MoreThis was the other car I was thinking of when I was saying Skulls on Hot Rods are very traditional (see my previous post entitled Hot Rods, Skulls & Arse Holes), not just a Rat Rod fad. This is Ed Iskenderian's (yeah the camshaft company owner) '23 T-Roadster. Note the Flying Skull ornament on the grill! This Skull was cast at Manual Arts High in the late 1930's! This car was on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in 1948 (tho without the skull ornament). Skulls are VERY Traditional Hot Rod. Nuff said.
Recently I got into a friendly discussion/argument with a "Traditional Hot Rodder" who said he hated all the "Spiders" and "Skulls" that the "Rat Rodders" placed on their rides. He said they were stupid and not "Traditional" at all. I said that Skulls etc. were around since the beginning of the hobby, but could not remember the car(s) I had seen such on to make my point(s). Well here it is! Norm Grabowski's Kookie Kar...note the Bleeding Skull Shifter! This was a fifties T-Bucket build that was featured in Life Magazine and garnered serious national attention, including the covers of Hot Rod and Car Craft Magazines. It was also regularly seen in the TV Show 77 Sunset Strip. Norm has been making Skull Shift knobs since forever and they are on hundreds of cars and trucks. I realize that opinions are like arse holes, but don't be an arse hole about other peoples rides, especially if you don't know the historical facts.
