WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO CAL AUTOMOTIVE

[BCOWANWHEELS]

I,VE GOT A T-BUCKET I STARTED BUILDING IN 1967. I BOUGHT A CAL AUTOMOTIVE BODY FOR IT. I REALLY DIDNT REALIZE THE HI-QUALITY IT WAS MADE OF UNTIL A DECADE LATER AND BEYOND. ANYBODY KNOW WHAT EVER BECAME OF THE COMPANY. I,AM 55 NOW AND STILL HAVE MY T-BUCKET. BEEN IN STORAGE FOR 32 YRS BUT THIS SUMMER LORD WILLING IT WILL RIDE AGAIN.SORRY FOR CAPS BUT I HAVE BAD EYES NOW.....
BOB

 

[YblockT]

From http://yblock.blogsp...=cal+automotive with info from the story as told by Bud Lang in Rod & Custom in the 70s of how he and Curt Hamilton founded Cal Automotive:

Bud Lang and his partner Curt Hamilton shelled out $25 to rent a steel '23 T roadster body and had legendary painter and customizer Dean Jeffries clear up any imperfections in the then almost 40 year old skin, along with whacking off the unsightly rear "horns" on the body and substituting a nice rolled pan, which became the standard look for virtually all fiberglass T-bucket bodies thereafter.


With the Jefffies' cherried body, which still had to be returned to its original owner after its use, Bud and Curt hired the equally legendary Nat Reeder, "The Glass Man" to produce their first body mold at his Fiberglass Auto Body on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Nat had earned his reputation as the country's premier Corvette fiberglass repair and custom body panel molder. It has been said that Dean Jeffries was the Rembrandt of painting and Nat Reeder was the Rodin of fiberglass structure. Bud Lang and Curt Hamilton had chosen wisely for what would become their budding business venture.

That body mold became the foundation for Cal Automotive, Bud and Curt's company that offered the first mass production T-bucket body. Initially, their bodies were grabbed up by drag racers who were in a constant quest to improve E.T.'s through weight reduction.

Cal Automotive was later sold to Tex Collins, colorful rags to riches entrepreneur and stuntman who was later killed in a reported business dispute and eventually Cal Automotive went out of business.
How cool that you've kept yout T-Bucket body all these years. Best of luck in your build.

 

[BCOWANWHEELS]

I REMEMBER THAT ADD VERY VIVIDLY. FOUND IT IN ROD & CUSTOM I BELIEVE OR HOT ROD MAG. TOOK IT TO MY DAD AND WE WAS OFF AND RUNNING... I,VE GOT ALOT OF PIC,S. OF THE BUILD AND MY FRIEND IS GOING TO SCAN THEM WHEN HE GETS A CHANCE THEN I,LL TRY TO POST SOME PIC,S. THE BODY HAS HELD UP PERFECT AND STILL HAS MY FIRST PAINT JOB ON IT. CANDY BLUE LAQUER AND IT IS STILL IN GREAT CONDITION.ALL ORIGINAL T-PARTS WAS USED FOR THE BODY LIKE WINDSHIELD FRAME & MOUNTS, COWL LIGHTS WITH "WICKS " THAT BURN FUEL OIL LOL.
THANKS

 

[GT63]

I REMEMBER THAT ADD VERY VIVIDLY. FOUND IT IN ROD & CUSTOM I BELIEVE OR HOT ROD MAG. TOOK IT TO MY DAD AND WE WAS OFF AND RUNNING... I,VE GOT ALOT OF PIC,S. OF THE BUILD AND MY FRIEND IS GOING TO SCAN THEM WHEN HE GETS A CHANCE THEN I,LL TRY TO POST SOME PIC,S. THE BODY HAS HELD UP PERFECT AND STILL HAS MY FIRST PAINT JOB ON IT. CANDY BLUE LAQUER AND IT IS STILL IN GREAT CONDITION.ALL ORIGINAL T-PARTS WAS USED FOR THE BODY LIKE WINDSHIELD FRAME & MOUNTS, COWL LIGHTS WITH "WICKS " THAT BURN FUEL OIL LOL.
THANKS

All UPPER CASE = screaming in the digital world

 

[RPM]

All UPPER CASE = screaming in the digital world

All caps makes it very hard to read

 

[Old Rotor Flap]

I believe the gentleman mentioned he has bad eyes in his first post which I find only mildly annoying, I'm cutting him some slack because apparently he has trouble seeing properly.

Let's hope that is a temporary sutuation so he can enjoy his T build and drive.


Somewhere back in the '60's I bought a Cal Auto body and I think the frame came from them too. I never finished the car as I was in school, but I recall visiting there shop in North Hollywood (I lived in Milwaukee) when we were out there with our fuel dragster at Bakersfield back then.

 

[GT63]

Both IE and Firefox allow you to increase the text size within the browser.

In IE go to VIEW -> TEXT SIZE or VIEW -> ZOOM or hit CTRL+ to increase or CTRL- to decrease

In FireFox go to VIEW -> ZOOM or hit CTRL++ to increase or CTRL-- to decrease

 

[seawolf]

I,VE GOT A T-BUCKET I STARTED BUILDING IN 1967. I BOUGHT A CAL AUTOMOTIVE BODY FOR IT. I REALLY DIDNT REALIZE THE HI-QUALITY IT WAS MADE OF UNTIL A DECADE LATER AND BEYOND. ANYBODY KNOW WHAT EVER BECAME OF THE COMPANY. I,AM 55 NOW AND STILL HAVE MY T-BUCKET. BEEN IN STORAGE FOR 32 YRS BUT THIS SUMMER LORD WILLING IT WILL RIDE AGAIN.SORRY FOR CAPS BUT I HAVE BAD EYES NOW.....
BOB

I ordered a body from Mr Roadster in 1974. He was unable to produce one so he sent me one from Cal Automotive. The quality wasn't that good, it was warped on the drivers side and the dash was pretty bad so I sawed it out and got one from AI Fiberglass. It took some work but I got it in pretty good shape.

 

[putz]

that is a really cool classic bucket I like the firewall 4 coilovers in rear also

 

[Rick]

I ordered a body from Mr Roadster in 1974. He was unable to produce one so he sent me one from Cal Automotive. The quality wasn't that good, it was warped on the drivers side and the dash was pretty bad so I sawed it out and got one from AI Fiberglass. It took some work but I got it in pretty good shape.

That was my first ever T-Bucket back in 1979 I got it from Gratiot Auto Supply Here in the Detroit area.$250.00 for the body with pickup bed installed.Had put a vega consoul with the floor shifter and it's ebrake.Then i moved to Cal.(the company moved me and my family out there set me up in a apartment that every one who worked my plant lived there. who whorked had an apartment.I met a guy and had a 65 Fairlain he wanted to trade for the bucket for his and his kids build together.So said ok the dealwas done.AFTER we dug it out off his frnt yard That fairlain got me where ever i wanted to go.From the sandfronando valey to the beachs.Best trade i ever made.

 

[Track-T]

Cal Automotive went under in 1968...
people still had some laying around though, my '27 was made in '68 and no one did anything with it
till I bought it in 2002....

 

[coupeute]

Curt Hamilton who founded Cal Automotive has a shop in Van Nuys, California on Stagg Street called Hamilton Automotive Industries. He still has the T-Bucket molds with the improved dash panel and molded one piece pick up bed body. All his bodies were hand lamenated fiberglass., cleaner and stronger than a messy chopper sprayed body. Tex Collins, who purchased Cal Automotive from Curt tried to mass produce T-Bucket bodies by selling franchiases with hastley made molds to "Mom and Pop" operations. One such operation soured and as a result Tex was shot in the back by the son of a law enforcement official and was later aquitted at trial. Tex was a part time Hollwood Western stuntman who had a fiberglass company called Ford Duplicators in North Hollywood when he purchased Cal Automotive.

 

[Bobby Lee]

Ok I know this is not a t this is a cal automotive body of a 48 fiat just happens to be the first one out of the mold and its still on the orig car and still being raced I've had this car for 35yrs

 

[Screaming Metal]

Theres a Butt-Load of old T Bodys out there from that era the were used for altereds, including the TBucket and the Fiats.
Back in the day, a TBucket Round tube chassis, a 392Hemi w/ Hilborne or Crower injectors, Joe Hunt Magneto, The old TorqueFlight trans and either a Olds/Pontiac Rear, you had a 9 or a 8 second car. You'd smoke the ole Cokers or cheater slicks to mid track Before she hooked up good.
That was back in the day when top fuelers were running 6.8 @ 230 mph.
My oh my how technology has changed!

Thats when my hair was slicked back and a pack of Lucky Strikes rolled up in my right TShirts Sleeve....

 

[T-Test]

Theres a Butt-Load of old T Bodys out there from that era the were used for altereds, including the TBucket and the Fiats.
Back in the day, a TBucket Round tube chassis, a 392Hemi w/ Hilborne or Crower injectors, Joe Hunt Magneto, The old TorqueFlight trans and either a Olds/Pontiac Rear, you had a 9 or a 8 second car. You'd smoke the ole Cokers or cheater slicks to mid track Before she hooked up good.
That was back in the day when top fuelers were running 6.8 @ 230 mph.
My oh my how technology has changed!

Thats when my hair was slicked back and a pack of Lucky Strikes rolled up in my right TShirts Sleeve....

Being able to remember such things brings a tear to my tired old eyes. Rember Wild Willy Borsch?

 

[kgrimm]

Being able to remember such things brings a tear to my tired old eyes. Rember Wild Willy Borsch?

Good ol' Wild Willy and the Winged Express. He steered with one hand and hung on with the other!

 

[Screaming Metal]

Oh Yea Wild Willie! He's leave the line and all you'd see was Teeth, Hair and Eyeballs! 2/3rds of the guys wore Aqua Velva the rest of the aromas in the air was richness from the cams and carbs, burning your eyes, and the haze of the burnt rubber....All the valves chattering away from the Solid lifters.....

 

[Hot Rod Todd]

Bobby Lee, that car is awesome. We did a mold off my wifes 37 Topo so we could build something similar, but that project is now stillborn as we found a rusty steel body to use instead.

 

[Hot Rod Todd]

The body we made, that we will probably never use

 

[Hot Rod Todd]

The rear wheels were the only ones we had with the correct stud pattern to bring the chassis home.