Pictures of "The Rose",Sam Barris tribute Merc?

After buying the lateast Rodders Journal(#38),I read the story on the Sam Barris,'49 Mercury. What a great read! The history about who owned it,what was done to it and where it eventually ended up,was amazing. Being a Mercury lover and an owner of a '49 Mercury,it's obvious why I bought the magazine. In reading the article,I noticed that Sams son,John, built a tribute car called "The Rose". I don't recall seeing it,and wondered if anybody had any pictures of it? Does anybody have any?

 

I recall it was done a few years ago, and not very traditional. Rose color, billet wheels, modern interior?

 

****!!! That's his idea of a "tribute" car? WTF! I'm sure it looks great,and fits in perfect in some circles,but if you were gonna build a car to pay respect to your father,one of the most famous Custom builders,would you build a billet "Goodguys" looking Merc? Or would you build something that looked like it could have been built by your dad? Sure it looks nice(backhanded compliment)but it doesn't represent Sam at all...IMO.

 

Exactly. I seem to recall that it wasn't just done by his son, a whole slew of people had their mits on it. Again, I can't remember when it was built, but I'm thinking 10 years ago or so?

 

There's been a few bubble-top cars built,kinda as a tribute to Big Daddy Roth,which is what I was expecting to see. Such a disapointment...

 

From Hot Rod magazine's website:
"The highlighted new cars were centered in the main arena with the Sam Barris tribute custom "The Rose." This delightful cl***ic Mercury custom was built with the help of numerous folks to help promote the new Sam Barris Memorial Childrens’ Charity for kids with cancer. Mike Grey spent thousands of hours and twice as many dollars to get the car ready for this show. His work as a Sacramento custom car builder shines, just as Sam’s work did years ago."

Would YOU call a custom Merc "delightful?"

Which is one of the reasons I don't read Hot Rod, no matter who is at the helm. They don't know the difference between well-done traditional and billet ****. They really don't.

 

I agree !

 

The beauty of a legend who dies young is that everyone can imagine what might have been.
And what this guy thought might have been is that red Mercury "the Rose", so don't fault him for that. Let's face facts here, time marches on and had Sam Barris lived he may well have produced such a car in that time.
Rodders and customizers have always advanced with the times and trends. Choosing to stay in the traditional arena as many describe here would pretty much eliminate alot of the ch***is goodies and styling ideas on a lot of cars presented here and praised to the heavens.

 

Good point, well taken.

 

Somehow "It's all about the money" comes to mind. It is beautiful, just not like us "old Guys" would have imagined.

 

I knew this was a can of worms when you made this post, but if you were into Mercs when that car was built you would know that there were 2 distinct camps at the time. Traditional as we like it was a bit under the radar and Billet reigned supreme. The car was built mainly on donations so in keeping with the times and the major companies willing to sponsor the car came out as a billetmobile.
Again, I wasn't supportive of the car then or now- just letting you know that just a few years ago Billet Specialties and Colorado Custom dominated where today you would never look to them for a freebie. Be thankful "mainstream" has righted itself to traditional and do not beat up on a time it's obvious you were not paying attention to. That car was EVERYWHERE when it was being built.

 

When I saw that BadBob made this post I sais to my self ,"Self,hes gonna be dissappointed when he sees this one"

 

In an older (late 90's) Rod and Custom was an article, pic's ect. The build was to help children w/ cancer. What Sam Barris died from. Quote: " ..three word's that do not belong together, children, pain, cancer".

 

I'm not knocking the reasons for the car being built. Childrens cancer is a noble cause. But you would have to agree that when someone does a tribute to an ICON,it should be something that you can look at and say"that looks like a Sam Barris car",or" that paint job looks like a Watson job",even,like I mentioned before,the bubble-top cars that were influenced by Roth. And JimA,i've been following the car seen ever since I was about four,and I always wanted a Merc,just the way mine is. I just didn't care for the "Billet/Boyd"era. Which is why I still don't care for the cars built in that time period,regaurdless of the Charity or Cause involved. The Shifters,Choppers,and the Sultans were who I followed. They were building cars the way I liked. Old traditional style,Hotrods and Customs.
Twenty years from now,would you build a Streetrod with Billet wheels,leather interior,air-conditioning,and a LS1,as a tribute to Jimmy White,or Cole Foster? Or would you build a car in the style like they are known for now?

 

Despite knowing the Choppers (Chislers) for nearly 20 years- I'm ol school and got my influence from Fonzie, the Malachi Brothers and Sha Na Na- oh yeah, and Dukes of Hazzard
I don't knock you for missing that car Bob (you're lucky!)- it was just a painful time to be into traditional stuff while the "mainstream" was billeting everything up.

 

yuck!!!!

 

Yep...

But... Building a car to emulate a old master, and failing miserably, is a pretty powerfull tribute in itself.

 

The thing blows.The unknowing John Barris tried to incorporate characteristics of the chopped 50 Buick Sedanette into a Merc.A retarded notion.The car ****s .

 

I concur Mack...

 

I saw it at the Imperial Palace in LV a few years ago - not pretty.

 

I want to say it was for sale - $250k give or take.

 

I was going to say some nice stuff, like the wheels and interior could be changed...
the front shot has a clean sam look to it. but when you get aruond to the side, and rear...
they blew it with the rear wheel well, the whole car looks like a stretched henry J. I think from the rear of the front doors back it is a total loss.
This would be a good lesson in what not to do, or you don't have to do it just because you can

 

Son builds tribute car to father.Hamb board slams effort.Wether you like it or not, where is the love? Mines with the son who built a tribute car to his father.

 

As a one time owner and an a great amire of early Mercury kustoms of this period. Barris son's heart may have been in the right place the car isn't what Sam or even George would have built . Just my $.02

 

if that car came out wearing wide whites and tuck and roll, you'd all be singing a different song. yeah, it does resemble a stretched henry J, but I have a feeling that the majority here would think it looked cool. my point is, people get bent over billet and don't give a car a fair look. had it been done more traditionally, it would have received a fair judgment. lets also remember that not every car rolling out of the barris shop looked like sam's merc or buick or the hirohata merc. modern grecian ring any bells? or the 57 chevy that sam built? just playing devil's advocate.

 

A point well made!

S****ey Devils C.C.

 

Now don't confuse good intentions with good taste. The workmanship and fit and finish is probably first rate. I'm not bashing the guys who worked on the car or their abilities,etc. My only negative opinion was that the car doesn't come close to a "Tribute" car for Sam Barris. The only thing it has in common with Sam Barris is that it's a chopped Merc...and his son was involved.
Answer to your question about WWW and tuck-n-roll interior. Yea...maybe it would have looked more like he had his dads style in mind,but not with the back like that. The car can stand alone and do quite well at any indoor,Goodguys type show,just don't call it a "Tribute" car...IMO,of course.
A+ for effort
A+ for worksmanship
F for style