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Norm Grabowski Comes to Motorburg

3 April 2010 1,458 views 7 Comments

Norm Grabowski,

One of a Kind!

Special to Motorburg

By Kerry Peterson

Here’s a little quiz for you, see if you can answer any of the following.

Norm Grabowski is:

A. The car builder famous for starting the T-Bucket craze that began in the late fifties.

B. An actor with over 45 film and television credits.

C. The guy who lost by a nose when his T-bucket raced Tommy Ivo’s.

D. The guy who can explain to you that Ivo’s T was hauling a lot less weight during the race.

E. Famous for carving shifter skulls and other cool woodworking projects.

F. An all around genuine guy and honorary Motorburg citizen.

If you selected any of the choices you receive partial credit and will learn a few things by reading this article. If you selected all of the above then you should keep reading to add a bit more to your Norm knowledge.

An innovator and his creation, Norm and "The Kookie Car".

Above is Norm’s most famous creation, the T-bucket hotrod called “The Kookie Car”. In addition to coverage in numerous publications dating back to 1955, it was a regular on the television series 77 Sunset Strip. Renting his car to entertainment studios provided an “in” for Norm. Soon he was being paid to drive his car in front of the cameras. From there it was not surprising that he graduated into speaking roles. While this was going on Norm was also busy building numerous custom cars and motorcycles.

Norm and his Hennway. No, your uncle did not have one just like it.

Norm built two Corvair powered motorcycles. Neither was just for show - he rode both bikes for years.

You can see that Norm is very serious on the set. Here he's getting some professional advice from Burt Reynolds, or perhaps the Director has just called for "LUNCH".

While a series of successful vehicle builds and acting might keep most people completely busy, Norm added one more creative skill to his capabilities. He is an accomplished wood worker. Known by most for his unique hand carved shifter skulls, Norm also has an impressive resume of larger wooden art including rocking horses, canes and tables just to name a few of the various objects he has created. One of his newest projects began with shifter skulls but did not end there. Starting with Sycamore, African Wenge, red cutlery, driftwood and a bit of aluminum, Norm fashioned a sculpture that includes 13 functioning shifter skulls. This project was the idea of one of Norm’s fans, who soon became a valued friend. Early in 2007 Norm was quizzing about doing something different from all of his previous skull projects. For many years Norm has carved skulls that function as gearshift knobs. Most are so special that their owners do not use them for the intended purpose. Instead these skulls find their way onto custom bases that Norm also creates. A fan of Norm’s work had the idea to “SUPERSIZE” the whole concept. In the end Norm delivered a single sculpture that includes a base, an interim support and thirteen unique shifter skulls. The project was dubbed “Kevin’s Choir” (after the artwork’s owner).

Here's Norm with the art piece. Kevin's choir is not just a table display, all of the skulls can be removed and used as shift knobs.

Following Norm through a typical day, a forty year old might run out of energy. Age does not hold him back. He is still building vehicles, attending shows and carving art that could come from nowhere but his unique imagination. You can see more at his Norm’s News website and stayed tuned to Motorburg for more on our good buddy’s latest exploits.

The original Kookie Car is long gone but Norm still keeps a lot of blue in his stable. That's "Kookie II" and its matching transporter.

A few words about the author: Kerry Peterson is the Domain Keeper at Norm’s website. He’s not just words and pictures though, he and his wife Cheryl are “all about cars”. They’re currently building a ’32 roadster with Norm. In addition to the ’32 they have about a dozen other cars ranging from parts and pieces to a retired SCCA Viper.

ere’s a little quiz for you, see if you can answer any of the following.

Norm Grabowski is:

A. The car builder famous for starting the T Bucket craze that began in the late fifties.

B. An actor with over 45 film and television credits.

C. The guy who lost by a nose when his T-bucket raced Tommy Ivo’s.

D. The guy who can explain to you that Ivo’s T was hauling a lot less weight during the race.

E. Famous for carving shifter skulls and other cool woodworking projects.

F. An all around genuine guy and honorary Motorburg citizen.

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7 Comments »

RunawayChair said:

Man-O-Man! Norm Grabowski here on Motorburg. Thanks Uncle Charlie. I’ve been reading about Norm since, like, my first Hot Rod mag when I was nine or ten (thanks to my Uncle Jack and his ‘68 GTO). Norm and Gray were pretty good friends, too, if I remember reading …

# 9 March 2010 at 1:55 am

Weaverville Studios said:

Welcome aboard Norm. It is a true honor to have an original pioneering Hot Rodder here with us. Thanks for joining up! -Mark

# 9 March 2010 at 2:02 pm

Ger Peters said:

How cool is that!

# 9 March 2010 at 10:46 pm

Lemorris said:

awesome! great stuff!

# 12 March 2010 at 4:33 am

Todd Jones said:

Welcome to Motorburg, Norm! So glad to have you on board here at motorburg! Been a long time fan! I acutally met you on the elevator at the Hotel across the street from Cobo Hall last year….I of course was dumbfounded and speechless all at the same time. Very cool to have a legendary guy such as yourself among us! Again, welcome!

# 16 March 2010 at 7:26 pm

Bob Robertson said:

Charlie, I’m some what surprised you haven’t put old Normy-Po in your web site before. No one has done a better caricature logo image then you drew. You have sure changed the web site format since I was logged on. It’s always been a class act web site.
Bob,

# 19 March 2010 at 12:08 am