I love Jim's response. Barris didn't have a mig or a tig welder. He had no decent means of cutting metal. He couldn't buy a plasma cutter or a decent set of tin snips, the sawzall was not invented yet and I could babble forever.Depending on your age look at what your grandfathers or great grandfathers had to work with. The tools they had were junk. Barris was an inventor. He couldn't look at 15 publications and see what everyone else was doing.He just did his deal. It's kind of odd that people bash his work. It is almost 2008. I wonder if in 50 years anybody will be talking about a car that was built here.....I am just thinking tonight and mean no harm. Please take no offense.
You also forget he doesn't have TASTE, STYLE and VISION That said, I wanna see the Ala kart in contention.
If the ala kart has been restored by Brizio's shop, The finished quality has to be higher than either '58 or '59. If it was taken to the point that some of those Pebble Beach Hot Rods have been taken, then I could see it being in contention for a GNRS award. TP
Barris Bashers truly bum me out. What he did after the true golden age of kustoms was business, and business was good for many years. So what if things were not done to a minimal spectrum of taste or style. George has had one of the coolest jobs EVER-still does, think about it. Why even discuss the Ala Cart not being able to compete with contemporary showcars? Do you doubt the ability of its restorers? I don't.
I met George in 1958 when he was shooting car shows for Petersen books. I also brokered the deal for the DeSoto hemi-powered 27 T that morphed into the Twister Tee, an AMBR winner. For those of you that question his taste, it's too bad you never saw his home as it was full of stuff that George and his wife Shirley had designed and built. Taste is subjective and there are a lot of cars on the HAMB that wouldn't pass my taste test. One of my favorite quotes is: "You'll never go broke underestimating the taste of the American public". Looking forward to seeing the Ala Kart next month in Pomona
I for one am excited to see it there and even more excited to hear it is in contention to win, AGAIN. Seeing it at Brizio's shop during my Paso visit is what solidified my decision to attend the Roadster show in January. To see it and the Barris Merc side by side will be absolutely amazing!
One one hand, it's cool that the Ala-Kart is a contender....on the other, there is almost something wrong with a RESTORED car going up against FRESH cars.......I think just a period correct DISPLAY would be cool, no competition....the Ala-Kart deserves MORE. Joe Namath ain't going back on the field either........Ala-Kart IS.......
If Brizio did the resto, it's good enough to win. I just worry that it isn't "slick" enough. "Slick" shouldn't be a criteria... but I fear that it is. JH
This is really a personal attack in bad taste. It is almost like someone said that all the Hotwheels designs over the last 40 years are tasteless. Taste is subjective and doesn't warrant personal attacks. Photo albums of a life time of work, never are attached to attackers posts. Some of these things are impossible to ignore.
say what you will about Barris and the Ala-Kart, it was the times,It was 'THE CAR'! It just knocked us over! The anticipation and then seeing it in person, was 'excitement'! Thats why I would like to just see it again. Thats what the big shows had. And yes they were done as best as could be for the times. We now have tools, parts, equipment, etc much better than 'bakinthday'
Cow Palace is before AMBR and the car will not be done in time for the Cow Palace show. Both the Sam Barris Merc and Ala Cart will be at the AMBR.
I can definately tell you guys that there are several hours on the world wide web looking for the correct parts and materials to restore the Ala Cart to be good enough to enter it in Pebble Beach should the situation arise. So far it is beautiful, except for the paint (just kidding Daryl)
If I offended you, I apologize. I did say, "The work that the Barris brothers did from the late '40s to the early '60s was spectacular and absolutely defined the whole class of Kustom cars... I admire the early stuff immensely and give both brothers huge credit for accomplishing it...", and I meant that tribute sincerely. I was sufficiently a fan of Barris that I wrote them a fan letter when I was about 11, and in 1957 chose the Barris shop to paint my dad's car. I say again, though, that the work done in George's name since the '60s is not in the same league as that early work. Not even close. As for criticizing another's taste, that's kind of a sticky issue. I wouldn't go up to a guy at a car show and say, "your car sucks", nor would I say that to George's face. Somebody who is in public life, though, is subject to public criticism -- whether he's a politician, a musician, or a car builder. This board is certainly not above criticizing the work of certain builders; Chip Foose and Bo Huff, for example, are frequent victims of scalding comments hereabouts. One more time: I admire and respect the early work of the Barris Brothers immensely. There is no question that they popularized and promoted cutomizing cars in a way that nobody else did. I don't admire or respect the showbiz work, or that done for private customers during the last 40 years or so. I can't think of any exceptions, although I'd be glad to reconsider that sweeping statement if I've missed something worthwhile. And as for Hot Wheels: no question, we did some real shit during the last 40 years, including some done on my watch. I'll take my lumps for the bad stuff done during my term in office. We did some pretty good stuff, too, and I'm proud of that part.
This is the sentence that I was refering to: "I believe that George's activities for the last 40 years are an embarrassment. Pioneer or not, he has put his name on a huge volume of shit. Shame on him." Now your response about your work was this: "And as for Hot Wheels: no question, we did some real shit during the last 40 years, including some done on my watch. I'll take my lumps for the bad stuff done during my term in office. We did some pretty good stuff, too, and I'm proud of that part." I guess my question is, why should he be ashamed and you be proud, when the work is pretty much the same. There is no answer to any of this, but sometimes I get caught up in these posts and have to make a comment for what ever it is worth. Thanks for responding, and thanks for the millions of cars driving around with little tires sticking out of the wheelwells as the little nippers have grown up and built what they played with. George Barris, Hotwheels, Rat Fink, Zingers, live on, and are part of the scene for sure.
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