Barris Kustoms
From Kustomrama
[edit] The Early Years
George Barris and Sam Barris were pioneers in the early days of kustomizing. George learned the craft in the Sacramento area before World War II by hanging around Harry Westergard's garage to see how it was done.[2] George began helping Harry whenever time would permit. George carefully followed the instructions of his new friend who eventually taught him such necessary formalities as layout and paneling. Doing these odd jobs at Westergard's shop brought in a little extra money. With the money George bought a 1936 Ford Coupe, the first car in which he had sole interest. Between the staggering amount of school and working with Westergard, George also found time to work on his 1936 Ford Coupe. The coupe was completed in 1941. Interest in his various studies was still foremost, and George began studying harder than ever. In addition to the courses already mentioned, he took up shop work, mechanical drawing, designing, and an additional course including singing and orchestration. In 1942 Sam Barris joined the Army, while George Barris was turned down. George turned to the Merchant Marine, and was subsequently told to go to Los Angeles and await assignment to a ship. George packed his belongings, including what body tools he had managed to accumulate, and headed southward in his customized 1936 Ford Convertible. His new friends in Los Angeles lauded George on the fine job. Such things as push button doors and deck lids were practically unknown, so his new friends urged him to stay and do body work if he could arrange it.[2]
[edit] Jones's Body, Fender & Paint Shop
As time went on, George was never assigned to a ship, so he got a job in a body and fender shop. This didn't last long however. The foreman demanded George to straighten fenders, but George wanted to chop or channel something, anything would do.[2] So he quit the job and went on to work for Jones's Body, Fender & Paint Shop instead where he worked his way up to foreman. According to George he gained a lot of basic experience while working at Jones's Body, Fender & Paint Shop.[3]
[edit] The First Shop in Bell
A couple of stories on how Barris Kustoms was born exists. According to the book Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's Volume 1 , George opened up his own small shop on Imperial Highway in Bell, California in late 1944. When Sam was discharged from the Navy the following year, George persuaded him to join the venture despite his lack of experience. In Hop Up May 1953 another version of the story is told. According to that story Sam looked up his long lost brother in Los Angeles in 1945 after being discharged from the Navy, in order to find out what he was up to. George and Sam sat down and talked about old times. The old 1925 Buick came up, and the boys had a good laugh remembering the work they had done to the old jalopy. In the middle of the conversation George said "Hey, man, I've got an idea. Let's go into the custom business together!" Sam reminded him that he had no experience as either a body man or as a painter, except from from the work he had done to the old Buick. George began teaching Sam, and after a few weeks he decided that his older brother would pass for a body man. George and Sam pooled their resources and rented a small shop on Imperial Avenue in Los Angeles. The year was 1946, and Barris Kustoms was born. The first few months of the new enterprise were hard. But as Sam became as proficient at body work as his younger brother business began to pick up.[4]
[edit] Moving to Larger Premises at Compton Avenue
After opening their first shop, the brother struggled until George's 1941 Buick won top honors at the first Hot Rod Exposition Show at the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles in January 1948. Winning that show put Barris Kustoms at the map, and the consequently moved their shop to larger premises at 7674 Compton Avenue. After moving the shop, they changed their name to "Barris's Custom Shop". At the time they were an official Brake Station, something that helped improve the cash flow day to day.[5] George soon realized that their shop on Compton Avenue was slightly out of the magazines' reach, so in order to get their cars promoted through the growing amount of hot rod and custom magazines, he learned to take magazine quality photos of their cars and work. When Robert E. Petersen founded Hot Rod Magazine in 1948, he called George and asked if he had some pictures he could contribute with in the magazine. This resulted in a lot of press, both in the form of full features, and how-to stories in many different magazines from all over the country. Customers began bringing cars in from the middle west and the east.[6]
[edit] Back to Bell, Then Lynwood
The Compton Avenue shop that had seemed so large in the beginning proved to be too small to house all of the cars that customers brought there, so the brothers were forced to move to a even larger shop at 4120-1/2 East Florence Avenue in Bell in 1949. They were only in that shop for a short time, time enough to run a 1/2 page ad with Gaylord in Motor Trend February 1950. Within 6 months or so Barris Kustoms moved to 11054 S. Atlantic Blv in Lynwood.[7] Not only did the the size of the shop have to be increased, the staff had to be expanded also.[2] After moving the shop to Lynwood business really took off, and they were working all hours of the night and day.[7]
[edit] The Von Dutch Connection
Von Dutch was working at a motorcycle shop in the vicinity and had a reputation for being a good striper and painter. George Barris hired Von Dutch on a part time basis to do paint work for Barris Kustoms. The first job Von Dutch did for Barris Kustoms was to paint the business sign on the outside of the building. According to himself he fooled with the spelling and came up with a "K" instead of a "C" to spell custom, and thereby establishing the Barris' phrase "Kustom Car."[8] While still working out of his shop on 7674 Compton Avenue "Barris's Custom Shop" used the phrase "Kustom Automobiles" and "Kustom Auto Painting" in their advertising. So I guess this kills Von Dutch's story. Von Dutch worked for a while as a "house striper" at Barris Kustoms. But according to Hersh Conway in the book Dean Jeffries 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film, Von Dutch was too moody.[9] Von Dutch was very eccentric, and would get angry if you asked too many questions. If you said something he didn't like he would either paint something stupid, wipe the stripes off your car, or put oil in the paint so your pinstriping wouldn't dry.[8] So George eventually had to let him go.
[edit] Hersh "Junior" Conway
In 1955, after being graduated from high school, Hersh "Junior" Conway went to work for Barris Kustoms as a trainee. "Junior" did eventually become the primary painter at Barris Kustoms. "Junior" worked at Barris Kustoms until 1961.[9]
[edit] Dean Jeffries
Until Dean Jeffries began practicing pinstriping, Von Dutch had been the only one around doing modern striping. After the word got out that Dean Jeffries, "The Kid" was a pretty good pinstriper George Barris called him and asked if he could do some striping on Johnny Zupan's 1949 Mercury. After he had pinstriped the car, George asked if Dean would work for him. Dean said that he didn't want to work for him, but that he would gladly rent some space from him. George agreed, and Dean moved in to a little spot next door to the Barris Kustoms shop in 1956. Jeffries had now become the new Barris Kustoms "house striper." After the shop fire in 1957 Dean moved into the front of the new building where he rented space alongside Roy Gilbert, the upholsterer.[3]
[edit] Barris North
As Barris Kustoms was progressing, Sam was unhappy with his life. Family pressure, the wants for an easy-paced life and the need to return to Roseville all boiled down, and Sam moved back to northern California. At the time he left there were a lot of projects going on in the shop, the Aztec was one of these. The Aztec was one of the last full custom projects Sam worked on. According to The Big Book of Barris the Aztec was not completed until long after Sam had left the business. This means that Sam must have left Barris Kustoms around 1956-1957. Sam continued to do some custom work in Sacramento at Barris North. But Sam wanted out of the industry, and the El Capitola was the last full custom he completed in 1960. After Sam left, Barris Kustoms were still creating custom cars and hot rods at fast pace. At the time 6 guys worked along George in the shop.
[edit] The Shop Fire
December 7, 1957, during a windy and wet early evening storm a power line strung along the boundary at the back of the shop and sent a shower of sparks on the rear of the shop and started a smoldering fire. Dean Jeffries who worked at the shop at the time was having dinner right across the street. He was the first person to spot the fire and raise the alarm. He stormed into the shop and saved Carol Lewis' 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air that was located inside the shop at the moment. Carol Lewis was Dean Jeffries girlfriend at the time. The firefighters managed to stop the fire just short of the Ala Kart. According to the book Dean Jeffries 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film, 14 cars were destroyed in the fire, including the Wild Kat, Jayne Mansfield's Jaguar, Archie Moore's Jaguar,[9] and Ron Guidry's 1936 Ford[10] According to Jet December 19, 1957 the number was 12, and not 14. In the same story George estimated the total loss in cars to be $ 100,000 USD.[11] After the fire the insurance company refused to pay compensation, and claimed the fire was an act of God. After the shop fire George had Gene Simmons take over as general manager so that George could concentrate on getting the business back in order. One section of the shop was not touched by the fire, so he set up the workshop there and renovated the rest of the shop. George also extended the shop out back, and added space up front for a Kustom Accessories store and pinstriping shop that he continued to rent out to Dean Jeffries. The walls were beginning to close in on Jeffries, and he saw a demand for his business growing to compete with Barris instead of complementing Barris. Jeffries pulled up stakes and moved his shop to Hollywood. A move that would help start his extremly successful career building cars for movies.[9]
[edit] Larry Watson
One day George Barris called Larry and asked if he could do some paneling on the Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck. He was just starting to paint Candies, and he'd shot this Candy Lime over silver. There were a few mistakes, so he called Larry and asked if he could cover them up with scallops in Candy Burgundy over silver metallic. In 1958, not long after painting the Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck George called Larry again, and asked if he could take over the paint department while he, Dean Jeffries and Bill Carr were going back east on a 2 month tour. When George called they were building a pizza parlor in front of Larry's shop, so he said ok. When Dean Jeffries returned from his trip back east, Dean and Larry were kicking ass together, knocking out three or four scallop and flame jobs a day, and pinstriping their asses off in between. After about 4 months he relocated back to hie own shop in Bellflower.[3]
[edit] Show Promotions
Throughout the 1950s George worked extensively with show promoters all over the country, but especially in California. George saw the opportunity to make good money there, so with the help of his wife Shirley Barris, as his show manager, he organized several shows, including the International Motor Sports Show in Hollywood in 1959, and the first annual Bakersfield Motor & Boat Show in Bakersfield, California, in 1960. Doing the shows turned out to be very time consuming, so George went back to working with other show promoter such as Harry Costa, Blackie Gejeian, Harold Bagdasarian, and Bob Larivee.
[edit] Barris Kustom City
During the 1950s Barris Kustoms had turned out numerous TV and movie cars, and George was perfectly positioned to seek more work in that arena. The main focus of Barris Kustoms in the 1960s turned over to doing commercial work for them movie industry, the model car business. The model car business had long been one of George's great interests. He worked with AMT, which turned his long line of customs and hot rods into scale models. The Ala Kart had become the basis for one of AMT's most popular kits, and AMT Vice President George Toteff could see that his company's association with George Barris and Barris Kustoms was distinctly to its advantage. Budd Anderson from AMT and George Barris got together with Toteff and came up with a plan to create cars for AMT that would serve as prototypes for model kits. The first of these cars was the AMT Styleline Thunderbird issued in 1961. AMT created the Custom Car Caravan which toured the country showing the AMT Styline Thunderbird. The Custom Car Caravan became the seed for the Ford Custom Car Caravan.
In 1961 George opened Barris Kustom City, a huge facility capable of any sort of auto building and service. His association with the Ford Custom Car Caravan put enormous pressure on the shop. Within two years he had 25 full time employees working for him, including body guys, painters, sanders, metal shapers, mechanics, upholsterers, fiberglass workers, and general handymen.
In the mid 1960s Barris Kustom City was busy building cars For the Ford Custom Car Caravan. One morning William Dozier, a TV producer rang George and asked how quickly he could come up with a car for the new Batman TV Series he was producing for ABC. "A couple of weeks" answered George. Working with the Ford Custom Car Caravan George had made good connections with Ford Motor Company, so three weeks later he could delivered a finished Batmobile based on the Lincoln Futura Concept Car.
After doing the Batmobile Mercury marketers had seen what George and Barris Kustom City could do, so they got in touch with George wanting him to also build them some unique cars for their own Caravan of Stars Program. David Ash, the head of Mercury Design, contracted Barris Kustom City to build two special cars: a shortened Mercury Marauder, and a full-bodied coach-built custom called the Escapade.
After the Marauder and the Escapade Barris Kustom City built the Munster Koack and the Drag-u-la for the 1966 TV season of the Munsters TV series.
Toward the end of the 1960s the customizing business changed dramatically. Detroit was building some real fun cars, and the auto accessory aftermarket was booing with wheels, body kits, decal packages, and tons of chromed and polished aluminum accessories. George could see this trend clearly, and after having created a lot of accessory items for other companies he started to manufacture items of his own. His Instant Customizing line included body kits and other conversions for Firebirds, Camaros, Cadillacs, Barracudas, and Marlins.
[edit] Barris Kustoms Today
Barris Kustom Industries is still alive, and George Barris is running the business its shop located at 10811 Riverside Drive in North Hollywood, California. In an interview with DiecastSpace called "Take a Ride on The Wild Side with George Barris!" in 2009 George tells the listeners that he is done with old shoeboxes and Mercuries, and that his main focus these days are in designing and kustomizing new cars such as the Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Camaro, and the Dodge Challenger.
[edit] External Links
Visit www.barriskustomcity.com in order to dive further into the George Barris Photo Archive
[edit] Employees of Barris Kustoms
Bill Hines
Bill Polk
Dean Jeffries
Dick Jackson
Earl Harman
Frank Sonzogni
Jerry Quesnel
Jesse Lopez
John Manok
Junior Conway
Larry Watson
Louie Stojanovich
Oran Breeland
Skip Barrett
[edit] Cars Restyled by Barris Kustoms
The Cal-Loui Roadster
Chet Herbert's Streamliner
The Cadillac LeMans
The Ala Kart
Les Callahan's 1922 Dodge Roadster Pickup
Joe Graffio's 1927 Ford Model T Roadster
Chuck Kirkorian's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster - The Emperor
Tom Pollard's 1929 Ford Roadster
Art and Lloyd Chrisman's 1930 Ford Model A Bonneville Coupe
Andy Kassa's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe
Clarence Catallo's 1932 Ford Coupe - The Silver Sapphire / The Little Deuce Coupe
George Sein's 1932 Ford 5 Window Coupe - The Flamer
George Barris' 1936 Ford Coupe
George Barris' 1936 Ford Convertible
Ron Guidry's 1936 Ford 5-Window Coupe
Dick Fowler's 1938 Ford Coupe
Sam Barris' 1939 Ford Convertible
Dave Cunningham's 1940 Ford Sedan - The Li'l Beauty
Tom Hocker's 1940 Ford
Fred Pape's 1940 LaSalle
Al Andril's 1940 Mercury
Johnny Zaro's 1940 Mercury
Nick Matranga's 1940 Mercury
George Barris' 1941 Buick Convertible
Herb Ogden's 1941 Buick Convertible
Var Martin's 1941 Buick
Vic Grace's 1941 Buick
Dick Arkline's 1941 Chevrolet
Dick Carter's 1941 Ford
Frank Monteleon's 1941 Ford
George Janich's 1941 Ford Business Coupe
Jack Stewart's 1941 Ford
Jesse Lopez' 1941 Ford
Joe Barnett's 1941 Ford Pickup
Joe Graffio's 1941 Ford
Joe Urritta's 1941 Ford
Johnny Zaro's 1941 Ford Convertible
Bill DeCarr's 1941 Mercury
Bob Tormey's 1941 Mercury
Ann Reynolds' 1942 Ford
Anne De Valle's 1942 Ford Club Coupe
Jack Brumbach's 1942 Ford
Ben Mario's 1947 Buick
Don Vaughn's 1947 Buick
George Sinamark's 1947 Buick
Cliff Rockohn's 1947 Mercury
Cliff Rockohn's 1947 Mercury Coupe
Earl Wilson's 1947 Studebaker-The Grecian
Tommy Thornburgh's 1947 Studebaker
The High School Confidential 1948 Chevrolets
Louie Stojanovich's 1947 Plymouth
Jim Skonzakes' 1949 Buick Roadmaster
Bill Taylor's 1949 Chevrolet Convertible
Carl Abajian's 1949 Chevrolet Convertible
Dan Landon's 1949 Chevrolet
Gordon Anderson's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline
Marcia Campbell's 1949 Chevrolet
Richard Riuz' 1949 Chevrolet Convertible
Tom Carroll's 1949 Chevrolet
Barris Kustoms' 1949 Ford Woody Wagon
Buster Litton's 1949 Ford
Michael Violante's 1949 Ford Convertible
Bill Busch's 1949 Mercury
Jerry Quesnel's 1949 Mercury
Johnny Zupan's 1949 Mercury
Louie Bettancourt's 1949 Mercury
Sam Barris' 1949 Mercury
Robert La Briola's 1949 Oldsmobile
Helen Manning's 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline
Al Hentch's 1950 Ford Convertible
Chuck DeWitt's 1950 Ford Convertible
Curt Mendalson's 1950 Ford
Don Fiedlar's 1950 Ford Convertible
Fred Calvin's 1950 Ford
Junior Conway's 1950 Ford
Bob Muccilli's 1950 Hudson Pacemaker
Bob Lund's 1950 Mercury
Buddy Alcorn's 1950 Mercury
Dale Marshall's 1950 Mercury
Frank Sonzogni's 1950 Mercury
Jerry Reichman's 1950 Mercury 4-door
Ralph Testa's 1950 Mercury
Larry Ernst's 1951 Chevrolet - The Bel Air Royal
Pete Chiello's 1951 Ford Victoria
Bob Hirohata's 1951 Mercury
Dave Bugarin's 1951 Mercury
Fred Rowe's 1951 Mercury Convertible
Mandy Holder's 1951 Mercury
Don Hurley's 1951 Oldsmobile 88 - The Kopper Dust
Frank Airheart's 1951 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible
Lyle Lake's 1952 Buick Riviera - The Blue Danube
Dick Simoni's 1952 Chevrolet Convertible
Larry Lee's 1952 Chevrolet Bel Air
Sam Barris' 1952 Ford
Clark Gable's 1952 Jaguar XK120
Nobby Miyakawa's 1952 Mercury Monterey
Anthony Heinsbergen's Muntz
Jack Nethercutt's 1952 Oldsmobile - The Viennese
Chuck DeWitt's 1953 Ford Station Wagon
Dick Meyer's 1953 Ford
Harry Karl's 1953 Cadillac Le Mans Concept Car
Barry Goldwater's 1953 Jaguar XK-120
Jim Skonzakes' 1953 Lincoln - The Golden Sahara
Bob Zoll's 1953 Mercury
Buck Gallegos' 1953 Mercury
Archie Moore's 1953 Nash-Healey
Bill Glazier and Bob Glazier's 1953 Oldsmobile
Ed Sloan's 1953 Plymouth
Tod Clare's 1954 Austin-Healey
Sal Mammano's 1954 Buick Roadmaster Riviera
Milton Melton's 1954 Cadillac - The Parisienne
Liberace's 1954 Cadillac
Martin Srabian and Morris Srabian's 1954 Ford Pickup - The Wild Kat
Ronnie Dragoo's 1954 Mercury
Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet - The Aztec
Harry Hoskin's 1955 Chevrolet
John Seaton's 1955 Chevrolet
Sam Barris' 1955 Chevrolet
Dick Day's 1955 Ford Thunderbird
Mitch Nagao's Thunderbird
James Dean's 1955 Porsche Spyder 550
The Kopper Kart
Carol Lewis' 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air
George Barris' 1956 Lincoln Continental
Don Coulter's 1956 Oldsmobile 88
Frank Monteleone's 1956 Ford
Johnny Zupan's 1956 Ford F-100[12]
The El Capitola
Barris Kustom's 1957 Ford Ranchero
Buddy Alcorn's 1957 Ford
Dick Jackson's 1957 Ford Thunderbird
Archie Moore's Jaguar
Andy Southard's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Joe Previte's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Ray Strappazon's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Larry Watson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird
Shirley Barris' 1958 Ford Thunderbird
Jim Seaton's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino
Joe Burgasser's 1959 Chevrolet Impala
Norman Wesp's 1959 Chevrolet Impala
Jeannie O'Neal's 1962 Ford Thunderbird
Bob Nordskog's 1963 Chevrolet Corvette - The Asteroid
The Cosma Ray
The XPAK 400
[edit] References
- ↑ The HAMB- The Early Custom Pick
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hop Up May 1953
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's Volume 4
- ↑ Hop Up May 1953
- ↑
- ↑ The Rodders Journal 29
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's Volume 1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hot Rod Magazine March 1977
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Dean Jeffries 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film
- ↑ World of Car Craft
- ↑ Jet December 19, 1957
- ↑ Custom Cars of the 1950s
Barris Kustoms of the 1950s
Barris Kustoms of the 1960s
The Rodders Journal Number 39
Take a Ride on The Wild Side with George Barris!
Comments and Additional Information
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