Norman "Norm" Grabowski... inventor of the T Bucket

All of this was just one write up about Norm, just a thing I did one day... but since this post, I've come across a lot more about Norm, more movies he did, with Elvis for example, and things he made, etc etc. I didn't put them all in this post, I put them all under one label which will link you to the whole lot of them
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Norm%20Grabowski#ixzz0Ydyj1gSJ

Maybe you have heard of him, maybe when T buckets are mentioned... but I was watching a movie, and saw his name in the credits.... and that had me wondering if it was an actor, or the famous car customizer.

It's the same guy, lucky guy huh?! Mostly 60's Disney movies, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0333288/

Also, the T-bucket specifically was created and given that name by Norman Grabowski in the 1950s. http://hotrod.wikia.com/wiki/T-bucket

He also influenced others, of course, but Tommy Ivo credits him specifically http://www.tommyivo.com/hotrod-1.htm and LIFE featured Norm and his "Kookie T" inside the April 29, 1957, issue http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/the-great-1950s-t-bucket-rod-rivalry/ of the magazine with a multi-page feature on the underground drag racing movement and the subculture it helped create. http://www.streetrodderweb.com/features/0703sr_t_bucket_history/photo_02.html

To instantly recognize him, and recall all the movies you've seen him in, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0333288/ and look at this video clip http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi392626201/ he's the guy in the blue letter "M" sweater.

Skip the first 16 seconds... this is a really good look at the car Norm built, that was featured on the tv show "77 Sunset Strip"

There's a photo and short caption in the Jan 09 issue of Hot Rod about Norm, it says he was also a bodybuilder and vegan... huh, that makes sense. He also tried his hand as a nightclub entertainer, see Hot Rod Deluxe, Sept 2011 page 46

For a gallery of the recreated Kookie T that I came across at SEMA: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/11/replica-of-norms-kookie-t-i-doubt.html

For a full post on Norm and the Life gallery of photos taken at Norm's garage and on the way to drag race Tommy Ivo at Santa Ana dragway in 1957: http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/the-great-1950s-t-bucket-rod-rivalry/

All of this was just one write up about Norm, just a thing I did one day... but since this post, I've come across a lot more about Norm, more movies he did, with Elvis for example, and things he made, etc etc. I didn't put them all in this post, I put them all under one label which will link you to the whole lot of them: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Norm%20Grabowski#ixzz0Ydyj1gSJ