George Barris; Hollywood Auto Customizer, Page-2

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog, Page-2 Created: 11-3-2023

Last Updated: 11-3-2023

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The Barrister. Made For Several Hollywood Celebrities ~

the Barrister, built by George Barris, bought by James Caan, Bo Derek, Sammy Davis Jr and possibly others in LA in 1978. This one belonged to actor James Caan.

The Barrister - C3 Corvette.

1981 Bo Derek’s Barrister. The headlights are from a Ford Granada, the car was built over a Corvette.

Eight were made and sold to celebrities.

David Lee Roth ~

Elvis Presley ~

George Foreman ~

George Foreman's first custom-made car.

George Foreman Quote:

''George Barris customized this car for me. I found him because I heard that whenever John Wayne bought a new car, he took it to Mr. Barris to raise the ceiling because John Wayne was tall.

I bought a brand new Lincoln Continental and sent it to him. It's got an F on the sides, F on the wheels, and a box on the back. It was the coolest car in Beverly Hills. I'm still trying to find that car and buy it back. Some collector bought it and I can't find it. I sold it back in 1978 when I became a preacher.''

John Travolta ~

1979 John Travolta Firebird Fever.

John Wayne's Pontiac Station Wagons ~

Wayne was a tall man and did not like to remove his cowboy hat when getting into his car. When Wayne bought a new wagon, he sent them to Barris to have the tops raised.

1975 Pontiac Grand Safari.

John Wayne sitting in his Pontiac station wagon, (without his hat).

At this writing, the wagon is still in the Wayne family.

Another of Wayne's vehicles was this 1900 Overland 10. This was built by Barris Kustoms at the orders of Bob Hope to be given to his friend Duke.

it was named the 1900 Overland Manure Spreader, or Bullshit Scraper.

Pat Priest ~

Pat Priest, (Marilyn Munster) with her Barris designed Thunderbird.

Paul Revere and the Raiders ~

This stagecoach design was built by Barris Kustoms as a promotional vehicle for the 1960s rock group.

George posing on his Raider's Koach.

The design called for twin engines.

The front section at the custom shop before assembly.

The stagecoach design included an onboard organ.

A scale model kit was issued at the time. It has been re-issued in recent years.

The Famous Pair of Sonny & Cher Mustangs ~

A pair of Ford Mustangs were created for 1960s singing couple, Sonny and Cher.

Sonny and Cher hold twin Mustang scale models.

Sonny and Cher custom Mustangs.

Sonny Bono's Mustang.

Cher's Mustang.

At one time, the two cars were left on trailers in the snow with the top of Sonny's car down.

The carswere renovated and sold in the last few years at auction as a pair.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's Rolls Royce ~

George Barris designed and built a custom Rolls Royce for actress celebrity Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Redd Foxx ~

Created for actor and comedian Redd Foxx, this tilt-cabbed custom combined insane proportions with a supercharged 392 cubic-inch Chrysler engine.

A photo taken by George Barris of Marilyn Monroe in 1962 ~

From the exclusive collection of Marilyn Monroe photographs taken by George Barris two weeks before her death, August 5 1962.

George Barris created golf carts also for many celebrities. Here's perhaps the two most famous.

Bob Hope ~

George with Bob Hope and the cart.

Bob Hope poses in his cart.

Bing Crosby ~

Not to be outdone, Singer/actor Bing Crosby, being part of the Hope-Crosby duo, had his own golf cart produced by George Barris.

Crosby's cart came with his signature hat and a pipe sticking out the front that actually puffed smoke.

Not a golf cart, but a cart none-the-less. This is one of Barris' dune buggies.

Over his many decades of car creations, George met a lot of Hollywood celebrities and many other notable people. Here's just a few that George called friends ~

George had a nice shop area. However, when thinking about it, his complex was not that large as a company that produced so many vehicles for the movie, music and television industries. But George sure made it work for him. Here's a collection of photos of his company.

A lifetime of car show trophies fill the showroom and offices at Barris Kustom. Maybe the best trophies are the hundreds of framed photos of actors and entertainers who have been customers, friends, and fans.

The Batmobile at his showroom.

George's chair at his business is now empty. There's no other man big enough to fill it.

The 1959 Pasadena Motor Pageant was produced by George Barris and Lloyd Bakan. It was presented by three local clubs, the Highwaymen of Pasadena, Shacklers of Los Angeles, and Winders of Highland Park.

Genuine George Barris Car Stripes. A set of decals featuring pinstriping designs by Dean Jeffries. This set, signed by George Barris, was advertised for sale on eBay in March of 2020. The Buy it Now price was US $99.00, but the auction ended receiving a US $75 winning bid.

In an attempt to get into the youth market, Ford Motor Company teamed up with AMT to launch the "Custom Car Caravan" in 1962. Together they wanted to create a campaign customized and performance-themed Fords. Or, as Ed Roth described it in his book, "making sure all of Ford's stuff was in the car shows around the country." The first cars were built in-house, but it didn't take long before Ford started to commission famous customizers such as George Barris, the Alexander Brothers, Bill Cushenbery, and Gene Winfield to dream up and execute life-size Ford customs.

1968 Barris Customs Trading Cards.

Coloring book.

Back of coloring book.

A page from the coloring book.

Magazines.

Funeral Service ~

George rested in a Batman style casket.

The parking lot at his funeral hosted many of his car creations.

The Cargoyle made an appearance.

The Hirohata Merc was also there.

A Barrister was present.

One more viewing.

The cars were all lined up for the possession to the cemetery.

At the Cemetery - Graveside Service ~

Goodbye George. Rest in peace.

The Barris' Graves ~

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Here are just a few of the hundreds of scale models that have been released over the years of Barris cars.

The following photos are a few of my scale models of Barris cars.

Batmobile.

Munster's Koach.

The Munster's Drag-U-La.

Dukes of Hazzard General Lee.

James Bond 007.

Elvira's T-Bird.

My Mother the Car. 1928 Porter.

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All things must pass ~

George Barris was an icon in the automotive field. The cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, golf carts, dune buggies, etc., that he created at his California shop live on as examples of the finest cars in any museum and private collection.

George has been gone now for eight years, at this writing. His personal collections have been auctioned and are now in the far reaches of the four corners of the world. But George's spirit, no doubt, is still at his shop hammering and cutting out the parts to his next idea.

His company will probably continue to create iconic cars for the film industry and for celebrities. But no matter what is built, the days of the Barris Kustom is over. And that is a real shame. But, all things must pass.

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Sonny And Cher's Mustangs Stay Together After Selling At Auction ~

BY JAY RAMEY, PUBLISHED: OCT 17, 2016

Sonny and Cher custom Mustangs.

"King of Kustomizers" George Barris created two distinctive Fords for celebrity duo

George Barris remains the first name in Hollywood car customizers, having created everything from the Batmobile to KITT from "Knight Rider." His custom work for TV shows led to special projects for celebrities for their own personal use, including a Pontiac station wagon for John Wayne.

But when it comes to Ford cars, Barris' best known work is the duo of 1966 Mustangs created for Sonny and Cher as gifts.

The two 289-cid Mustangs optioned with three-speed automatic transmissions were originally plucked from the assembly line and sent straight to Barris' shop. The "King of Kustomizers" created new front fascias for the cars, also swapping in Ford Thunderbird taillights and reworking the interiors with appropriately '60s colors and materials. The changes to the exterior are more extensive -- few people notice the shaved-off door handles -- as the wild colors dominate the designs.

The two cars received taillights from the Ford Thunderbird and very distinctive interiors.

Barris painted Sonny's car in Murano gold pearl, while Cher's new ride received a hot-pink pearl paint job. Had Xzibit been around in the 1960s, we're sure he and the guys from West Coast Customs would have approved.

The two just sold at Barrett-Jackson's Las Vegas auction, with Sonny's Mustang fetching $71,500, while Cher's brought an even $55,000. The two cars have been to high-profile auctions before and were offered with extensive memorabilia, both coming from the Tammy Allen collection. The two were sold as a pair, so they won't be parting company anytime soon, and we have a feeling that we'll see them at auction again sometime in the next 10 years.

Visit the Barrett-Jackson website to view more photos of both cars.