http://www.barrisbilt.com/ Poor production and following Barris around = Pricless. He makes out with a Starbucks chick in the So Cal video. He makes funny noises..
He promised to put me in the movies... Two years ago at Back to the Fiftys... I was with the hot blonde (he'll remember now) I'm ready for my close-up Mr Barris.... JOE
I was standing in the back of the room at the "Legends of Nascar" event at the 2005 Amelia Island Concours. (I was a lacky for one of the cars on display) In the backdoor comes George Barris in that yellow jacket he always wears, walks up to me, shakes my hand, makes a comment about how nice the weather is. Stands there along side me about 5 minutes, then turns to me and says "This ain't my bag" and walks ot the back door. I later saw him waiting for his car/driver at the valet with 2 hot, I mean HOT, babes one on each arm. I often wonder if they were perks or traveling expenses.
I showed him this newspaper cut-out back in 01' at the World of Wheels and asked him if that was him and his Model A. So he looks at the news clipping and say's "Yep" and takes his shapie and signs it.......ahhhhh......I really did not want you to sign it, but oh well........he kind of looked at me funny after I said that. There were alot of hot gals standing around though. Chris Nelson Kansas
Ask Denise about Barris, Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Sam the true builder in the beginning? I've read some history and he seems to be mentioned more then George in the beginning....
That's true. The Barris Brothers built a car for my uncle and finished it in 1947. My dad was 17 at the time and used to go down to their little shop and watch them work. He says Sam did most of the work while George was more of a salesman. Dad's got pictures of him, my uncle, and Sam out at the lakes watching the races. The car was a '39 Mercury. It was one of, if not the, first chopped Merc they did. My uncle had it less than two weeks when he was t-boned by a Duesenburg. My uncle was killed and the car was totaled. It's rarely mentioned in any of the bios because the police determined the cause of the accident to be the 4" windshield.
Wow, that's a wild story! That's too bad about your Uncle, I'm sure that hurt your Dad a lot. That is the one thing about George that, to me, always didn't sit well, I know he's done some great cars after Sam, but I think Sam was the Genius, George was the frontman...
Thats usually how things work, the quiet guy who goes about his business never gets the credit that the loudmouth self promoter does.
Wow! sorry about your uncle.Could you post some pics of his 39? I'm sure that I'm not the only one that would like to see those pics.
Evel, George Barris has always been all about George, the so called "Custom Hero" my ***. A friend of mine once cornered Barris at a show for claiming to have build a car my friend build. Barris denied it and make a hasty retread. Barris claims he's the "King of the Kustomers" more like "King of the Self Promoters" Look at most of the junk that came out of his shop after Sam died. Its true Sam was the "King" in the Barris family. Barris should stick with the KKOA, they love the guy. Be cool, drive a fine short" Cruiser 49
Evel, Im surprized he didnt pinch yer *** to, LOL hes worse then a sailor back from 6 months at sea, LOL FRITZ
Appearently, when Art Chrisman saw the Car after the rebuilt, he told Barris " You sure know how to **** up a nice car..." Furtunately the Damage has been undone, and the Coupe is restored to its former glory. Hopefully, someday, somebody will do the same for the Futura...
"Barris claims he's the "King of the Kustomers" more like "King of the Self Promoters" I couldn't agree more. George is all about self promotion. Sam built most of the famous Barris kustoms, he wasnt' just the design guy who promoted them. I'm not saying he hasn't done the hobby a lot of good, but I take offense to self proclaimed Kings of anything. You don't hear Bill Hines walking around calling himself the "King of kustom bodywork, lead and design". From seeing him at work, you get the impression he thinks he's the greatest entertainer since Elvis p***ed away. Just my 0.02.
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