BARRIS KUSTOM CITY BLOG

THE RIK HOVING FILES: Hot Rod Show Give Away Cadillac

2011-04-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

For the 5th Hot Rod show held in the Los Angeles National Guard Armory April 24-27 1952 the show organisers planned to have a wonderful custom car created to be given away as door price.

This announcement for the Give Away Caddy at the Hot Rod Show was made in the newspapers in Los Angeles. The car was still in primer when the photo for the announcement was made.

In previous years the show promoters had given away a 32 Ford Roadster, and some Sports cars. For 1952 it was going to be a Custom Car. Several manu factors where contacted to construct this Custom. The Barris Shop was chosen to create the overall design and to do the body work, and all other custom work needed. The Carson Top Shop was responsible for its interior and the wonderful removable Top with wrap around rear windows. The engine was hopped up by Eddie Edmunds.

This never before published photo of the fresh primered Cadillac was recently discovered in the Barris Archives by Mad Fabricators Piero. The slightly warn photo shows that the car was completely assembled and driven while in primer. A common practice to find any problems before the car was going to be painted and completely finished.

The car was featured in a three page article in the December 1952 issue of Hop Up magazine. But in this article there was no mentioning of the new lucky owner of the car. It seams that the new owner was not into showing the car at other shows, or be part of any publicity after the show.

A few photos of the car where used in some Barris How To magazine articles, showing the grille and rear fender scoops.

The three page article in December 1952 Hop Magazine shows the car in its final gloss paint. Barris named the pale gold color “Golden Fog”

The show promoters delivered the 1949 Cadillac (just a few years old then) in early 1952 at the Barris Shop. Barris designed this custom to be an elegant, high class custom.

The windshield was chopped 2,5 inches. A new grille was created from using a second 1949 Caddy grille turned upside down and welded to the original piece. This new unit was smoothed and chromed. The floating grille bar had ends made of 37 Chevy headlight buckets and three grille bars where used from a 1951 Ford Pick Up Truck, and everything was beautifully chromed. A new front splash pan was created and molded on to the front of the body. The New front bumper was made out of 1951 Cadillac bumper components with integrated dagmars. The bumper was split in two and the center was now filled with a molded in custom made splash pan. 1951 Ford grille rings and custom made inserts where used for the air intakes below the frenched Caddy headlights. The chrome was removed from the hood and was also peaked in the process.

This unique photo of the car at the LA Hot Rod show in 1952 was made by photographer Loomis Dean for Life Magazine. It shows the custom grille and surround. And also the smooth Cadillac bumper ends. The car would later get a license plate frame on the splash pan.

The door and trunk handles where removed and electrical openers installed. A custom made rear fender air intake - to cool the rear brakes - was created using the rock shield of a 1949 Cadillac Fleetwood. The car was lowered, but not as much as many other Barris creations. Just enough to make the long Cadillac body look even longer. Swanson supplied the needed components for this job.

Another Life Magazine photo shows how long this custom is. The long hood and lowered top give the car excellent proportions. The Barris team have created a very elegant timeless custom for the show. The crowd stands beside the car dreaming how wonderful it would be to win the door price and drive away in it.

When all the body work was done the car was primered and assembled. Then it was time to deliver the Caddy to the Carson Top Shop for a full custom interior in red and black leather. Carson also made a unique wrap around rear window removable Hard Top for the Cadillac. The top was not off white as most of the Carson tops where, but for this car they choose black leather as the cover material. When Carson was ready with the upholstery part the car was driven around for some time to find all the bugs. Then everything was pulled apart again and Barris prepared it for a very classy pale gold paint job with extra gold powder. Barris named the color “Golden Fog”

Unfortunately we have never been able to locate a color photo of this car to show you how gorgeous it must have looked.

1952 Hot Rod and Motor Sports Show program cover shows the Cadillac on the cover in yellow. But that was just to mimic the Golden paint. Paint techniques and high cost prevented from reproducing the color correctly on the program.

One thing that was found recently, are pages of a Barris scrapbook showing this Custom Cadillac. George kept scrapbooks from all the Barris Cars that made the magazines, show programs, posters etc. This Give away Cadillac got quite a bit of publicity before the 1952 Show. But after the show it disappeared.. What happened to this car? The only thing we where able to find out about the winner is a small article in the Motor Sports World News paper, when the winner Lawrence Kilty was concratulated.

But has this very nice custom survived, d oes it still sit in a garage somewhere, what’s the story after the show. If you know more, please let us know.

The may 1952 Issue of Motor Sports World had this small announcement in it. The Winner Lawrence Kilty from Hollywood is the lucky winner of this Barris Customs. He drove it away that evening... but where to?

Below is some material George collected in his scrapbook about the car. Some unique material, recently discovered by Piero at the Barris Archives.

The Aztec and Bank Robber "One Eye" Bobby Wilcoxson!

2011-01-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

We got this forward to us from Pat Ganhal and its quite and interesting story about the
fate of the Aztec. It from the www.alnussbaum.com site.

Link to Story THE AZTEC and "ONE EYE" Bobby Wilcoxson!

"One Eye" Bobby Wilcoxson liked fast women, fast race horses and fast cars. With proceeds from one of his bank heists, Wilcoxson bought one of the most famous hot rod's ever customized: The Aztec. A 1955 Chevy, the Aztec was many things but fast one not one of them.

William "Bill" Carr, an insurance company adjuster from Hollywood, California by way of West Virginia, moonlighted as a hot rod customizer in the 1950's. Carr worked nights in a shop owned by George Barris, the legendary hot rodder and famous creator of the original TV Batmobile, the Munster's Coach, and the Black Beauty from the Green Hornet, just to name a few.

Carr bought a brand new 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air and customized it. The Aztec appeared at a hot rod show in Washington D.C. in June, 1959 where Carr told a Washington Post reporter $20,000 had been spent customizing the Chevrolet Bel Air convertible.

Sometime in 1961 or 1962, Carr sold the Aztec to "Bob Wilcox", one of bank robbing "One-Eye" Bobby Wilcoxson's aliases. Carr was paid some cash and given a new Pontiac. A short time after the deal was done, FBI agents showed up at Carr's house asking questions.

Before it was known publicly Wilcoxson was a wanted man, he left the Aztec for safe keeping in Phoenix, Arizona, in my grandparent's garage. My father, a young auto body and fender repairman and an expert car painter from Salinas, California, visited his parents in Phoenix and looked the car over. I was with my father on that that trip - at the rip old age of two!

"Most of the body was molded from lead so it was a heavy car," Jim Hurley said. "It was so heavy that changing one flat tire required a floor jack lifting the frame behind each wheel well."

Wilcoxson was soon named on the 10 most wanted public enemies and the FBI seized the Aztec from my grandparents garage. As the story goes, the G-men tore the heavy car apart looking for stashed loot, weapons and evidence, according to Wilcoxson's half-brother, Jim Hurley.

The Aztec was next auctioned to a man in New Jersey who modified the original customizing, and sold it. The FBI eventually seized the car again when one of its subsequent owners was caught transporting illegal drugs. Thus, the "Curse of The Aztec" was born.

The car sat rotting away in a New Jersey junkyard. Barry Mazza, a hot rod man now living in Florida, acquired the corpse of the Aztec in 1991, barely saving the classic's remains from the jaws of a car crusher.

Today, thanks to Mazza's tender loving care, The Aztec is restored to its original customized glory. The popular car appears periodically at hot rod shows around the country.

Coming Soon! Barris Kustom City By Morgan & Phillips Vintage Style Tees

2011-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Were proud to announce our new line of Barris vintage tee shirts. This vintage line will include some of the great Barris's designs from the 50's 60's and 70's straight from the Barris collection.

We teamed up with MORGAN & PHILLIPS who is doing all the recreation of the designs, printing, marketing and all that is entailed in the production of a clothing line! We thanks them and look forward to all that will come of this.. So stay tuned for more!

New Barris Kustom City by M&P will be available late January-Early February at M&P dealers and online at www.barriskustomcity.com & www.morganandphillips.net

ORIGINAL BARRIS KUSTOM CITY LYNWOOD TEE

ORIGINAL ALA KART WINNER TEE

ORIGINAL BARRIS BATH TUB TEE

The Art Of George Barris Book in the works!

2011-01-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Brett Barris and Doug Nason has been hard at work for the past 2 years on a new book "King Of The Kustoms - The Art Of George Barris" that is published by Last Gasp who also did "The Art of Von Dutch" and "The Art Of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth". We here at Barris Kustom City have been digging through George's archives to bring you rare and never before seen images of the many Cars, Toys, Bikes and every thing else that George did in his life time as the King of Kustomizers. Look out for the book later this year!

PROMOTIONAL RELEASE:
KING OF THE KUSTOMIZERS: THE ART OF GEORGE BARRIS

By Brett Barris and Douglas Nason

Published by Last Gasp (The Art of Von Dutch/ The Art of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth)Release date – Fall 2011

“King of the Kustomizers” is the sobriquet given to George Barris, the most phenomenal kustom car builder ever. His contributions to American car culture include
creating some of the best known cars of the 20^th Century, like the original TV Batmobile and Munsters Koach, as well as made-to-order vehicles for movies, TV, corporate sponsors and the private use of the rich and famous. A multimedia artist in his own right whose designs have embraced toys, model kits, mini-bikes, motor homes and motorized surfboards, Barris has also enjoyed success as a photographic chronicler of celebrity and pop culture over decades, capturing the car-crazed zeitgeist of his times as it carried him to the crest of fame itself.
The definitive work on a legend, “King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris” features over 200 pages jam-packed with rare, never-before-seen photos, concept drawings and blueprints covering the full spectrum of Barris’ design genius and celebrity lifestyle. Written by an all-star line-up of contributors, the book traces his extraordinary life and trendsetting work within the contextual intersections of art, society and history, while a generous selection of Barris tribute art by a legion of artistic admirers showcases his enduring influence and legacy. Coming soon to a bookstore near you, this is one ride you don’t want to miss!

Lynwood Slide Show With New Fire Pixs

2010-12-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

I put together this slide show for the Fire Party and I thought you guys would get a kick out of it!!

A few weeks ago I was going through some images at the shop when I came across a sheet of film negs.. I noticed one of the shots has a burnt up car in it a closer look and it was the Jag on a trailer... So I took the number on the sheet and went back to the files and looked at the few sheets before and a few after and sure enough there they were.. A bunch of never published images of that horrible day. It felt pretty neat to find these..

The first few minutes are fire shots the rest are just random shots at the lynwood shop...

And feel free to visit barriskustomcity.com we have good stuff for sale

Some Barris Cars Had Bad Luck! Part 4 - The Ala Kart

2010-10-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

The Ala Kart was one of the only cars to survive the Lynwood fire and make it's mark in Kustom history. It was sitting next to the paint booth and just happen to be where the fire stopped. While George felt like it was the end of his career the support from his wife Shirley,
the guys in the shop and the good friends from Northern California like, Blackie who would make the drive down and help George finish the car kept him going! the Ala Kart went on to win the Grand National Roadster Show in 1958 and in 1959 and became the first show car model kit from A.M.T.

In 1960, Owner Richard Peters father demanded him to sell the car so he could focus on the family's agri-business. George had by then made an agreement with AMT to make a model of the car, without involving Peters. In order to rectify the deal, Peters ended up selling the car to AMT for promotional purposes.

AMT bought the Ala Kart in 1961 and the model kit was released late that year. The Ala Kart model kit sold more than 1 million kits the following year.

In a weird twist of faith the Ala Kart in the possession of A.M.T caught fire. In order to make the car more drivable in and out of shows, the Hilborn injectors were swapped for four Stromberg 97 carburetors. In November of 1963, while the Ala-Kart was being driven by AMT's Budd Anderson, an electrical wire shorted out and melted the plastic fuel lines which allowed gasoline from the electric fuel pump to set the engine compartment ablaze doing serious damage to the hood and leaded cowl. The February 1964 issue of Rod & Custom reported the story in an article titled "The End of the Ala-Kart". For the next year, the winner of 2 AMBR awards and over 200 other top trophies was stored in a Detroit garage. After receiving many letters from Ala-Kart fans, AMT sent the Ala-Kart back to Barris' North Hollywood shop for restoration, coinciding with a re-release of the kit, which was chronicled in the September through November 1965 issues of Rod & Custom. At that time Rod & Custom proclaimed it "America’s most popular Hot Rod."

Words: Piero Deluca - Kustomrama.com

If you look to the far right of this picture you can see the cowl of the Ala Kart

What it became

The End Of The Ala Kart

The Rebirth of the Ala Kart

Some Barris Cars Had Bad Luck! Part 3 - George's 1941 Buick

2010-10-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

So the story that George told me about this one is and amusing one..
Apparently they were hanging in Culver City and they saw some cute girls so the approached them
and started talking to them. The girls boyfriends didn't like that they were talking to these Kustom
guys and so a fight broke out and in the mist of it all the cops showed up and arrested George for being
a part of the fight. Well one of his buddy's decided to to hop in George's car a get it out of the area so they wouldn't impound it and sure enough while George is in the holding sell he hears "APB ALL UNITS REPORT TO ACCIDENT INVOLVING 1941 BUICK" George knew right away that it was his!! what a bad night!! So it turns out his buddy was trying to get out of the area quickly and lost control and smashed the diver side.

After the dust settled, George decided he could fix it up and update it at the same time. The damaged 1941 Cadillac grille was replaced by a cut down 1946 Cadillac grille, the large smooth hubcaps were replaced with Cadillac Sombreros.

Some Barris Cars Had Bad Luck! Part 2 - Rod and Custom Dream Truck

2010-10-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

By far one of my favorite Kustom trucks is the The Rod and Custom Dream Truck. It began with a 1950 Chevrolet 1/2 ton truck originally owned by Spencer Murray of Glendale, California. Spence bought the car after he went to work for Hop Up Magazine as he needed another set of wheels in addition to the Von Dutch striped 1954 Chevrolet hardtop that he and his wife shared. The car would eventually be known as "The Dream Truck", and was designed by Lynn Wineland following suggestions from more than 2500 Rod & Custom magazine readers. It all started in Rod & Custom September 1953 where The Dream Truck was presented as a rolling laboratory that readers could help develop.
The "Dream Truck" made its rounds to all the great Kustomizers of the time.. Including Curly Davis of Davis Custom Shop in Burbank, Gene Winfield of Winfield’s Custom Shop in Modesto, Bob Hirohata, Dean Jeffries, Larry Watson, Bob Metz, And of Course Barris Kustoms added quad headlights, scoops to the roof and hood, and front and rear grille openings formed by molding together 1957 Stude baker front pans. After Bob Metz had fit the car with new rear fenders and fins, George Barris painted it bright white with scallops. The car was later painted metallic lime gold with a fresh burgundy red scallop design by Larry Watson.

In 1958 The Dream Truck was nominated as one of 28 "Top Customs of the Year" in Motor Life July 1958. October 21, 1958, on the way to the 4th annual international Motor Sports Show in Des Moines, Iowa, the Dream Truck was Wrecked. The truck that was hauling the Dream Truck blew a tire, causing both pickups to land upside down in the roadside ditch. The car was sent back to California, where George displayed the wrecked version on car shows. Repairs of the truck after the accident was estimated at $3500 plus paint, so the remains were sold. Soon after the truck's near demise, the engine and transmission were sold, and separated from the rest of the car. The wheels and tires were stolen, and the 1956 Chevrolet Corvette steering wheel and assorted dash gauges disposed of.

Info and images from www.kustomrama.com

1950 Chevrolet 1/2 ton truck that had a long road of Kustomizing ahead of it..

Photo provided by Richard "Fuzzy" Fuerholze

First Version

Second Version

Third Version

Forth and Final Version Before the Accident

Then the truck towing the Dream Truck blew a tire and flipped

After the crash George displayed the wrecked remains of the car

After this the the Car was sold off for 1000.00

Bruce Glasscook found the Dream truck in a shed near Stockton, California in 1971. The owner refused to sell it, and it took Bruce 8 years of begging before he was able to buy the car in 1979.
Bruce hired Carl Green and Wesley Jones of Bartlesville, Oklahoma to take on the major job
of restoring smashed up truck. The restoration is top notch and was finished and hit the show circuit and is now part of the Kurt Mc Cormic Collection.

Carl Green and Wesley Jones during the restoration of the Dream Truck.

10:30 AM, October 21, 1979, exactly 21 years after the accident Carl

Green begins laying pearl coats over the white underbase.

Kurt McCormick taking the Dream Truck for a spin in 2002. Photo by Dave Darby

Some Barris Cars Had Bad Luck! Part 1 - Golden Sahara

2010-10-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Doing some research for the book that were working on "The Art of George Barris" I have come across several pictures of Kustoms that George Did that in one way or another have been destroyed yet rebuilt even better! Below are some fine examples of cars that got a little beat up.. It's interesting that its of the most famous cars to come out of the shop that got wrecked..

The Golden Sahara:

I spoke to George about this the other day.. I asked if we have any shots of the Jim Skonzakis 1953 Lincoln before the wreck and he said probably not.. All he did to it was "Nosed" and "Decked" before they laterally left days later for the show up north. On the way home the motor blew on Dan Landon's 49 Chevy, so they decided to flat tow it behind the Lincoln.. at some point it got really foggy and out of no where appeared a flat bed truck!!! As they went under the truck they leaned over and ducked under the dash. After the smoke cleared and the cops came Geroge needed medical attention for some cuts on his face..well they were in the middle of no where and the officer said the only medical help is in the bar down the road..George ended up having to walk a few miles to the bar to find the Local Doctor!! A drunk doctor went ahead and cleaned a bloody faced George Barris.

Jim's 1953 Lincoln and Dan Landons 1949 Chevy
at the Accident Scene Notice the fog...

Photos: Rik Hoving

Dan Landon's 49 Chevy Before the Accident

also got a little beat up..

After allot Cutting the Golden Sahara now a blank canvas

Finished Product - Golden Sahara 1st Version

2nd more Extreme Version

Notice the Light Up Tires

Part 2 Coming Soon..

Today we lost a Legend... RIP Larry Watson

2010-07-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Its a somber day in Kustom history.. Today Larry Watson lost his short fight with brain cancer.

We will always have great memory's with Larry and we know he's up there hanging with the rest of fellas keeping an eye on us... Larry you will be greatly missed..

Excerpt of one of Larry's great stories from the Barris Photography DVD

NEW BARRIS KUSTOM CITY NEWSLETTER!! Join Our Mailing List!!

2010-07-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

Just Found.. 8 New shots of the Barris Fire!

2010-06-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

I found these a few months ago at the shop and finally had the chance to scan them..

Pretty crazy seeing other shots of carnage that was once the head quarters for some of the best custom ever built. George had no insurance and he told me that out of all the cars that were lost only one guy tried to sue him.. The judge gave it to George said it was a act of God!!

This First shot you see is what looks like Archie Moore's 1954 Jaguar, A Cadillac and the back of the Wild Kat.. also the rear of a 40 Truck

Heres a step back shot... Chopped 40 ford truck

And from the front of the door

Out the back I believe Jane Mansfields Jag and the Wild Kat all gone...

And the Pole that started it all..

The to the Shop Bays you see Ron Guidry's 1936 Ford and an Unknown what

would of been an amazing Kustom..

The Shop bays with the doors closed

The shop doors open we find a 32 3 window that I never seen in any pix of another Jag
and to the far right you see what is the leaded Cowl of the AlaKat. George said it stopped at the paint booth and it sure did..

Thats all I found for now... I'll have other neat stuff to post soon..

See More Cool images Here:http://barriskustomcity.myshopify.com/pages/images

FUZZY'S CORNER: Some Shots From Back Then..

2010-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

These are photos taken back in 1957 or around there when I first met George and his brother. We been good friends till this day, and a person couldn't have a better friend in the world then George and his family.

Click the read more button:

Hey here some old Barris Cars at the 1962 Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana!

Now, What I don't get is how a 39 year old person gets himself into a 50 year old photo? Came across this one, thought you's would enjoy it!

Enjoy....Fuzzy

Thanks Mr. fuzzy for another round of amazing pictures!! Stay tuned for more of FUZZY"S CORNER!!

Cleaning Up the Rafters at the Barris Shop Pt.1

2010-04-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I was told to help sell some Barris stuff online cause they are simply out of room.. So I climbed up in the rafters and I got to go through a bunch of boxes and what I came across so far is mostly magazines Some rare some not
but there is allot!! All of them are mostly in perfect condition.. never been opened.. I'll be adding all the good stuff on
the site soon once I figure out the price on everything.. Theres a bunch of cool signed stuff too.. This is just one side of the rafters.. who knows whats on the other side!! Stay Tuned for Part 2

Magazines For Sale soon!!

Sneak Peak of the Prints for the Lone Star Round Art Show!

2010-04-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

So since i'm heading out to the Round Up and setting up the Barris Kustom City booth I decided to put 3 one off prints in the Art Show.. heres a little tease...

This is the coolest!! I was going through some images and found this ... and thought how could we not print this!! its when George drove the Kopper Kart cross country and made verious stops... one was Texas!!

All Packed up..

I'll have the limited prints as well.. heres george singing away!!

See yall there!! Yall is Texan for you all.

Now Taking Pre-Sales for Limited Edition Prints!!

2010-03-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Thats Right Kids!! We are making these limited edition prints available early so you can lock in your order cause once these are gone they're gone!!! Only a 100 Prints of each image scanned directly from the Transparency from the Barris Archive! George will number and sign each one.. Available as prints alone or framed!!

FOLLOW THIS LINK!!

We have a Combo Deal as well!!

THE RIK HOVING FILES: George Barris 1941 Buick

2010-03-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

By Rik Hoving: March 15th 2010

When George Barris moved from Sacramento to Los Angeles he drove a 1936 Ford Cabriolet. A nice custom. But George soon understood that when he wanted a profitable Custom Body Shop he needed something more to advertise his workmanship. So he got himself a second hand 1941 Buick Convertible and started to built his dream custom, and one he hoped would bring him many more customer cars. George started the car right after the move from the Bell Shop to the new Compton Avenue shop.

George showing off in front of the camera, standing on his hands, and behind him the start of his 1941 Buick. The work on the fade away fenders had just begun.

Once most of the body work was done on the car he painted it white primer and drove it around for a while to get all the bugs out before he would finish it, and add a gloss paint job.

The Buick in white primer at El Mirage. Note that the front bumper is still the stock 1941 Buick unit.

After this well proportioned and style Buick was finished George used it to promote his Barris Kustom Shop. The car was used on his Business Cards for some time. It was used on the May 1948 Road and Track magazine cover. And George won at the first Hot Rod Exposition in Los Angeles in 1948.

The car was finished somewhere in 1946-47 and this is how it first looked once on the street. Typical for the era are the black wall tires.

The Buick on the cover of the May 1948 Cover of Road and Track issue #2

George his 1941 Buick is a classic styled customs that we certainly can call trend setting. The custom had it all, perfect stance, perfect flowing lines with the chopped padded top and full fade away fenders. Twin Appleton spotlights, dark paint and white wall tires, with smooth large disk hubcaps.

The Buick on the side of the Compton Avenue shop Bart Bartoni photo

The 1941 Buick convertible windshield frame was chopped a few inches. The body dropped by lowering the suspension front and rear with a slightly larger drop in the back for a perfect stance. It looks like the Buick was first built as a custom without the fade away fenders. In the first photo of this article you can see the car with the work on the fade away started but a set of Appleton's is already mounted on the chopped windshield frame, perhaps indicating that the car was driven in chopped and lowered condition with stock but molded fenders for some time.

The fade away fenders where created using sheet metal bend, cut and shaped to fit the 1941 Body. The headlights have been frenched into the molded front fenders and the heavy original chrome ornaments where removed.
The stock grille was removed and replaced with a 1941 Cadillac grille. The front sheet metal was reshaped to blend the grille in. The area below the hood was created from sheet metal and the hood character line was very nicely repeated into that and shaped to end in a nice point just above the new grille. At the rear the fenders where molded to the body and flared nicely into the body with a gentle curve.

The Buick with some sort of award ribbon on the antenna. Could this have been after the car won the award at the first Hot Rod show in 1948?

George shaved the trunk of the chrome emblems and replaced the original outside trunk hinges with internal versions. The stock taillights where removed and relocated into the 1946 Oldsmobile bumper guards to leave the rear of the body totally clean. At the front the stock bumper was also replaced with a 1946 Oldsmobile bumper with same year guards. The front has the parking light integrated in to the guards.

The Buick was painted with many coats of deep Royal Metallic Maroon, which later would become one of the Barris trademark colors. Glen and Bob Hauser from the Carson Top Shop created A padded top with absolutely perfect proportions.
And also did the interior in White and dark red.

The photo above shows the substantial damage after the crash.

Some time Later the car was in an accident. A friend of George was trying to drive the car from a scene where Police had showed up and where George was arrested. He apparently lost control over the car and crashed it.

But George decided he could fix the car and updated it at the same time. George now used a cut down 1946 Caddy grille and new tire/hubcap combination.
George has no idea what happened to his old Buick. At one time he planned to built a clone, never happened. So, I think it’s time for somebody else to built a clone, of this iconic custom.

The Buick rebuilt after the accident, but still in primer. The new cut down 1946 Cadillac grille looks great, and gives the front a less boxy feel. Cadillac Sombrero hubcaps on wide whites are a perfect update as well.

Thank You Rik Hoving for the Awesome Blog!!

Check out Rik's Site

FUZZY'S CORNER: Mandy's Merc Forgotten Barris Kustom

2010-03-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

Our good old friend Dick "Fuzzy" Fuerholze contacted us about some lost Barris customs that he had photos of and knowing the knowledge and stories Fuzzy has about George and the good old days... Well we have to give him his own corner here at Barris Kustom City.. So WELCOME TO FUZZY'S CORNER!!!

MANDY'S MERC : Forgotten Barris Kustom
Photos from Dick "Fuzzy" Fuerholze & Rik Hoving www.rikhovingkustoms.com

Mandy Holder was from Springfield , Illinois, he himself was a painter, stripper,he did the painting on the famous "Truly Rare " Buick of Gene Howard. The car was first started by himself and a guy by the name of Ernie Bell in Springfield, then he came to Barris's where Barris designed it and finished it off.
Somewhere from local shows back in 1958. Mandy died young and the car was stolden sometime after he died I believe. Its never been seen since, and believe me we looked for it. Ernie Bell is the only one living yet of his close friends, he has had thoughts on it, but that's it.

Sneak Peek of the 6 Barris Images for Print..

2010-02-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

So after going through a bunch of the Barris color transparencies.. I narrowed it down
to the first 6 in a huge series of limited edition numbered and signed high end prints.

These are scanned directly from the transparencies so the quality of the image is going to
RULE.. And thanks to Johnny who is going to print them up and make sure
they are top notch!!!

We will be making 100 of each image and will run 35.00 + shipping

Coming Soon!!! Stay Tuned!!

Going through images

Test Prints..

THE RIK HOVING FILES: 1947 Ford Convertible Owner Unknown...

2010-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

1947 Ford Convertible Owner Unknown

The first time I saw this wonderful early custom was in one of the Don Montgomery books. The photo you see here below is from the collection of Bart Bartoni. The first thing that stopped me from flipping to the next page in the book was the extreme beauty of the padded top, and especially the slanted forward “B”-pillar. Over the years that I have had this photo I must have looked at it for hours.

Photo from the Bart Bartoni Collection -
The 1947 Ford in front of the Barris Compton Avenue shop with
a 1939-40 Mercury Custom on the other side of the street.

At first I looked mainly at the car it self, but later I started to look at the background, and noticed the other custom, what looks like a 1940 Mercury. And then I recognized the ground and the hedge from other photos. This photo was taken at the Barris Shop at 7674 Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. And perhaps this was the Sam Barris 1940 Mercury Convertible across the street. So could this 1947 Ford be a Barris custom?

The 1947 Ford on the driveway of the Compton Ave. shop.

Not long after that, I found another photo of this car. And this time it showed the car “unfinished” without skirts and hubcaps and it sat in front of a shop. Upon close inspection I noticed the writing on the wall on the right. Barris Shop... I compared it with other photos I had of the Compton Ave. shop and yes I was sure now, taken at the Barris Shop. So now I was pretty sure this must have been a Barris Custom. But who was the owner? And why have we never seen this car before in any of the other books and magazines.

Photo from the Johnny Zaro Collection

The photo above was taken with the car parked in front of the Barris Shop at Compton Ave. This must have been in the late 40’s. Perhaps ‘48, or early ‘49. Could the 1941 Ford parked halfway in the garage perhaps be the Paul “Snooky" Janich Ford?

Even though the photo is grainy and a bit blurry it sure show the wonderful stance of this car. Not as low as we are currently used to, but this was the 40’s and you would get a ticket if you drove your car to low.

Photo from the Trother MacMinn Collection

The last two excellent photos of this custom show the car at the Dry Lakes, most likely El Mirage. Throther MacMinn took the photos. But unfortunately he did not write down who owned the car.
These two photos appear in the recently published book with fantastic photos from the Throttler MaMcMinncMinn Collection “Hot Rods and Custom Cars”.

Photo from the Trother MacMinn Collection

This photo shows the great stance of the car, and how the top of the

grille was removed and the body above the grille elegantly reshaped.

So with all the photos we have of this great sample of an early Barris Custom we still have no idea who owned it. Nor do we know where the car ended up. The Padded top sure has a unique shape. Perhaps made by the Carson Top Shop, or possibly at Gaylords. And the front end modification is rather unique as well.

The Ford is a really great sample of early Barris styling. Less is more certainly works on this car. The fenders and headlights are not even molded in which became such popular treatments in the late 40’s. The front body work above the grille was reshaped, the windshield chopped and a fantastically shaped Padded top made for it. The side trim on the hood was shortened and the car was lowered slightly in the front and some more in the back. Smooth ripple disk hubcaps on wide whites. The Chrome rock shield on the rear fender is besides practical a nice element that helps shape the car

Perhaps this article might be read by some older enthusiast who recognize the car from back in the days. And if we found out more about it we sure will give you an update here.

Check out www.rikhovingkustoms.com

Sam's 1952 Ford

2010-01-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Article from www.kustomrama.com

1952 Ford Convertible owned and restyled by Sam Barris of Barris Kustoms. Sam built the car for his family's use. The car was fitted with a hand made chrome grille that gave the car a T-Bird feeling. The grille consisted of two 1953 Ford upper bars frenched-in with one upright and the other inverted. 1955 Ford Fairlane headlight rings were used in front. The rings were paired with Buick lower rings. The hood was shaved and rounded.

The stock bumper was kept in the rear. The bumper was modified by adapting a 1955 Pontiac license guard onto it and the exhaust was routed through the bumper. The character line above the rear wheel-well was lengthened into extensions housing frenched 1955 Lincoln taillights. The taillights were frenched with round rod. Reversed 1955 Pontiac side trim pieces were used to separate the two-tone Abstract Blue and Metallic Blue Mist paint job. The rear fender trim consisted of teeth from a 1953 Mercury Monterrey. Deep-flared skirts enhanced the low look of the car. It was also fitted with dual spotlights, and Dodge Lancer wheel discs. The wheel discs were modified with Eastern Auto Bullets. Sam Barris' convertible was later known as the Practical Ford as it was featured on the cover of the Rod & Custom December 1955 issue with that title. In the official program for the 1955 Motorama, the car is also called "Mom's Dream Car". The car featured a full padded safety interior that was done at the family shop. It had 5 impact safety belts, baby bottle warmer on the dash, diaper bag dispenser behind the front seat. The car had also Bendix power brakes installed, double safety pushbutton doors operated only from the driver's side, and absence of external protrusions. ref:The 6th Annual Motor Revue Official Program

www.kustomrama.com

== Magazine Features ==
Custom Cars July 1958

Custom Cars March 1958
Rod & Custom December 1955
Trend Book 133 Custom Cars 1957 Annual
The Big Book of Barris
Rod Action September 1975

== Sources ==
Custom Cars March 1958
The Big Book of Barris

What's Coming Soon at Barris Kustom City!!

2010-01-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

We here at Barris Kustom City are dedicated to preserving the Vintage side of the Barris fame. George was not only and excellent promoter and marketing genius he also was a very talented photographer. We have several thousand images Black and White, Full Color, Hot Rod, Customs, Pin Ups, Tech articles, Artist and more! We will be updating the site weekly with Merchandise, Limited edition photography , Books, DVD's, Tee Shirts and More!! Heres some Teasers: