George Barris Passes

[sfhogman]

Sigh....if you were a motorhead kinda kid in the '50s and '60s, Barris was the man. Right up there with Gene Winfield, Darryl Starbird and the rest. When I was little, I always wished my Dad had something like the Golden Sahara, or, basically, anything but the '54 Buick....

Jeff

 

[Fox Mike]

Truly lost a great talent. I remember Hot Rod magazine and the photos of his 'custom' cars.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

That's really sad news.

A couple of years ago, we were at a car show not far from his studio/shop, and decided to stop on the way home and see what they had on display that day. It was a Sunday, so the shop was closed, but the gate to the back was open. While we were looking thru the window, a car came out, driven by a young woman who got out to close the gate. Her passenger was George himself. He gave us a big smile and a wave just before she drove him off.

George takes another big chunk of what we've loved about California with him, and he'll be missed. Rest in peace, old friend!

Rick C

 

[graygun]

Sad and I didn't know Ed Roth was also gone. I had some Weird Ohs models in the mid 60s.

 

[pete44ru]

.

Barris & Roth were the -60's equivalent of Chip Foose.

.

 

[Snake45]

Sad and I didn't know Ed Roth was also gone. I had some Weird Ohs models in the mid 60s.

Neither of them had anything to do with Hawk Models' Weird-Ohs kits.

 

[RugerHound]

Barris was brilliant! RIP George. You had a darned good ride at 89! May we all last that long!

 

[Snake45]

Roth was under contract to Revell.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Barris created the car for the Munsters. He did a lot of vehicles like that. American Pickers were at his shop recently and frank bought one of his cars.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

If we're gonna talk about Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who was around in the early '60s who doesn't remember this character, perhaps one of his most well known creations?

With thanks to the late Allan Sherman for another memory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTK322Sowc

Rick C

 

[Pistolero]

This post brought back pleasant memories of assembling model hot rods on an old table under a shade tree with an old pal. We both had Rat Fink tee shirts. We both idolized George Barris and Ed Roth.....

 

[toysoldier]

The pictures sure bring up memories, but my brother and I focused on assembling 3-in-1 models, saving leftover parts to put on another model. Body putty was our friend.

 

[Snake45]

Barris created the car for the Munsters. He did a lot of vehicles like that. American Pickers were at his shop recently and frank bought one of his cars.

Barris built the Munster Coach, but it was designed by a talented designer named Tom Daniel. Daniel later created a bunch of the kooky kustom car models for Monogram in the 1970s.

 

[737tdi]

This post brought back pleasant memories of assembling model hot rods on an old table under a shade tree with an old pal. We both had Rat Fink tee shirts. We both idolized George Barris and Ed Roth.....

...back when it never occurred to us to get high by sniffing the glue!

Those were the days.

LOL, it may not have occurred to us but now that I think back it might have happened. On winter days, after the cows were fed and chores were done, I would sit for hours building desert warfare dioramas, aircraft models and sailing ships. I think all of that glue may have had some effects. 8) 8) . I can recall my mom reeling from my room when she came in to tell me it was time to go to bed.


Karl

 

[RSIno1]

When I first saw Adam West's Batmobile, I thought he was a genuine genius until I saw what the Lincoln Futura (that he based it on)

It wasn't based on the Futura - it was the Futura. It had been knocking around Hollywood since it was built in 1955. It was also featured in a Debbie Reynolds, Glen Ford movie a couple years before it became the Batmobile. George was good at promotion and creating ideas for wild rides. But, all the early beautiful chopped top lead sleds were the metalwork of his very talented brother Sam.

 

[montegomx70]

Barris created the car for the Munsters. He did a lot of vehicles like that. American Pickers were at his shop recently and frank bought one of his cars.

Barris built the Munster Coach, but it was designed by a talented designer named Tom Daniel. Daniel later created a bunch of the kooky kustom car models for Monogram in the 1970s.

the Munster coach is the coolest hot rod ever made., I think he did the red baron.