The heavy-set crew cut-wearing Grabowski appeared in minor roles in many films produced by Albert Zugsmith and Walt Disney.

With a powerful Cadillac overhead valve engine that came from his parents' sedan, the vehicle that resulted had a unique appearance and stance, which inspired many hot rods created afterward.

[5] Grabowski's hugely influential T-bucket hot rod, which became known as the Kookie Kar, was used in the television show 77 Sunset Strip.

He appeared in television shows, including The Monkees, Batman (episodes 39 and 40 in 1966), The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and The New Phil Silvers Show, and films such as High School Confidential (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), The Big Operator (1959), Girls Town (1959), College Confidential (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), Roustabout (1964), Girl Happy (1965), The Monkey's Uncle (1965), Out of Sight (1966), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), The Towering Inferno (1974), Hooper (1978) and The Cannonball Run (1981).

Grabowski was known as a wood carver, and many hot rods and custom cars feature his unique hand-carved skull gearshift knobs.