George Barris (auto customizer)
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George Barris is the best-known designer of custom cars in the world. With some justification, he styles himself King of the Kustomizers.
George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. Due to the deaths of their parents, they moved to Roseville, California as children to live with relatives. Both were good students, interested in drama, music, and design. George was fascinated with model aircraft, and pursed the hobby seriously in his teenage years, winning competitions for his models.
The brothers worked at a restaurant owned by their family, and one day were given a 1925 Buick for their help. Although it was not in good shape, they swiftly restored it to running condition, and began to experiment with changing its appearance. This became the first Barris Brothers custom car. They sold it at a profit to buy another project vehicle, and their career was born. Before George had graduated from high school, demand for their work was growing, and they had created a club for owners of custom vehicles, called the Kustoms Car Club. This was the first use of the spelling "kustom," which would become associated with Barris.
Sam entered the Navy during World War II, while George moved to Los Angeles. Sam joined him there after being discharged. The two built their "kustom" designs for private buyers, and George also built and raced his own cars briefly. These activities brought them to the attention of the movie industry, and they were soon asked to create cars both for personal use by the studio executives and stars and as props for films, their first being used in 1958's 'High School Confidential'. They also made the acquaintance of Robert E. Petersen, founder of Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines and, much later, of the Petersen Auto Museum. His publications and car shows further publicized the Barris style, George himself writing how-to articles for would be customizers.
In 1951, Sam had customized a new Mercury coupe for himself, and a customer who saw it ordered a similar car. This vehicle, known as the Hirohata Merc for its owner, was shown at the 1952 Motorama auto show and was so popular it overshadowed the best work of Detroit's top designers, on display at the major manufacturer's exhibits. It also established the early '50s Mercury as possibly the classic base for custom car design, a status it retains today.
Sam decided to leave the business in the '50s, but George had married and he credited his wife Shirley with major assistance in promoting the company, which eventually became Barris Kustom Industries. It began to license its designs to model car manufacturers such as Revell and AMT, which spread the Barris name into every hobby, department, and discount store in the country and also into the minds of millions of eager model builders.
[edit] Auto customizing for television
The 1960s would see the firm become heavily involved in vehicle design for television production. At the beginning of the decade, Barris, who loved extravagant design whether his or someone else's, had purchased the Lincoln Futura, a concept car of the mid-'50s which had been built by Ghia of Italy. It remained in his collection for several years, until he was rather unexpectedly asked by ABC Television to create a signature vehicle for their new Batman television series. Time was very short as filming would begin in a few weeks, and creation of a new design from scratch was scarcely possible. Instead, he remembered the Futura, which had been designed by the original Lincoln stylists to resemble a shark, with a menacing, aggressive front and high tailfins. Barris decided it was a perfect base on which to create the Batmobile. In three weeks the car was ready and the show was immediately a hit, the car becoming one of the most recognizable icons of the 1960s and possibly Barris' most famous work. Barris designs have also been featured in commercials. Barris' company often builds replicas of (but did not design) vehicles from other TV series, including The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters (Munster Koach, Drag-u-la), The Monkees (Monkeemobile), The Dukes of Hazzard (General Lee), Mannix (Roadster), Starsky and Hutch (Ford Torino), Power Rangers (Rad-Bug, Turbo Vehicles, and SPD Cars), Knight Rider (KITT), as well as Banacek (AMX-400). Barris Kustom Industries often sells these cars at auction for high sums, though they often lack in accuracy. There are rumored to be several lawsuits for misrepresented cars, many of which are currently displayed in museums as authentic cars.
Contrary to rumor, Barris had nothing to do with the Delorean time machine from the Back to the Future movie series. There had been such speculation over the years, especially since a couple of Deloreans actually were customized by Barris' workshop. In 2004, though, Bob Gale at the Delorean Car show went on record and said that George Barris had no part in the design of the Delorean in Back to the Future.
Barris still works out of his shop, assisted by his son and daughter. The firm remains busy with 'kustom' creation, charitable functions, and even a Barris clothing line. The founder himself is still in the public eye, receiving awards, appearing at auto-related events, and recently being featured on ABC TV's popular show Extreme Makeover.
