Keith Moon drove a Ford T-Bucket Roadster!

Hot Rods and Rock n’ Roll are two of the greatest and best inventions of the 20th century. They seem to be welded like two sides of the same coin! I guess since they were both practically invented by wayward American kids as statements of self-expression, they have to come together magnetically! But not all great music and cool cars are American. The British have given us plenty of both. In particular, I’ve always been attracted to the music of “Who”. Most people think of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey when the group is mentioned. Me, I think back to the early days and The Who’s first drummer, Keith Moon. Now most people know that he was a bit of a wild man. What most people don’t know is that he liked cars too. Not just any car either! Keith Moon drove a Ford T-bucket roadster! This is the story of Keith and his cool, anti-American hot rod.

So what is a T-cube? Well, the T-bucket roadster is a hot rod built from a Ford Model T production car (or Model T replicas). That’s right, these wonderful hot rods are modified, customized, and customized versions of Henry’s mass-produced car; became famous for being an affordable car that Mr. Ford made in any color you wanted, as long as that color was black!

But as I mentioned at the beginning, this article is about a specific guy and his specific car, so let me continue with the story as it was told to me. In the early days of The Who, not all the music they recorded was original. Like most early bands, they covered other people’s material and put their own unique spin on it. Well, someone thought it would be a good idea if the Who did a cover of a Jan and Dean song called “Bucket T.” This song has been covered by at least three groups that I know of. Frankly, The Who’s version is the ultimate in listenability as far as I’m concerned. Which just goes to show that not all creative ideas should see the light of day. As an added touch, to really ensure the limited success of this version, Keith took a rare turn as lead singer! Ringo Starr eats the heart!

I can only assume that Keith actually took this photo in the spotlight a bit seriously. He ended up deciding that he needed the car to accompany the song. In true wild fashion, Moon found a finished car (built by legendary British hot rodder, Mickey Bray) and purchased it to add to his existing lineup of vehicles. The only fly in the ointment was that Keith was no longer in possession of a valid driver’s license due to bad boy antics on his part! Basically at the same time, Keith was also doing his own version of Sammy Hagar singing “I can’t drive 55!”. So there you have it! That’s how Moon got the T-cube from him.

So what about the car? Like I said, this was a built car. Bray, who was a heavyweight on the British hot rod scene and who was also later one of the founders of the UK’s National Street Rod Association, originally built this fiberglass bodied T-bucket with a small Daimler Hemi V8. I’ve seen “before” photos painted red with white pins and a white rag blouse. The car received a makeover at some point. Its engine was swapped out for a 273-cubic-inch Mopar mill and then given a psychedelic paint job. It was in this finished state that the legendary drummer made it. Oh yes… yes, it was right-hand drive!

This story just goes to show that not all historically significant hot rods were built on American soil by good Yankee ingenuity. Truth be told, the craze for building T-cubes developed almost simultaneously in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia/New Zealand. Rockers from all sides of the “pond” have been bitten by the bug of having a single radical wrinkle to complement their radical lifestyles.

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