Folks Of Interest Nick Matranga Interview

In 2003, when I was working on producing Barris Kustoms of the 50's, I did an interview with the late Nick Matranga. He talked about his famous '40 Merc and about George & Sam and what it was like at Barris Kustoms back then.

I just have to say that Nick was one of the nicest and most generous people I've ever met in the hobby. So here is the uncut interview with Nick at his shop
from'03. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_PUkxVsZU4

Thanks,
Ed Gallagher

 

It's also on my Hot Rod Video Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parker-CO/Hot-Rod-Video/120434184695177

 

Nice thanks for posting.

 

Very cool thanks for sharing that.

 

thanks for taking the time to interview Nick, and also for sharing that video.

 

I regret not going back to interview him again, he had a lot of great old stories to tell.

 

Really enjoyed seeing that. Thank you

 

Groovybaby6...

Many thanks. The History & Stories of these Legends should never be forgotten !

Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

so cool to get all the info on nicks merc straight from nick himself. Great interview. Nicks merc is my favorite merc of all times. Sweet it is..larry "king of the mercs"

 

One thing I should add, Nick told me that when he came back from Korea, he went to Barris to get his Merc back and George told him it was gone. The kid that bought the car wrapped it around a telephone pole and totaled it.

 

Very nice! Real great to hear Nick Matranga speking about it. Thank you for doing the interview and for posting the link to it.

 

YES thanks for posting this video, one of my all time fav 40 Merc's, he seemed to be a very nice guy, he gave credit to Sam and my buddy Jesse Lopez. It's sad to be losing these great old builders.

RIP Nick

 

Wow! It would be interesting to hear the story of how Nick's Merc got sold without his permission.

 

Thanks for this video interview.
Very interesting to hear Nick talk about his old Merc.

 

No subs***ute for hearing from the guys who were there.....love that stuff....thanks

 

Just think how he feels everytime he sees it in print or on the internet, I think it would seem surreal after awhile. That was a good interview, THANKS!

 

One of my all-time favorite cars. What a treat to see that Nick was such a nice un***uming guy. Although I have read numerous accounts on Sam being a great guy, Nick's heartfelt words about his love for Sam seal the deal for me. Sam and Nick were both something else. Thank you for posting the interview.

 

Very cool interview thanks so much for posting it.

 

Just to clarify, Nick asked George to sell the car because he was going to fight in Korea, when he came back he wanted to buy it back but it was totaled by the time he got out of the service.

 

This is great,thank you for sharing the interview.

 

A funny story Nick told me was that when he bought the '40 in '48 or '49 he brought it home and his mother told him it was ugly and to get rid of it.

Nick told her, "you just wait Ma and see what I'm gonna do with it."

He sure did take the ugly out of that car!