Hats off to Darryl Hollenbeck and crew...the Merc is stunning. Tough to get shots without people in 'em...kinda to be expected with a car of this caliber... Couple more here: http://villainscc.com/Images/BarrisMerc/index.htm Bryan
I was checking that out and talking to Pat Ganahl and the father of the guy? that worked on it and painted it. That car stood out from the show for sure. KNUX!.....isn't that Lee Pratt in the 1st pic on his cell phone?
Sam always looked proud when he was photographed with that car. Pretty obvious why... That is just stunning.
Hello Bryan, Thank you so much for taking these and psoting them.. .I have been looking foreward to see this car in day light for so many years. I wish I could have been ther in person.,.. but this is the second best thing. What amazes me is teh fact that there is not a huge croud around the car... it amazes me that you could make photos of this historical so imporant custom car at this show at all... I'm happy with the fact these great photos could be taken with virtually no people around it... but a the same time I'm disapointed a bit as well... is there no intrest in custom car history or what!!!!!
the car is awsome...but i have question..why doesnt george have this car beings it was his brothers ..was it sold to the guy that has it now by sam barris ..or whats the deal?...just curious why george dont own this car...anyone know?
The car was sold to Bob Orr by Sam Barris and Orr I believe sold it to Drivin Deuces member Tommy Lee in 57. During Tpommys Jersey ownership,he put scoops in the door that were designed by Harry Bradley as well as rounding the Hood corners .Tommy put an Olds in it and then the car sat for years.Restoration was started and then this guy bought it.The funny thing is that Tommy would rather drive average belly ****on 32 Ford roadsters around than these cars!
You're welcome Rikster...I hope to see a bunch from other members. There's still another day left of the show. It's funny you mention that...I got there on Friday and the Merc was already on display. There was nobody around it! The light was bad, so I waited 'til today to take the photos...amazingly I still got fairly clear shots and there were at least twice as many people at the show. A few HAMBers and I were laughing at the shock rods that had hordes of people around 'em and the beautiful historic cars that were sometimes getting p***ed by. A lot had to do with where the Barris Merc was parked, though...it was across Spring St. from the park which may not have been as visible. I felt honored to see it in person. Bryan
Rusk. To be honest widya, that is where people don't appreciate what time has for us....as in an original done by the famous Barris name and nobody hardly has a clue. The only reason that I knew of it's background was from standing there listening to Ganahl talk about it. KNUX!
Sad to say, I probably walked by some very famous kustoms and builders this weekend without knowing it. Thank god for the HAMB, or I might not have known to look for this Merc at the show. Bryan
lets try this ........,THIS IS THE FIRST CHOPPED MERC EVER AD THESE ARE THE FIRST PICS IF IT TOGETHER IN 50 YEARS!!!!!!!!..........thank you.
Lets do a little experiment..Re***le this thread,"The First Chopped Merc Ever" and watch how the view count spikes!
BTTT for Anthony... Anybody that has read anything on custom Mercs or the Barris Bros. should know this car.
I certainly wish that I could have been there to see this most historic Merc of all time - being as it was the FIRST one ever chopped, as well as just beautiful to look at. Sadly, I buried my dad this weekend. He was a cool old guy and I miss him terribly.
It is great to see this car brought back to life after all these years.Hopefully ,The Rodders Journal will do a story on this awesome Merc and it's builder.I wonder what Sam Barris would think of it?
I was really, really hoping that the Merc was going to be finished for the Roundup. It was awesome jut that they were trying to hurry and get it done for our show. But certainly, Paso is where it needs to re-debut. This car has to be one of the top 3 most influential customs of all time, if not number one. Not saying that to start a big debate. Just that they don't get much more historically important. And aside from historically important, the car is beautiful. What an eye Sam must have had. How to you get the first one so perfect? I mean, think of all of the cars we have to look at to decide what looks right, and what misses. Not just in person, but with 50 years of magazines, the internet, and photoshop at our disposal. He just comes right out of the box with a new car and nails it. Nothing less than genius. And yeah, Lee is on the phone with somebody saying, "you are not going to believe what I'm standing here looking at!"
Its truly amazing how many guys tell me they have a Sam Barris style chop when their car has slanted b pillars and 1/4 windows dictated by their 1 peice roof drop!This and Quesnels car were the only Merc coupes that Barris chopped that even had posts.As far as the Sam Barris roof,**** Dean cut em in a very similar fashion on his early mercs which were his best mercs.
Being around that car gave me the chills. Simply perfect and beautiful, you could not take your eyes off of it.
Good Morning-OO Mack- it -IS- a treat to see this car in the liight of day finally... a goal of mine for a LONG while. I also am glad to see that I havent been ****ing up almost every Merc I ever chopped.... By that I mean Sam did not lengthen the quarter gl*** nor did he slice the top a dozen times to widen the roofskin ,so that the B posts are "straight up".... They lean in from each side to accomodate a stock width roof panel.....DEAD ON RIGHT- AND NOT THE "CHECKER CAB" LOOK YOU SEE A LOT NOW. Also he was ON with the milder amount of chop as well by not chopping it till it was flat at the rear window as many...."era perfect chops"- are done today! Just an opinion but -a lot of cars nowadays are done for "shock effect", more than being done in good taste.....
I just sat here looking at that 4th. pic. so long that I fell asleep. There is none better than this one, but I will try to make one as good one day.
Hey Rikster, I don't beleve that the vast majority of the sheep (HAMB members- excepted) know **** 'bout kustoms. They know what a page in a magazine tells them is cool, what their buddy tell 'um is cool, but what's really cool, and why, nah! Ya look at the balance of line and form Sam used, and just the right amount of chrome, than look at some of the "Clownmobiles" that get built and driven and marvel- ed at and ya go what planet are these people from, haven't they been paying attention? It's like a good lookin' woman with great soft- ware and a great back porch, Nobody cares 'bout her education. A car magazine will put a car painted in red on the cover and that issue will soar off the newspaper rack, why? S****ey Devils C.C.
That Quesnel car was a god damn mess and if somebody found it there would probably be a crowd around it!..............what?................not true?
Am I dreaming or are the taillamps in that beautiful car really missing?? Those gaping rectangular holes can't be the finished product, can they? Is that a modern aftermarket power window switch on the door in that inside shot? This car is not near finished, is it?
The car is supposed to be finished for the GNRS..standing next to it, I could still smell the paint. Bryan
Rikster, I hope you don't let your disappointment deter you from what you are doing. I think you doing a great service keeping the flame of coolness alive. Record the history and the few who remember and those who want to know the history will have your work to guide them. Rusk thanks for the pictures, they are great.
As a guy that had his whole life influenced by Sam & George Barris and this Merc above all, I regret not being in Paso just to stand next to it. Sure hope it makes its way to the east coast soon.
With all of the Barris customs that Kurt Mc Cormick owns you should see all of the crowds just walk by his beautiful restorations of kustom history. It makes me sad to speak to him and see all of the time he puts into researching all of the kustoms (and EVERY person that has owned the cars previously) that he owns and only a small percentage of the car show participants even stop to see his s****books and look at his cars and even know how big a piece of history they really are. I get chills every time I go to his house and see all of his cars. He is the coolest man I know...... My hat is off to all who had a hand in getting sam's merc finished and back into the light of day!
The Jalopy Journal
