did you first drive, or own, your first t bucket?

[Northstar T]

I took my T bucket out the driveway today for the first time. just a little 2 mile test drive to check out a couple things. I'm a builder. I build/modify quite a few cars, and usually end up not driving any of them all that much........ that trend may change with this car .
I got to thinking about it later, after my "test drive" that when I began building this car in January, I had never even sat in, much less driven or riden in a T bucket. surely I'm not the only nut who did that. So what made you decide to own a T bucket?? and how many drove or rode in a T before you owned one?. did you build your first T or buy a driver. ?

Russ

 

[HAceT]

I rode in Tom Buckley's T and then he threw me the keys and said have fun. Then I built me one.

 

[skullman]

I sat in one when I was visiting a friend in college. I lived in Texas and he was in California. I was definitely bitten by the bug. After I graduated, married and moved to California I went to talk with a local builder who had a bucket himself. He also tossed me the keys and said go have fun. I ordered a frame the next week and started building my first bucket.

 

[jesse]

I first t-bucket i sat in was RPM's ( Ron Pope ).
Building my first bucket about 80% complete.
Have yet to ride in one but i know i will enjoy
it,i also have hwy railbuggys so a bucket will
have a lot more power.

 

[putz]

Rode in somebody else's in the 80's then bought one with a title due to restrictions on new ones in Wisconsin.

 

[Telman2]

I saw buckets in hot rod magazines but never in person so I never had a chance to sit or ride in one. I was working a second job in an auto parts store back in 67 when a customer mentioned that he had a body and frame he wanted to sell. Being 24, and not having a clue of what I was about to get into I bought them and began one hell of a learning experience. I've had my bucket for 43 years now and I still get the same feeling when I start it up that I did the first time I fired it up. If I had any idea back then that I'd still be driving it at the age of 67 I'd of put a door in it.

 

[lincolnuT]

I first rode in weelstang's old car in 2005 and then I started looking for Ford Powered one to buy. I bought the YeloT and have completely rebuilt the darn thing. The only thing still the same is the frame and the outside of the body. The Yelot was not very safe when I first bought it off of ebay in Huntsville TX. Now it has about 6000 miles on it........

I was driving Model A's at the time I bought the YeloT and as you can imagine the diffreance was very big. LOL...

I now have two and the Chrome T is about ready for the road maybe as early as next week. I did a test drive last night again...........

Mike

 

[ellis8500]

Building a 27T. Have never riden in one nor in a T-bucket. Wanted to build a Cobra replica but the high $$$$$$$$$$'s got in the way. I can afford a 27T. So, talked it over with the wife and she agreed that the 27T is a nice looking car. She encouraged me to get started so in march of 2009, started collecting parts. Tranny then, engine last summer, now I'm ready to disassemble and get things ready for paint. See my gallery for where it is now.

 

[Francis Blake]

I went to a car show on the Independence square 4 yrs ago and saw a 27 style roadster and decided I had to have one, two years later I joined the Cowtown t's and got my first ride. It was hopeless I had to have one, now it is almost done.

 

[deckofficer]

Russ,

What a great question, I hope everyone on the forum takes a little time to answer this one. For me it started prior to 1967 reading about T's in hot rod magazines and seeing them on display at the Sacramento Autorama. The summer of 1967, a real character we all called "Georgeous George" because of his long blond hair had his T at Fallen Leaf Lake, a vacation spot for my family since the early 1950's. This T was a stick shift and even at 6500' elevation was very fast. I never was offered a ride because I wasn't a girl George wanted to impress. As I got older, I still had never rode in a T, but had bought other folks projects and finished them. One was a blown 427 Ford side oiler in a '55 Ford. This car made me think about how fast a T would be, as it had about 600 hp but was in a car that weighed over 4000 lbs. Fast forward 25 years, the economy is in the toilet, banks are screwing us with low interest rates on our savings, and collectable cars have dropped in value for the first time. I decided it was time to purchase a turn key car of my dreams of my youth and purchased the Track T from Montana. First time I had ever been in a T was when I fired it up to drive on the transport trailer. Drove it for less than a mile and loaded it on the trailer.

 

[Gerry]

I went to a drag race when I was 16 years old on a Honda 50cc (5CI) and seen some buckets on show... all 3 of them. Swore i would have one and at 17 bought one from a UK maker called Jago. drove it back from Chichester and loved it from the get go. Very strange in those days driving something like a T when there was only early iron on the roads. Got to know the local Police after they had stopped me on a number of occasions after which they ignored me. Never blasted it around town, always respected their advice, never got lippy with them. Everyone else had hassles.
Drove it. got lots of girls, put a bigger engine in it, got it in a magazine, and had phone calls from people who wanted to buy it. They could nt as it was my T. Took it off the road in 75 and have been refurbishing it for the last 30 years. Should be back out next spring.
Its a T... its a Fad... and its a 70s hot rod.
What more can you ask for in life.
Im happy the T is my every dream and the roads are waiting.
No rules regulations or governments can take that away, try as they might.

Take you modern car and shove it. thats what I say.

They always say the Old fords never die. Well old hot rodders do but their legacy lives on
Gerry

 

[GizmoJoe]

Never owned one.
Never rode in one.
Never sat in one.
Never worked on one.
Only ever been close to 2 that were stopped (and one wasn't very safe looking) and saw another one on the road.

This thing better be fun or someone is gonna get a whupin' !!!

 

[Gerry]

Never owned one.
Never rode in one.
Never sat in one.
Never worked on one.
Only ever been close to 2 that were stopped (and one wasn't very safe looking) and saw another one on the road.

This thing better be fun or someone is gonna get a whupin' !!!

Aint no whupin here. You WILL love it and everything about it.
Gerry

 

[deckofficer]

Russ,

If I remember from your past posts, you have built a lot of cars that you drop your Caddy Northstar V8 into, then sell the car with a sbc, keep the Cad for the next project? I'd like to know of the previous builds that you used the Northstar in, what was the lightest ride's weight? If your interests are the same as mine, then out right performance is the #1 point. Besides a power to weight ratio unmatched by every production "super car", a purpose built wheelbase, and engine and tranny mounted so low in the frame rails that a 6" oil pan only has minimal ground clearance, it IS the cheapest performance per dollar purchase on the planet!! I'm guessing when you get your Northstar T dialed in, that caddy engine has found a permanent home.

 

[GizmoJoe]

Aint no whupin here. You WILL love it and everything about it.
Gerry

Almost sounds "You WILL enjoy yourself OR ELSE!!" :jester:
I'm SO excited.. After losing access to a borrowed welder I now have my own little Lincoln (SP-135T) with gas! WOO HOO! :hooray:

 

[ruggs]

Almost sounds "You WILL enjoy yourself OR ELSE!!" :jester:
I'm SO excited.. After losing access to a borrowed welder I now have my own little Lincoln (SP-135T) with gas! WOO HOO! :hooray:

Knowlage without tools SxxKs .............Burn some metal, Ron (ruggs

 

[Keeper]

Never owned one.
Never rode in one.
Never sat in one.
Never worked on one.
Only ever been close to 2 that were stopped (and one wasn't very safe looking) and saw another one on the road.

This thing better be fun or someone is gonna get a whupin' !!!

I am pretty close to that, though I did ride on the back of one when I was about 7. 30+ years later I am building my own

 

[Northstar T]

Well out of 12 replies I count 7 that had never driven or even ridden in a T before building or buying one. pretty amazing stats IMO. what other car could make that kind of claim? not many I suspect.

Deckofficer. you're a little confused about my car building. the only other Northstar powered car that I've built was a Fiero, and I still own that car, compleat with it's own Northstar. I also built, and still own a 377 SBC powered Fiero, but seldom drive it as well. both Fieros weigh aprox 2600 to 2700 pounds and both are pretty quick as well as agile. I have a model A Coupe, but it has a 2000 cc Ford engine at the moment. we do drive it periodically during the summer months. Then there's my 65 Corvair Limo :shrug: which is an off and on restoration project when I'm bored with other projects .
You're right about the Northstar in my T finding a permanent home however. that engine was my test motor in the shop when I designed the ITB fuel injection system. I guess you could say that now it's a "mobile" test engine. ha ha.

Russ

 

[weelstang]

Only seen one in mag. never touched one. Built first T in 1967, flathead with 4/2's draged it in D/A class till they did away with the class. Built a C/FA T Bucket had direct drive, halibrand rear & wheels. Was fast and scarrrry, but I was young and bullit proof. Chassis was exhaust tubing, roll bar also. Ran 174mph in 1969, not to bad for a 292 V8 chevy. Have bought and built several sence my last bucket Alum-A-T. Also built a chopped T coupe for my wife because it wount blow her hair. weelstang

 

[Northstar T]

Chassis was exhaust tubing, roll bar also. Ran 174mph in 1969,
weelstang

Wasn't it great to be invinceable. It's the main thing I miss as I "mature".

Russ