is punched, you go no matter what you’re in. Or, like an article I read a few years ago, a guy who refused a ride with his partied up friends on the freeway, chose to walk home. The car crashed head-on into a drunk going the wrong way. At precisely the same instant the man who chose to walk home collapsed and died from a heart attack. The man was in his early thirties, good health and no history of heart problems in his family. The drunk was killed; one person in the party car, a secretary, was sitting in the back seat, and died from a broken neck. Cars like this can be dangerous. I know of three or four that come out to play occasionally every summer and all seems to go well. Drive carefully and enjoy the ride…
My buddy in Calgary has one of them. A Model T pickup, all steel with pinto running gear including automatic transmission. I’ve ridden in it and while it sat low and sure you are certainly vulnerable in it, as a sunny Sunday driver, it’s a hoot. But then again I also like fiberglass dune buggies and silly little 40mph scooters so go figure.
Chicken!
They’ve done a good job to make nothing look like something. This is just a few old parts masquerading as a project car. Pass.
Believe it or not, guys? Cars that are the inspiration for Ts like this one actually did roam the streets of SoCal and elsewhere in the 1940s-50s.
You’re right, they were death traps, and one of the jobs of the NHRA Safety Safari (the real one, before the sanctioning body decided to use the name for its crash crews) was to promote safe hot rod construction.
I’m sure some *scenester would be keen to have this in his/her garage. Although I can’t recall anyone putting a fuel tank on top of a turtle deck, I’m sure someone will say it’s ‘traditional’.
*I love it when people who are into the hot rod ‘scene’ tell me that the history I lived through, first-hand, is wrong..! LOL
Quite a coincidence – Hemmings Daily today has an article on Norm’s Kookie T selling for $440K at Mecum’s auction.
I think this thing’s a deal at $6500/OBO – and potentially a lot of fun! I’ve always preferred the turtle deck to a shortened bed; the tank does need to go under the lid, though. As for safety, they don’t go real fast on the sand at Wildwood!
You can find running and driving T buckets here in Michigan in that price range. Perhaps not every day but often enough, a lot of summer cars are starting to hit Craigslist this week.
My first thought when I saw the rear view – Never saw a fuel tank on top of a turtle deck before!
Scary fun. You’re going to die eventually, so you may as well be smiling just before it happens. Sign me up.
I agree
They are just fun. Here is mine. A model A instead of a T.
$6,500 for a $650 project………..
A finished T-bucket can be found at $10K if you look for it.
My oldest son flipped his stepdad’s T bucket going around a corner when the throttle stuck no roll bar just the windshield posts no seatbelt and he walked away from it sore and shaken up but still in one piece when I look at the picture of the car upside down I still don’t know how he survived it I guess it just wasn’t his time yet
There isn’t anything prettier than a real nice Bucket-T with a Ford flathead that has Offenhauser heads and intake with three Stromberg 97 carburetors and lots of chrome! Simplistic beauty at its best! Add a full race camshaft, 3/8X3/8 bore/stroke upgrade, port & polish the heads, add a good set of headers, and glass packs, ohhhh, the sweet sound that flathead can make!!! (;-)
Guys stop bashing us old guys and our hot rods and old British sports cars. Yeah they aren’t your Lexus SUV with 135 airbags. Us old dudes grew up building, driving and racing these old cars and most of are still around or died by something other than out MG or T bucket. I get it if you just don’t “get it”. You grew up in different times but it is not necessary to point out what we already know every time a street rod or old MG, etc. is featured here. There must be a site of nothing but look alike boring new cars for you to look at and let us old farts have our fun.
I have seen quite a few finished nice T Buckets selling for not much more than this project. The only plus I see is the flathead instead of the common Chevy small block between the rails. I often wonder how some guys could get in a T Bucket with a blown Chrysler Hemi and pray they make it through the quarter mile. Probably the reason the classes no longer exist except at nostalgia events. Crazy!!
if you are too afraid to drive it then stay on the porch.. i myself love the thrill of near death in a fast car.. lets me know i am still alive.. this car is very cool with the flatty and all..unless there is more than i seen, in my opinion it is a bit over priced
Saw one of these that was wrecked for sale at a swap meet. Hit so hard the front axle was bent like a pretzel. steering wheel was mounted high and broken- round part busted off the metal spokes. I shuddered to think what happened to the driver.
Beatnik’s picture is of Norm Grabowski and his T-Bucket when it was on the TV show 77 Sun Set Strip in the 60’s. Norn Built the car around 1955 it was featured in Hot Rod Magazine in Oct of that year. Norm is considered the father of the T-Bucket and the first to build that style of car for the street. The closest look to the car would be the hot rods that ran on mostly small dirt and asphalt ovals. Following Norm, Tommy Ivo built a T-Bucket, that was just as cool, and I think you kind of fell into one camp or other, but the build style caught on and it seemed everybody wanted one, or at least until they drove one. The fad stayed in vogue way into the late 70’s, but began to fade as everyone discovered what you have all said about the cars. Yet they are still around and enjoyed by some people. I was fortunate enough to be a friend of Norms, and he was a very special guy, and as far as I am concerned he was the father of the T-Bucket, not that I think he really cared that much, I have also spent time with Tommy Ivo, not as much as a friend, as Norm was ,but I think Tommy was really proud of his T-Bucket, but he didn’t keep it long his drag racing was his real passion Both Norm and Tommy are real personalities and somewhat alike, both with cars and the entertainment industry. Anyway I ramble and I could tell lots of stories, that are mostly trivia and dosn’t mean allot, but it sure was a great time to be a hot rodder and a teenager. Sidebar I never have owned a T-bucket and I never will, but I sure did in 1959
Nowadays people think that they should be able to survive almost any collision, and they are right, properly belted in a late model car. Those who regularly drive really old cars or ride motorcycles have a greater acceptance of potential hazard. I rode motorcycles for over thirty five years on a daily basis besides long distance touring. I think that having a devil may care attitude will possibly lead to your actual demise. I think that an old hot rod is very similar to driving a motorcycle. If that rod has decent brakes, tires and handling than a defensive driving attitude and really paying attention to your driving environment can go a long way keeping you healthy. That bike or hot rod ain’t going to do anything to save your life after impact!
Front perch breaks off allowing the frame to fall to the pavement and dig in and flip the car. Always mount your front spring under the perch and never on the top which will eventually break the U bolts and once again you will go down to the pavement and flip. Do not take the easy way out with the stance of your car by putting the spring on top of the perch. Do it right and re engineer your perch and learn how to weld like a pro. Just sayin. p.s. stainless steel ubolts are the worst, they snap right off, they are brittle.