model a's are my favorite,and that one is near the top of my list,larry bragas' red 29 is my all time favorite
That article was the reason why I bought the mag. My all-time favorite A pickup. I've been looking for more detailed shots of it and this is the best I've seen so far. A majority of the pics that I have are from the Pete & Jakes book mentioned in this thread. What I like most about Jim Jacobs is that he keeps most of his cars for ages, continues to improve them, and drives the wheels off of them ! I disagree that he is ahead of his time. He is IN his time. He just has better taste than most, and builds his cars to drive.
I was going to type the same thing! I saw the Jake restored Niekamp roadster back in 1975 when it was in the Cars of the Stars Museum. Often wonder what happened to some of the race cars in that collection.
This is why the Pete & Jake's book should be manditory reading for all serious rodders. That car wasn't in that museum. Jake bought it and restored it on his own in a time when NO ONE was preserving the early history of hot rodding- for that he will always be a ruler. Much of today's love of "traditional" hot rods has Jake's finger prints ALL OVER IT. Anyone know what TRODA stands for???- look it up and thank the rod gods that it was the antidote to panel painted street rods with crushed velour van interiors.
Ok, maybe I got the museum name wrong, but I still have the photos. The two man Miller that was orange with a black grill with yellow grill bars was to the right of it. Had a Ford flathead V8 in place of the Miller engine.
Yep, and just like Buttera and Billet, some folks go overboard! Too much of a good thing and all that rot....
Don, Across the street from where you lived on Harris ave., do you remember the blown "T" bucket? I think it was blue. The guy who owned it worked at Service Center next to Custom City. Was this where Bob Evans lived? At one of the shows, we're going to have to BS about the old neighborhood. Mike
Hey i'm only 40 something,and i've always thought of that truck as the epitome of a traditional hot rod p/u.But i do agree it's not well known by todays "authorities" on history.
I lived on Harris until 62. Then we moved to Peck St. over by Rosecrans and LB Blvd. Earl Scheib was on the corner of Peck and LB Blvd. The Evans lived across the street from us on Peck where we lived from 62 to 66. I do remember Service Center and Custom City, Spent a lot of time there in my teens before it burned down. I don't remember the T-bucket on Harris though. Even though we moved form there in 62, my folks kept that property until the late 70's.
Yeah- it started LONGGGG before HAMB-types railed against the pastel '80-'90s with their black primer. Great to know our true roots come from. Even in the ugly '70s there was a flickering light of hope.
Jim, Where does Don live now? He would drive the "T" down the street with straight pipes and every kid would run to the curb to watch. Back then, Compton was a good city to grow up in. Those still are good memories.
TOTALLY WEIRD!!! Don called me 20 minutes ago for some hot rod parts- he's NEVER heard of the HAMB. He lives in Seal Beach- the T was featured in a few magazines like Hot Rod in 1965. A TON of hot rodders lived in Compton in the '50s and '60s- the beach where I'm from was full of surfers.
Jake's truck was parked next to us at the NSRA Nats Louisville 2005 after the bigass storm that came thru on Friday afternoon and tore up so many vehicles. I was too busy picking up my stuff to realize just what I was looking at or I would have struck up a conversation. I have long admired Jake's work but didn't recognize the truck. Here's a photo of it then, a reflection in my truck's fender (a photo of one of the bungs it suffered that day). Yeah, the new owner is taking great care of Jake's legacy.
Next time you look at a Pete & Jakes Catalogue, remember that most of those nicely engineered and designed brackets, and suspension pieces, are Jake's handi work. HemiDeuce.
Amen. Oh yeah, Jake's old truck is super bad!! I just decided, I'm painting my buggy that lime gold color. Yep.
I'll second the motion Jeem! Jake has had a huge impact on this Hobby/sport. Just think of what is tub has done. He build kool cars with old Ford parts, what he doesn't have he would build. Then everything was road tested.
Jake is one of the all-time greats- no question. He's a downright nice guy and easily approachable for sure as well. Looks like we had similar up-bringing, to me Americans and Halibrands will always be timeless and cool on anything. I agree the era right before Billet had alot of really bitchin' stuff. Maybe because that's what's seared in my memory banks from early on. Yes, my Dad used to drag me to all those shows and swap meets, most of my 30 something friends don't get it. But it's kinda nice living in my own little world, it's all warm and toasty in here. Thanks, Tim
Well said guys, I'm on the same page as both of you. I treasure all of the 70's and early 80's Hot Rod and Rod&Custom magazines!
What magazine (and month,year) was that recent article on this truck after jake sold it to it's new owner? I wish I had bought it now. It was about a year ago. I think I could get it from Ebay. I was surprised to learn that it has no mufflers-just pipes and two megaphones out back.
I hear ya Jim - one of my favorite eras because it was the one that I grew up in - like we talked about when I was down to see you last month, the 70's (and for me, the 80's as well) don't get enough respect for what was developed then that has allowed any of us to more easily slap these old relics together. I look back at the cars of the era - the obvious start is the Cali Kid and Jake's yellow coupe, but there's also Pete's dad's '27 (which I luckily got to see peeking out from under it's cover at Socal), Jim Ewing's killer track nose Model 40, Thelen's Buffalo cars, P&J builds, P-wood's amazing artistry, Lil' John's everything, and then cars like all of Fat Jack's beaned out rides, Billy Vinther's 3W (and the '32 roadster he built for ?? - can't recall right now), Jake's tub, Limefire, all of the Braga-built asphalt scraping full fender Model A's. This is just a sampling of what I could think of off the top of my head. Great style, great construction, all timeless in their own way and worthy of remembering and emulating. PS - it was great meeting you at the shop! Steve
Jake's always been such someone that I enjoyed reading in Rod & Custom, both as a writer and a hotrodder who built and designed. Form and function. His yellow coupe is timeless. QC, nailhead and truck grill. Man knows his stuff and is still at it.
That truck is one of my faves as well,but it didn’t start out like that. Most of the truck had been changed over the course of the mid 60’s to 1978. The chassis that is under this version is the 1976-77 P&J display chassis. I had a nearly identical one under my 30A bone chopped closed cab. What most people don’t remember is that before the reframe, This truck did double duty as a rdstr p/u as well. There was also a Jakemade Camper on the back with a canopy that effectively covered the cab area. He even made a wood tailgate that used to hang in his garage in Temple City. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> The reason for this transformation was to promote their products on the road. Pete & Jakes Hot Rod Repair did not exist when the 34’s were on the cover of R&C. and neither of the cars used what would become P&J components, The Kid was doing time in Chris Carrier’s hands since 74 and that had early style drivetrain/steering components. A variation of what Jake used was eventually refined and became what the company ended up being. <o></o> You really have to look because Jakes car had a Bell Auto dropped tube axle drum brakes up front and BLC headlites. It did have a Vega box and initially the nailhead from when Jake got the Neikamp from D. Brink. They were selling Super bell axles and brake kits,so in around 1981 his car got the ETIII’s and the real wheels. The chevy went in a lil before that? <o></o> When the kid came home in 1981,it got a total rebuild in its chassis dept. 9’Ford,Super Bell front axle 4 Bar and all. It ended up with Paris Fish wheels and got the rake that I think set the tone for even still many years to come. It sat pretty high when it was in the movie. Too bad Jerry had to mess with the wheels by adding the Hali's and over narrowing thre 9". <o></o> Back to the truck. It was cutting edge in 1978 and was squirted at Don Thelan's, not sure if it still had it’s Martinez interior, but when Ken Kennedy bought it in 1988 it had small pleats on its seat similar to what it had in the 60’s. This truck was brand new and drove like it. They drove it to the nats and around here every now and then. One thing here,When Jake takes a liking to a car he does drive it. This one was uncomfortable, I once asked him why it was the only car he ever sold up to that point and the reason mentioned above is what I was told. Ken really dug the truck and it was sold in 1988. <o></o> Jake had the 33 Tudor that Patty drove and later the Postal Truck he swapped to Tony Piner for the Tub Body. The 28 panel was already taken apart and it jag suspended rear chassis was sold to a friend and a new chassis was built for it using P&J’s parts as well As many Jaked fabbed pieces. <o></o> I don’t think anybody ever got the look down quite like that 1978 version, but I remember it well.J
The Jalopy Journal
