History Some Barris Cars Had Bad Luck!

Awesome photos Piero!!

 

those are neat pics man.

 

Here are some photos of Paul Janich Jacket.

 

George also has had bad luck the day he met me!! LOL. He's is a good guy! I wanted to see what the world looked like through the eyes of a legend, so I said >> "Let me see the Glasses George" and he let me put them on... it was a time that will stay with me. I still talk to George on the phone every few months. He gets around very well for his age. They have to call ahead to any town he is going to so they can warn the ladies !!!

Trouble

 

God I would love to own that Jacket... I'm going to print this thread out for george to read..

 

Awesome info and pics, thanks guys!
George gets up here every Easter for the car Show, what a great guy.

 

That looks like ebay pictures---I can see the little camera in the right corner...how much did this sell for?

 

Don't forget... George Barris customized James Dean's Porsche also.... and look where he is now! Awesome thread.... here's my contribution

 

I cant really remember exactly how it went. But this is what I can remember. (I lost all my email conversations of that period due to a crashed computer at work) The guy who creates this custom made jackets had found Paul's jacket. And he had found out about my photo collection on my site. He already had talked to the owners of the Snooky 1941 Ford, and obviously they where very interested in getting the jacket to go with the car (the best place for that jacket to be at.. I would say!!!). But I think the owner of the jacket was asking to much for it. At least more than the car owners wanted to spend on it. The jacket was offered on ebay... but I don't think it sold. The asking price was high.. but I forgot how high. I have not been in contact with the guy after this so I have no idea where the jacket is now.

 

Yeah, seing how much an "ordinary" car club clicker jacket sell for on ebay I guess this one was pretty expensive. And as you said, it would have been great with the car!!

 

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a mint original "Kustoms of Los Angeles" jacket.

I believe there were three jacket styles, the blue one was the earliest, the maroon one like mine was later and there was a reversible maroon and tan windbreaker style that was also available.

Mine has the logo done in chenille on the back and the name "Azzie" chain stitched on the
front and is size small.

Rick or anyone know who Azzie might have been?

George couldn't remember anyone named Azzie and thought it may have belonged to one of the members girlfriend.

Thanks and sorry for the hijack.

Mick

 

Hi Drugasm, I checked this with Spencer Murray....who owned the truck... and he said that it was he who drove the 58 chevy when the tire blew. Jim "Buzzy" Blair was riding with him... so no Reinero

 

Great Thread!

 

Mick both of those jackets RULE!!

I didn't get a chance to ask George questions on Wed cause I was super busy.. But i'm going there today... I also found a few more smashed cars pics that I hope to scan today..

 

If I recall correctly I thought George didnt really have any involvement in the car until after the wreck. I was understanding that Jeffries did the lettering and scallops.

Did you draw that? Thats pretty rad!

 

I've been a fan of Barris cars since I was a young boy, so it's been nice to revisit this history.

PS-If you end up sharing this thread with George, tell him "Thanks for the inspiration and advice".

When he signed my book in Vegas in 2006, I asked if he had any suggestions for the back window before I chopped my Buick. His advice stuck with me when it came time to do it, and you can see some Barris inspiration in the finished look of my mild chop.

 

damn alotta nasty hits to these nice cars

 

'"Dont let school get in the way of your education"

Thankyou, This is a great piece of work, should be read by all !

 

When I interviewed George for the Barris Kustoms of the 50's DVD, he said he smashed up his '36 Cabriolet because he was looking at a girl walking down the street instead of paying attention to the road! Luckily it was just the fender.

 

I have a photograph of this car that I took at the Hershey Fall Meet at least 25 years ago. It was over in the old Blue Field, pretty much in the condition you see here in this picture except that it had a fresh coat of red primer on it. I recall that it was on a 1 car trailer with a very low price. I can remember strips of ragged headliner hanging from the roof. I gotta find that picture. It's here somewhere!

 

Here is another one... from the Barry Mazza Collection

 

I am hoping somebody has some information on a 1933 Chevrolet coupe that was customized by Barris. It fits this category because it came to a bad end. I have the chassis which I bought for parts. The car had Barris Crests. I did meet George Barris at the L.A. Roadster show a few years ago and asked him about the car but he said they did so many cars he couldn't remember it. It is possible Sam worked on it. The car had a GMC 270 engine and had the "three on the tree" shifter and transmission out of a 1951 Chevrolet car. It still has the 1951 rear end and 1951 Bendix brakes. Somebody else has the body which they probably have made into a Street Rod by now. That was their intention. I just missed getting the car before they took the body off. I think back in the day the car was painted gold metallic. No, I don't make these stories up.

 

how sad but cool at the same time

 

EXCELLENT thread !! thanks to all who posted. I always wondered about the porsche now I know

 

Hey 33 Chevy - I bought a 270 GMC out of a Barris chassis in Burbank several years ago. Wonder if it is the same one?



Has some nice period speed parts, H-Head, Nicson Intake with dual Zeniths, Nicson Valve cover, Mallory Dual Point, mechanical tach drive distributor, after market cam and springs, full flow oil conversion, etc. Came from a car with a Barris Crest.

 

Wow this a cool thread! so many cool cars were wrecked ,you wonder were they all went...............great info here .............thanks for posting!....

 

Wow, just found this thread while looking for GNRS stuff and it is amazing, thanks guys for all the research and contributions.

A must read for anyone going to the show in January!

Dennis

 

Maybe I should have answered down here under the picture. DL

 

I know it wasn't wrecked, but another car that had "bad luck" was Mandy Holder's 51 merc convertible.. my dad had tried to track down his father in Cali back in the day and either worked for or hung out at Barris' shop..when he met Mandy and they dicussed how they were both from central IL..they drove back together when my dad had his chopped '49 merc...he said they ran some parts through the desert at night over 100 mph...and the looks on the people's faces when they'd stop in small towns was CRAZY....They were friends 'til Mandy died of an anuerism(sp) and sometime after that the car was stolen from storage where it was kept. (in Springfield) supposedly nobody has seen the car again...

 

Any chance that chimbo or chinaman was Ronnie Dragoo?
On this photo below from the mazza Collection Ronnie's merc has the same "Kustom" paper in front of its license plate....



Anyone knows what happened to the Dragoo Merc?

Below are the photos that were posted above showing the chinaman's Merc