"Fat Jack" Robinson Passed Away...

[monkeyswrench]

Some of you other car guys may recognize the name. He was a bad ass, stubborn, loud mouth, ill tempered...and talented guy. He built some really cool stuff, like a 48 Ford coupe that ran in the 9's...in the 80's. His health had not been the greatest for a bit, and I had not seen him in a couple years. I'll miss seeing him at the LA Roadster Show. I'll miss talking shit with him about anything with wheels. I'll miss seeing what cool stuff he builds. I'm sad to see him go, but hope he's feeling better where he is...if that makes any sense

...2020 sucks!

 

[BUDMAN]

RIP Fat Jack.

 

[Laguna]

Been a rough year first we lost Donald "Butch" Lynch now Fat Jack. The two of them will be telling stories together now.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Been a rough year first we lost Donald "Butch" Lynch now Fat Jack. The two of them will be telling stories together now.

I thought of that too, somewhere there's a loud hot rod get together.
Butch was a hell of a painter, and a hell of a nice guy.
Between this, and hearing Eric passed...thinking todays a pretty F'd day.
Really over 2020...

 

[old rigger]

RIP.
We were at Fremont when they crashed the ‘48.
Skinny John, his son, is local and has a shop in Hawaiian Gardens and a friend of a friend of mine works for Skinny.

Fat Jack was a character for sure and the era of he and Moreland both competing for the worlds fastest street rod was awesome. Got to see both cars run several times.

 

[monkeyswrench]

RIP.
We were at Fremont when they crashed the ‘48.
Skinny John, his son, is local and has a shop in Hawaiian Gardens and a friend of a friend of mine works for Skinny.

Fat Jack was a character for sure and the era of he and Moreland both competing for the worlds fastest street rod was awesome. Got to see both cars run several times.

The coupe had been gone before I was going to shows, but knew it from Hot Rod. The car was a legend amongst the guys my age that were into early cars. Door slammers doing good numbers were around in the mid 90s, but still not common. The idea of a pre 1950 ride doing it...stuff of dreams for guys like me.

John "Johnny Rotten" is a hell of a builder in his own right. He built bitchin C10's before it was the thing. The guy I do the work for in San Dimas owns his green 35 pickup. It is a show piece. It sits locked away in a garage, "safe"...kind of sad really. Too nice for no one to see.

 

[Swordfish]

Very sad to hear. I was there for that crash as well. Great memories of that car, Moorlands 40 Ford and the yellow the Hot Rod Willys that also flipped. We were racing an orange 41 Willys 4 door sedan and still cruise it today. RIP

 

[bonesfab]

Remember that car from many years ago. Bad ass. Cole cutlers boss powered 34 coupe also. Rip fat Jack.

 

[Rajobigguy]

We've lost a few of the Icons recently and that's sad but it is a reality that we all face as we get older and more and more of the legends pass.

 

[monkeyswrench]

We've lost a few of the Icons recently and that's sad but it is a reality that we all face as we get older and more and more of the legends pass.

Of all things, a line from an Indiana Jones move comes to mind. "We reach a point in our lives where God stops giving us things, and starts to take them away".

I've been very fortunate in the world of cars. Not in what I've owned, but who I met and what I was able to learn from some of them. When I was 14, I met Don Blair. Thin old guy, owned the local machine shop. He was a legend by the time my Pops had a license. Didn't know that for a few years. Just a neat old guy, was willing to answer questions if you had them. I met metal shapers and old lakes racers, all of them were willing to share information if someone would ask. I got to meet Wally Parks...years after seeing his likeness in trophy cases...he was an actual human.

I think over the years, less and less people asked them things. With a lot of them, they were the last of their "breed".

So, yes, as the years tick by, the shop lights get a little dimmer, and further apart.

 

[poncho]

Some of you other car guys may recognize the name. He was a bad ass, stubborn, loud mouth, ill tempered...and talented guy. He built some really cool stuff, like a 48 Ford coupe that ran in the 9's...in the 80's. His health had not been the greatest for a bit, and I had not seen him in a couple years. I'll miss seeing him at the LA Roadster Show. I'll miss talking shit with him about anything with wheels. I'll miss seeing what cool stuff he builds. I'm sad to see him go, but hope he's feeling better where he is...if that makes any sense

...2020 sucks!

I read Hot Rod 20 times an issue back then , knew of him because of that coupe...RIP.

 

[old rigger]

Remember that car from many years ago. Bad ass. Cole cutlers boss powered 34 coupe also. Rip fat Jack.
[/QUOTE]

Damn, I forgot all about Cutlers '34. Didn't he wad that car up too?

That was a fun era to go to the vintage/nostalgic drags.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Remember that car from many years ago. Bad ass. Cole cutlers boss powered 34 coupe also. Rip fat Jack.

Damn, I forgot all about Cutlers '34. Didn't he wad that car up too?

That was a fun era to go to the vintage/nostalgic drags.
[/QUOTE]
The Cutler car got wadded up twice...maybe both at Fremont? The story was it was put away for when his son after the last guardrail.

Don't know what happened after that. His son would be my age or older. I hope he still has it, but damn, hell of a barn find for someone!

 

[RedStingray]

Fat Jack was a one of a kind that I doubt will pass this way, again. I owned this ‘47 Fat-Fendered, Ford originally made by Fat Jack around 2004-2005. Had him update it some years later. One thing consistent about him, whether it was a complete car or anything else he ever touched was a predictably excellent result. One humorous experience I had with the “cantankerous one” was when I asked him to sign my car’s glove box door (a’la Carroll Shelby). As best I can recall, he asked “Why the F*#k would I want to do that”? To which I replied “Because it authenticates the car and because I said please”. He looked at me in a way I can best describe as doubtful, but, to my surprise, he held out his hand and asked if I had something to write with. I gave him a Sharpie and watched as my car became the only Fat Jack car ever autographed by this automotive genius. His entire family and those who knew him have lost an irreplaceable treasure. I was glad to hear his legacy lives on with the work his son John is doing under the name Fat Jack & Sons.

I thought of that too, somewhere there's a loud hot rod get together.
Butch was a hell of a painter, and a hell of a nice guy.
Between this, and hearing Eric passed...thinking todays a pretty F'd day.
Really over 2020...

 

[Ducksquasher]

RIP