Lil' John Buttera Passed away this morning

In the end we are a family and it hurts to lose a family member, Rest in Peace.

 

Buttera was a Fabrication God...Buttera was perhaps the last hot rodder to go to Indy...something that used to be a tradition especially here in the Midwest. A huge loss; my thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to his family and friends.

 

R.I.P John

 

Sorry for the length - but Buttera accomplished a lot. Here's the obit I worte for the Goodguys:

Race car and street rod builder “Lil’ John” Buttera has died. He passed away in Southern California this morning due to complications from a brain tumor. He was 67.

No matter what Buttera built, it set trends, dating back to the dragsters, funny cars and Pro Stock machines he built in the 60s and 70s. He built funny cars for the biggest names in the sport during the halcyon days of drag racing including Don Prudhomme, Don Schumacher – the list goes on and on. The race cars Buttera built represented a sea change in the 1970s Funny Car class, much in the way Kent Fuller’s “Greer, Black & Prudhomme” dragster changed the approach to dragster building in the early 1960s. Characteristics of a Buttera Funny car included simplicity, elegance in design, and a low slung wicked stance. They were also much easier to work on than earlier models. The cockpit area laid the driver’s way back in the seat, sometimes making it hard for them to see but the aerodynamic advantage outweighed any driver’s complaints. His funny cars not only looked amazing, they won championships too. He also set the standard in the NHRA Pro Stock class. The Pro Stock machine he built for longtime client Barry Setzer in the mid 1970s featured removable panels all around with a chrome molly tube chassis – a build style still implemented today. Prior to that car – Pro Stocker’s were mostly factory stock unibody machines.

Buttera turned his sights to street rods in 1974 building a 1926 Tall T Ford – the first in a long series of influential hot rods. The 26 T sedan, his white ’29 roadster, John Corno’s ’32 roadster that won the 1980 Oakland America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, and a ’33 Willy’s model 77 for Mr. Gasket’s Joe Hrudka (wheels machined out of solid chucks of aluminum, naturally) were just some of his influential and mouth watering hot rods. His subtle craftsmanship and superior engineering skills again set his cars above all others. He is credited as being the first to whittle street rod, race car and motorcycle parts from solid chunks of billet aluminum. He also drove his rods, sometimes long distances in the 1970s and 1980s alongside his friendly rival from Northern California Andy Brizio. The late Gray Baskerville once asked Buttera how he could make a rear view mirror out of a solid block of aluminum to which Buttera tersely replied…”That’s easy – just cut away everything that doesn’t look like a rear view mirror.”

Content to let others have the spotlight and build on the platforms he pioneered in street rodding and racing, Buttera focused his attention in other avenues during the later half of the 1980s through and the 1990s and into the new millennium. He designed cutting edge parts and components for many companies during this time, working with the likes of the Edelbrock Corporation, Harley Davidson, Bon Speed and others. He became well known in the custom motorcycle scene building several “smoothie” style V-Twin bikes.

In 2004, he returned to what he loved best, building street rods and driving them across country. He scratch built a little polished aluminum lakes modified roadster in his Los Alamitos, California garage and drove it to Indianapolis to the Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals in June of 2005 where he was honored as a Goodguys “Hot Rod Hero.” While not a warm and fuzzy guy at all, you could visibly see how happy that trip made him and he got a chance to hang out with many old friends along the way.

One of Buttera’s many racing peers was Tom Hanna – a talented and well respected metal fabricator and former top fuel drag racer. “Buttera’s inspiration for me was immense,” said Hanna. “This guy would take it a step beyond your wildest creative imagination. He could leave you feeling pretty inadequate. I remember going to SEMA one year and John had built a motorcycle that was on display. It blew me away. I’m not a motorcycle guy at all – but this bike left such an indelible impression on me, that years later when I built a dragster for the Reunion Cacklefests, I plagiarized the spirit of that first bike John built. He was amazing. You could conjure up your best project, execute it to perfection, then see something John built and it would make you want to throw your deal in the scrap yard. He was an absolute artist. If Kent Fuller is the Leonardo of the wheel, John may well have been the Michelangelo”

Perhaps the highlight of John’s legacy was his Indy car involvement. Hanna remembers it this way. “John had participated in one of those soap pyramid schemes that blew through drag racing and unlike most of the chumps, he got lucky and wound up with enough of a nest egg to try the Indy 500 on the cheap. Most of us would have given it up as a passing dream far beyond our reach. But not John, he was hell bent to try the impossible. With several volunteers (including Steve Leach) he picked up a used Eagle tub from Dan Gurney, built an engine with help from Bruce Crower and thrashed the thing together working around the clock in his two car garage. In the process he amazed the Gurney camp with what he had done to improve their product, qualified eighth the first time he ever set foot on Indy’s hallowed ground and all of this with a driver nobody else wanted. He so impressed the Champ Car establishment with what a bunch of broke drag racers had achieved, that he was awarded the first-ever Clint Brawner Trophy for technical achievement. That award resides today in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. Back before Indy racing was spec. series, you could actually build you own components, engines, modify the chassis and aero package. You know - be creative. Few share John’s level of pure artistic and technical creativity.”

When asked recently about Buttera’s contribution to the street rod world, STREET RODDER Magazine’s Brian Brennan simply shook his head and said, “He was the first true craftsman in the street rod industry, the pre-eminent car builder of his era, perhaps any era.”

Long divorced, never remarried, Buttera is survived by his son Chris, daughter Leigh, son in law Ronnie Capps, granddaughter Katie and grandson Max.

 

RIP ...

He was a great fabricator and rodder.

No TV shows, No Drama, No entourage ...
Just a great guy doing what I wish I could do 1/3 of ...

He will be missed.

 

As we all get older, and we are!!!...our hot rod heros have also reached that time of life when shit ain't so good! All of these icons have shaped more than just metal. They have shaped the way each and every one of us look at hot rods, customs and race cars. Like it our not Billet stuff can be pinned directly to Lil' John (and Boyd). Many of the build trends, some of which many of you truly dislike, can be attributed to John Buttera (and Boyd).

I truly hope that our hobby doesn't lose any more Heros for a while.

To Lil' Johns family and freinds I wish only the best for them in this tuff time .

As far as John is concerned, I wish I could thank him personally for the years of staring longingly at the vehicles he's built and yes for influencing me to build a billet laden 37 Chevy back in 87.

Rest in Peace Lil' John Buttera

 

Wow...incredible that car enthusiats are losing so many icons. I'll never forget his great influence on my interest many years ago. RIP Lil' ... your struggle on this earth is over.

 

RIP... Lil John

 

WOW.

One of my major inspirations of the craft.

Brilliant workmanship, brilliant hands.

LOVED his "Ferrari" inspired custom motorcycle - I'll try to find pics if you've never seen it.

Peace and Rest

dv

 

Q: How did you make that mirror?
A: I took a chunk of aluminum and cut off everything that didn't look like a mirror....

R.I.P. John,thanks for everything you taught us.

 

Man, that is too bad and definitely a sad week. That guy even just looks hot rod.

I am with Ryan, I love the late 60's-early 70's funny cars. Those cars are COOL, way cool, and they were fun and kick ass at the some time and great to look at too.

 

Thank You LiL John RIP
FEDER

 

Best wishes to the Buttera family.

 

RIP Lil' John.

 

Via con Dios, Lil' John. Godspeed.

I hope that his family can take some comfort knowing that his mark will be lasting. He is admired by many who knew him, and many more who have only seen and heard of his life's work.

 

very sad RIP John.

 

Huge loss! He will be missed. His future projects will not be build for us to see, so we can't learn from them. Lil' John was the greatest in my opinion. My heart goes out to his family.

 

Damn...I knew it was coming but its still a tough pill to swallow.
Sooooo much respect for him...so much.

"Content to let others have the spotlight and build on the platforms he pioneered in street rodding and racing,"

THAT says it all. How cool is it to have NOTHING to prove...because you've already moved beyond that point anyway?
We lost a big one today.
Man...I'm bummed out now...but he's in a kinder place.

RIP Lil John...although I doubt you'll rest if given a choice...

 

sorry to hear the bad news, tough shoes to fill.

 

I remember reading in one of the magazines an interview and JB was asked about a mirror that was machined out of a single piece of billet aluminum. " I cut away anything that didn't look like a mirror". Brilliant. From then on he could do no wrong, in my opinion.

 

Sorry to hear this, he changed the way I look at cars.

 

holy s#%&
R.I.P. lil john

 

We are shaped by the times we grow up in and by the people we meet along the way.
Once you get to a certain age those people begin to pass quickly. As they pass, they pass "the torch" to us.
While the torch may not be as bright, we must not forget to keep it lit so we can pass it on to those who follow us.

Teach a young person something.

R.I.P. John

 

DAmn another big blow....

 

Two guys this week that raised the bar on how we want our builds to look, billet or not.
RIP Lil' John.

 

I met John Buttera for the first time at Great Lakes Dragway in the early 70's; which is not too far from the shop in which he developed his art partnering with Dennis Rollain at R&B Chassis Company in Kenosha, WI.

He was the qintessential fabricator. Buterrra personified upgrading a craft to individual expression - as kinetic art!

Besides that - as expressed here by others - he was a helluva guy.

We are lessend by his passing. Godspeed John.

 

Words never suffice.

R.I.P.

 

Rats!This is getting beyond a joke now!!Godspeed L'il and all the other good ol' boys.Is time passing quicker this century or what?