Customs Barris custom on the road to recovery!

I have the privilege to be chosen by new caretaker, Mike Miranda, to final finish and put paint on the 1940 Ford, built by Bob Crespo and finished by George Barris. "Les PoPo" as it was called, is in my shop and after doing final alignments, and blocking, will be finished in either Blue Metalflake, or perhaps Candy Blue, over silver flake. Looking into the matter now.
It is a very radical custom built in 60's style, and it's design has been polarizing, to say the least. The amount of work on it is amazing, the hood is a lead finished work of art!
Mike purchased the car from our own Mark Moriarty, and is in the final stages of getting all the pieces together to finish it off. My p later can handle chroming the wheels when apart for reversing, and Mike has the original back seats, and some replacement fronts. It will return to being flathead powered.
And just in time to remind us of Georges' passing exactly a year ago! A nice way to honor his memory.

 

Can't wait to see it all nice and shinny. Cool!
-Dave

 

I remember the full color feature in Hot Rod back in the 1960's, good to see it coming back to life. Bob

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished product

 

Wow that is cool can't wait to see the finished car!! Hobo Jim

 

It was radical alright.

 

Glad to see this... I was wonderin" !

 

No offense to George or anyone else but this car is not exactly the best looking custom out of the Barris collection IMHO....

 

I agree, even at the time, I thought how could THIS be better than Ford's design.

IMO

 

Great to see looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

Kustoms, as anything else in life the BEAUTY is in the eyes of the creator. But these Barris built Kustoms of the day are rolling works of ART. Not everyone has the same vision of the completed work but they are ART just the same. Well that's my opinion anyway. Joe

 

That's some ugly ART. But given the history, it'll get a pass.

 

.......in the eye of the beholder ....I'm not beholdenn......

 

Glad to see it's in good hands and getting a restoration true to the original build.

 

To all the non-lovers you need to remember the times this (or any) car was built in to truly appreciate it. Personally I would prefer a sectioned and unchopped '49/50 Ford Business coupe, but that doesn't lessen this radical custom at all.
-Dave

 

It's always nice to see someone having the passion to bring a piece of history back and make it shine once again.
Congrats on the job at hand, I'm sure all of the BK guys who worked on it are digging the fact that it's coming around again.

 

Long live the king


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

At this point in time, it is more about history than style. It is amazing to look at in person and I do have to say I'm sad Mark chose to send it down road; I was looking forward to see it finished in his garage. Glad to see it has not dropped out of sight and is still on it's way to completion.

 

that is really cool. I'd like to see some pics of it before people started working on it again.

 

did you mean THE EYES OF THE BEER HOLDER ?

 

Subscribed! Glad to see its not being un-sectioned and painted black...

 

Too bad they didn't start with a Nash or something other than a '40 Ford.

 

Good to see it found a keeper who respects the work in it and made it's way to someone who will probably make it look better than ever but not change anything except the color.

 

'""""""""" Kustom History """"""""""

 

It doesn't matter if some find it ugly, it's history of our chosen hobby, and I'm sure looking forward to the finished product.

 

Not gonna say it's ugly, just thought the main body looked almost VW-ish with all the mods made to it.

 

Chopolds have you by any chance been in touch with his son Tony Crespo? He and the car lived here in Durango but I have not seen him in a while. He always wanted to restore the car but didn't have the time or money. He sold the car when he was out of work and money and about to loose his house. If I find him I'll send him your way. Glad to see it in good hands.

 

There is a good article about the car here: http://www.customcarchronicle.com/custom-cars/les-popo-new-caretaker/

As far as the styling goes, the late 50's-early 60's era was a time when professional car builders were all trying to outdo each other and make names for themselves. The wildest designs were the ones which got the most press, bringing their designers/builders more attention. Those designs look odd to us now, but they served their purpose of drawing attention and more jobs to those who pulled them off. I really don't like the far-out designs of that time, but they are a part of the history of our hobby, like them or not. To have a car which is so close to the way it was built back then is a rare find indeed. I applaud Mark Moriarty and Mike Miranda for recognizing the importance of the car's place in custom car history, and for seeing to it that the car will be returned to its former historic state. (At least the rear end styling of the car looks nice.)

 

Late to the Party,
I agree with your opinion.
A close friend of mine told me : "If we ALL liked what YOU like, the only differences would be the name on the titles."
Of COURSE, I replied, "So what's yer point?"