History Uncertain T has been found!

Where's Phil???
Seems his 15 minutes of fame might just cost him dearly.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-t-saga-and-some-facts.1309769/#post-15125874
I think I will get my info here instead. Seems more reliable.

 

Now this.... Makes A Lot of sense!

 

Thanks for the heads up. I will respond there.

 

.......

 

Not the Holy Grail of Hotrods by a long shot. Iconic 60's show rod YES! The kind of show rod that promotors advertised as being in the upcoming indoor hot rod and custom car show in the Colosseum the following weekend and that a 12 year old who had just built a model of got dad to take him to on Dad and Kid weekend or talked the folks into taking him. I remember hitting car shows in Seattle in the 60's with my dad and you would see those kids on a mission to go see that one car that they had made a model of . They did go look at the other cars after they spent a lot of time looking the show rod that they went to see and often having Dad take their photo with the Instamaic standing in front of it.
I'd bet that there will be some guys standing in front of it with kids or grandkids telling them how they built a model of it in the 60's and how they got to see it in a show when they were young.

 

this sure clears up a lot of questions about the car. I wonder if Gary Andrews is still around? He sure would be a fascinating interview!

 

Where did Steve Scott learn to weld up a frame made of Aluminum ?
that takes skill, plus must have had access to a lot of tools ...

 

All things considered, I don't think the kid could build this car by himself.

 

"" Steve reworked the rack and pinion from a 1960 MGA roadster. This is probably the first such R&P adaptation on a hot rod."" "" In the above photo you’ll note the rectangular tube front crossmember, which differed from the more convention round tube T-Bucket crossmember. The reason being that the frame was constructed from 2″ x 3″ rectangular aluminum tubing that Steve purchased from Art’s Surplus in Van Nuys, CA.""

The above quoted from https://www.tbucketplans.com/uncertain-t-exposed/
I had thought the rect tubing had awfully square corners, and I then thought " like Aluminum". So add Aluminum welding/use to Scott's accomplishment. Brave sole.

 

The article says he started building it in 1964. So beginning to show in less than 2 years. Not much time to learn all those engineering and fabrication skills! While in school, or dropping out to work several jobs and coming up with today;s $150000.. A lot of research, and no internet. The car exists, but the truth about the build----Drama!

 

Regarding welding aluminum, I talked to Steve about some of these construction details when I was interviewing him for the TRJ article. He told me that he'd enrolled in a night class at Van Nuys High School so he could use their machine shop to cut and chamfer the 1/8" wall aluminum tubing. He had a friend named Tobe Radecke whose father owned an aluminum supply house that catered to the aircraft industry, and he took the aluminum there to have it acid etched prior to welding. I'd guess they helped with the welding—at least giving him some direction on how to work with aluminum (he already knew how to braze and weld steel).

He also talked about how Irv Cohen at a shop called Drag Machine in Gardena helped with some components on the torsion bar suspension and that shortened Pontiac transmission/torque tube arrangement—splining shafts and couplers and helping to make it all function properly. He actually said, "Those guys at Drag Machine were machinist marvels."

I wasn't there and I only know what Steve's told me about how the car came to be—and I also understand how the shifting narrative he's given about what happened after the T left the show circuit has kind of muddied the waters. But I also wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the story of the build itself. A teenager in the early-'60s still had the benefit of growing up in the aftermath of WWII, where guys not that much older than him had a LOT of skills and ingenuity that was no doubt trickling down to the next generation. Not to mention the area he was in was the epicenter of hot rodding and drag racing—a seriously innovative atmosphere.

 

Well said, Curt.

 

Curt, your info from Steve makes me believe that mostly built by him, but some help when needed. I never doubted it. As you know, I picked up the car and trailer from Steve’s home in the Valley in April of 1967 and delivered to Ray Farhner for use on his Midwest show circuit. His home was upscale. So I think the combination of easy funding and a strong sense of purpose are what drove him to pull it off. Dan Woods did it, why not Steve?

 

Phil did not see his shadow today, so the end of winter is near.

 

There's only one story that I want to hear, and it's Steve's! It's great that the U.T. has survived. But the story of a kids sketch, that was made into a very cool Show Rod! Now that is cool story that I wanna hear. I think Steve had the most important thing going for him. It was the { Want To !!! } Back then if you had a dream, and you wanted to do it bad enough, you could do it. Even if you didn't have the skill, you found someone who did. If you needed money? You would beg, bowered, or steal. You just didn't know that you couldn't do it. So you did it! Also I don't think Steve would have ever sold his dream Rod, if it were up to him. Sounds like that was a wife's choice, not Steve's? { SAD } But hay, I don't know the real story yet ?????

 

As for Steve building the Uncertain "T" at such a young age, 16, 17, and 18 year old kids in the 60's were completely different than 16, 17, and 18 year old kids today. Kids then had dreams, looked up to their parents, wanted to become something. Kids today are missing most of that, Kids today are looking for handouts, and participation trophies. I know a 13 year old boy that has never had a bicycle, never rode a bicycle, doesn't want a bicycle. I know 16, 17, and 18 year olds that don't want to get a drivers license. It's not the same world today as it was when Steve, and a lot of other kids were building Uncertain "T's" learning a trade, wanted a car, etc.

 

The above post is completely and disgustingly true.

 

Oh good the boomer talk has entered the conversation.

 

As mentioned in a few posts I hope they retain the level of craftsmanship of the original build in fit and finish. When the Grabowski Kookie car was restored, they went way over the top and it lost all the character of the original build. Norm and Steve were not much more than teenagers when they built these cars. Flawless paint and finish and precision door gaps were not a consideration then. Just my two cents. I was around 15 when I first saw pictures of it around 1970 and back then anything with a souped-up motor and mag wheels and cool paint was enough to send me over the top. lol Larry

 

Time for your meds uncle grumpy.

 

Who said I was grumpy, just stating facts. Do you disagree?

 

I don’t get it. Ugly, bad proportions and just plain goofy. To me this car is the epitome of what went wrong with hot rod show cars in the 60’s. I bundle this car with the Batmobile, monkey mobile, and all the bubble top creations that came about in this era. A lot hard work, a lot of talent, yes …. All that work for what ? A trophy? Fuck that. Hot rods are meant to be driven. .

 

There’s no doubt the restoration is in great hands but the subject is a different matter.
I’m sorry it’s just neat old hotrod I would not drive and not a show car guy. So what does one do with such a car hotrod .
I had the great opportunity to buy lil dough at a very reasonable price 25k ish if I remember. It’s a rod and custom cover car and then some and wicked cool to look at. Just like the T cool car but what do you do with it ?. Funny thing is I was dealing with the owner and no BS paperwork just the trophies pictures of the history and the journey.
Im sorry but the T drama really kills it for me and didn’t like it then and like it even more

 

At Pomona with former owner. People loving the UT. I noticed an elderly gentleman having his picture taken in front of the UT by his family. I asked him if he had seen it before. He said : "Seen it?! Hell, I painted it!"

It was Jr.

 

I only know of two people who are instantly recognizable by saying "Junior"

 

In the saga of the Uncertain T, it's well-known that Junior painted it.

 

Guevara's pics from GNRS:

 

I saw ya I think...pretty sure it was you. You were tellin some folks how it was like beatle mania or something...I think you can hear it in my video. I was cruisin, lotta ground to cover

 

I'll prolly be flamed for this, but I was surprised that they didn't clean up what chrome and aluminum that they could....

 

In thinking about this that car was not built for a bunch of old grizzled hot rodders to flip out over. It was built for 10-13 year old boys to get them to get their parents to take them to a car show. 10 year old me would definitely flip out over that car and I’ll be willing to bet looking at it in that way most of you guys would too! Back then we did not know what was or wasn’t possible. Everyone wants to get down on their knees over Barris’ or Roth’s stuff but this is no less shocking. Who here can honestly say that Mysterion was a good idea? Atleast this one was drivable. Appreciate the art for what it is.