Customs The Cars Of Kurt McCormick

Post away.

 

Not a bad offer in 1981. A 32 for the Hirohata Mercury .

 

Not a real good trade, he only put $3500 in the 32 lol.

 

Jim paid something like $500 for his wore out Custom years earlier. They weren`t worth much in 1981. Would of been a hell of an offer back then. $3500 would of been in 1976.

 

We should've bought up all of the 426 hemi's back then! I figured that was a typo!

 

Kurt had this car back when he was in our club, the "Roarin' 30's of Missouri". I had the pleasure o getting a ride once. Kurt put it up for sale right after I had bought a big block Corvette and I couldn't swing the deal. One of the great disappointments of my life. I would have loved to have had it. So, the question is: Does anybody know where this car is, what has been done to it? Rumor was it was chopped, turned into a show car, stuffed into a garage, another was that it was a race car. Anybody know the real story?

 

Ok hamb. It always amazed me how the HAMB could find long lost cars. So lets see how this plays out. Last i heard it was in California and was a full out race car with ladder bars, before that in Arizona and chopped and painted purple. Take it from there. Do not have a clue how accurate my knowledge of it is.

 

i met kurt at his house way back when. we were buying parts. i noticed a '32 grille shell on his wall and he showed us that deuce. the dual fuel pumps sounded like chain saws!
kurt won a lot of money racing that car on the street back in the day; he said one big problem was the doors would fly open at about 80.
he may still have the r&c dream truck. he drove that sam barris buick to a show and the trans shot craps in indiana!
another "wow" moment: you mentioned the wayne crump interior; i worked with wayne for 3 years driving trucks. he was a great guy and really a craftsman. definitely danced to the beat of his own drum!

 

a little bird told me that george barris was not real happy about kurt selling those crests!

 

I saw the add Kurt had in a magazine a few weeks ago. I`ll try and find it. Here`s the Shoebox he had at that time. An old 50`s custom. The son of the original builder who drove the car to prom tried to find the car. After a search, he found it. Kurt had sold it years earlier. He tried to buy the car for 9 or so years. The owner wasn`t ready to sell. He then passed away and the widow sold him the car. This past summer, the new owner displayed the car at the Custom Car Revival in Indy only after owning it for a couple months. His mom got to see the car again as well. He showed it again at the 40 `th annual Leadsleds in Salina. He will eventually return it back the way his dad built it. I need to post some current pic`s I took of it recently.

 

If I mess up at anytime along this thread. Please feel free to correct me. I`ll do the best I can.

 

Somehow those tail lights just don't work on that car. Makes it look like a frog from behind.

 

I like them....

 

Either he is really tall, of she is very much the "fun sized" version of a woman.

 

Does it really matter?

 

Well that didnt work out so well on where a bouts of the car now. So i called Kurt and last he knew of his old coupe it is in California and has been transformed into a full on racecar. Ladder bars, chute, chopped, wide rear tires and fenders . Not even close to what it was. So now we know

 

Kurt is VERY tall. Got the chance of seeing all his cars twice on my trips over there and before he started selling off. Also travelled to CCR in 2019 with Kurt and Amy in the Caddy convertible.

 

No pictures.

 

Thank goodness there's folks like Curt McCormick who keep the custom dream alive and well.

 

i'm 6-4 and had to look up when we talked!

 

at about this time, there was another shoebox in st. louis called "the fordillac." as i recall, it had caddy fenders and was shortened into a 2-seater, with the front end lengthened a corresponding amout.

 

I have lots of pictures from 2018 visit. This one is Kurt trying out the drivers seat in the Hudson.He had to double over to fit in. Just on my way out and will post some other pictures later.

 

One of the first Barris Customs I saw that Kurt eventually owned was the Sam Barris Buick. Owned at that time was Jim Walker of Dayton Ohio(?). I saw it in Springfield Ohio`s KKOA show in 83. It was found in a junkyard and was restored.

 

i remember the ad. it began, "to the gentleman with the hirohata merc..."

 

it always reminded me of that car that captain midnight drove!

 

I was referring to the add selling Barris Crests.

 

Kurt is a dear friend to me, as well as a multitude of other car guys. He is a wealth of history and general information. It is sad that he sold the Dream Truck, but life goes on, and it certainly doesn't change who he is. My kudo's to Kurt and Amy for all they do for the custom and hot rod world !!!

 

An add from Kurt from October of 1980 in Custom Rodder magazine.

 

The Sam Barris Buick was found in Worcester, Mass. many years ago. I saw it when it was owned by Chris Carrier of West Hartford, Connecticut.