George Barris
Biography

George Barris was a legendary custom car builder, popular for designing iconic vehicles for numerous Hollywood productions and for making many celebrities happy by filling their garages with modified versions of their favorite cars.

His probably most memorable creation was Batmobile, made for the 1966 TV series Batman. Another timeless classic was his Munster Koach, a fantasy family car for The Munsters show.

Elvis Presley was one of the stars who entrusted him with their vehicles. His cadillac modification became an Australian tour sensation and raised a lot of money for charity. Other celebrity clients of George's shop were the Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. All the three mentioned characters were also his personal friends.

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In the hot rod community, Barris is widely regarded as pioneer and one of the most skilled customizers to ever grace the Earth. While for the movies he was letting his fantasy loose and created vehicles that often hold little resemblance to daily functional ones that we drive to work, car expos were blessed with his predatory machines that everyone dreamt of driving through town in every day, to the sounds of pedestrian jaws crushing the pavement.

For his custom cars, he won many awards. Most notable is the 5-year streak of Grand National Roadster Show wins. Up to this day, no other designer has been able to beat that run.

Together with his wife, he was also an active contributor to the Hot Rod magazine, for which he wrote many articles and pioneered car modification how-to pictorial guides.

George Barris was born in Chicago in 1925 to a family of Greek descent. When he and his brother Sam were still of a very young age, a devastating tragedy happened - they lost both their parents.

Fortunately for them, their uncle and aunt stepped up and decided to raise them, and so boys moved in to live with the couple in Roseville, California.

From early age, George was drawn to building custom things. Most notable in his youth were his balsa wood airplanes, with which he was showing an exceptional hand control, thinking and attention to detail way above of what could be expected from a 7-year old.

Airplane models led to car models. His family members were aware of this potential and allowed George into various model-building competitions. Just the first few were enough to make the boy a little inner-circle sensation. He impressed everyone around, and judges included - during that time, he gathered plenty of competition wins and special distinctions.

At the age of 16, something that George had been waiting all his youth for has finally happened - he transitioned from toys to real cars. The family's 1925 Buick delivery car used for the uncle's Greek restaurant wasn't ageing as well as George (born in the same year) and given that the boys were so good with this stuff, they were entrusted with the vehicle to try and bring it back to life.

Even though this was the first real car they worked on, the results were already good enough that it was sold at a profit.

With the unexpected cash-injection, the family bought a new delivery car - a 1929 Model A Ford. The word got out that the brothers are good at refreshing cars and other people asked for help with minor things.

Drawn to the subject, George and Sam began wandering around Los Angeles body shops to learn the tools of the trade. Particularly receptive were the two owners of Brown and Bertolucci’s body shop in Sacramento.

Bertolucci was then schooling his own boy first and foremost, and that effort later paid off - his son soon started his own repair shop that quickly established itself as a reputable business and continues to thrive to this day (website). Perhaps appreciating George and Sam's curiosity, Bertolucci and Brown welcomed them and showed them how to do many things.

Up to that point, fixing body was the extent of what the two had been doing, because they simply didn't know how to dig deeper yet. But they were hungry for knowledge and used every opportunity to learn more.

While chasing girls was one of the designer's favorite pasttime activities as a teenager, it took a while for him to find the right one. While enjoying himself in his friend's ski school, he was noticed and approached by a woman who impressed him with her charming personality as much as her trickery. Together with her whole family, Shirley Nahas was working in her uncle's casino at the time, so she was great with cards and also a great entertainer.

The two were drawn to each other like magnets. They became a couple and got married in 1958.

The year 1942 was when the kids made their first custom car, a tweaked 1936 Ford convertible. It was a historical moment for them also because this was the first time that they made money off it by themselves. They were grown-ups now and on their way to become independent financially.

Seeing an interest in their skills among car enthusiasts growing, the brothers decided to create their own club, which they branded Kustoms Car Club. It was a popular trend at the time to form such clubs.

One order led to another and soon George knew that he can have his hands full (and his wallet too) if he so wishes. In 1943 - one year following his high school graduation - he moved to Bell (Los Angeles suburbs) where he opened his own shop. Its name was Barris Kustom Shop.

His brother Sam didn't accompany him, as he was serving in the Navy during the World War II, but when he came back, he moved in with George. Together, they ditched the old place and rented a bigger one in Compton. Now that Sam was back, the name was changed to Barris Brothers Custom Shop.

The love George had for cars translated to racing. He enjoyed speeding through town with his friends and later even started thinking about it professionally, doing circles at the Saugus Speedway track. A victim of his own success, he had to let go of that hobby because his business was growing at an astonishing rate and every minute was precious.

Soon, Robert Petersen came in contact with the promising designer slash builder duo. Petersen was a man who capitalized on the hot rod craze and lack of publications covering this topic, and co-started Hot Rod magazine. Shortly after, he decided to start doing annual Hot Rod Shows. For the debuting one in 1948, he asked Barris brothers to display the expo's only custom car.

The show took place in L.A. Armory and was a big success. Equally well-received was George and Sam's 1941 Buick rework.

George saw an opening in that situation and made his way into the Hot Rod magazine staff. Soon, he began writing articles for Petersen's publication. Barris admits to getting pretty hooked up, often staying until late hours to finish the stories. His wife was not only forgiving, but she stayed and helped him as much as she could.

The designer's true gift to the hot rod community coming from that work was his how-to articles. By photographing and intelligently laying out all the step-by-steps, he enabled many enthusiast amateurs lacking knowledge to modify their cars.

The trend of outgrowing their shops continued and soon brothers had to say goodbye to their Compton Avenue place and moved to Lynwood (also in Los Angeles). This was the place where Sam Barris would soon make the classic Hirohata Merc.

Also during that period, George started yet another custom car club. This time, the name was Kustoms of Los Angeles (the 'K' was mandatory!). It was a private affair - members gathered during weekends to share their passion for this unique hobby and perhaps show off with their own creations on display.

The club's existence was short-lived, as soon due to an ever-growing interest, an even bigger (and more open to the general public) club had to be started. This one was a keeper. It was named Kustoms of America and it is exists to this day.

Operating in Los Angeles helped George open a new fascinating market. Again, he didn't even have to lift a finger to make it happen - his reputation preceded him, he was talented and people wanted to use it to their benefit.

Up to that point in time, almost all of car scenes in Hollywood films were conversations during 'rides', shot in the studio with fake surroundings sweeping in the background. With time though, the studios started looking for more realism and more types of scenes involving cars were being shot. The cinema as a whole was slowly beginning to transition from dialog to action.

This led to the demand for the know-hows of the car world and it so happened that the producers had a top guy living in the same city.

One of the first movies he was hired for was Rebel Without a Cause. It was a dream come true for a stranger to come to work in Hollywood and instantly land such a gig. Ironically, the lead in the movie James Dean died the year the movie debuted... in a car crash.

The actor and the custom cars maker had known each other personally already before they met each other on set. Dean was a car fanatic himself and, just like George, had raced at Indian Wells sometimes.

George was instantly utilized by the who's who of Hollywood to work on multiple movies per year. Another popular film from that period that Barris contributed to was High School Confidential!. In there, he was already expanding beyond his competences and somehow performed marvelously at these tasks. In this movie's case, for example, he had to develop a way to fake a car stunt impossible to do the way that would make it look real on film. He passed with flying colors.

In Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Barris was responsible for arranging a controlled car crash in which nobody gets hurt, and hopefully the car leaves the set without a scratch. He managed just that, with a bit of luck doing so well that he even earned a compliment from Hitchcock. And given that Hitchcock was himself a wizard of such tricks, it means a lot.

In the 1960's film Juke Box Racket, Barris once again ventured into the uncharted territory, this time taking responsibilities of a producer, and even getting listed as director, together with Jim Geallis. Unfortunately, his creation went largely unnoticed because it was a mediocre movie.

In 1960, Barris made one of his most successful works, even though the movie it was for ended up rather poor. It was Cinderfella, starring Jerry Lewis.

For it, the designer worked with the 1953 Lincoln Capri, a car in his possession that got damaged by a head-on collision with a truck. The customized version was not only considerably prettier than the original, but it also concealed many gadgets unheard of at the time, like automatically-opened doors, for example. George named his work Golden Sahara.

The car was made for another hot rod enthusiast named Jim Skonzakes, who soon decided that it could use for even more upgrades and he added 'II' to the car's name, as it was an upgrade worthy of naming it such. That second modification of Lincoln Capri found its way onto the big screen.

A television series worthy of Barris' effort was The Munsters. An Addams Family-inspired show with Frankenstein-like character playing main fiddle had an ugly hearse ready to play the family ride.

Contrary to how he usually operated (almost always work came his way by itself), this time the car nut was tipped by his friend, showed up on set and convinced producers to let him make a more worthy vehicle.

The result, branded Munster Koach, was such a hit with the audience that soon he was ordered to make another one, Dragula, for the Grandpa character (also a big hit with the audience).

Even this iconic car hasn't become sensation as big as the Batmobile. This one was created for the TV adaptation of a popular comic book Batman.

That rework bastardized DC's original concept, gloomy atmosphere and dystopian reality on the verge of collapsing, and instead replaced it with rather cheesy humor, upbeat atmosphere and simple moral lessons aimed towards the younger audience.

Still, the vehicle that George Barris had prepared for the show stood out no matter the context it was introduced in. Lincoln Futura concept car served as the base for it, but the designer went overboard with modifications, transforming it into a truly Batman-worthy machine.

For another TV show Mannix, George was asked to create two different cars, each being the protagonist's main ride during the majority of each of the two seasons.

Here, the designer had to hold back his adventurous spirit, as requirements were modest and the budget was small. The two customized cars were: Oldsmobile Toronado and 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340.

George Lucas' American Graffiti was the kind of movie Barris enjoyed seeing the most, as it basically told the story of his own teenage years.

No customized vehicles were needed for it though. Instead, Barris carefully selected 300 standard mass produced cars, so that the kids in the film drool over what they should be drooling over. On top of that, he co-arranged the chase scene, including stunt coordination work.

Gone in 60 Seconds was a typical getaway flick concentrating only on adrenaline-pumping action. As it was very car-heavy, an expert such as Barris was necessary to make everything look realistic and be executed as safely as possible.

George's main area of work for this film was coordinating stunts. The director H. B. Halicki was also a producer, writer and main actor, literally taking a front-row seat for all the stunt action.

Another largely forgotten American flick that the Kustomizer contributed to was a thriller titled The Car. It was a dream come true for the talented individual, as in it the car played the main part! Even better, it was supposed to ride around the small town and kill, or at least scare dead the local population.

The monstrosity was built around Lincoln Continental Mark III, with a V8 engine, hand-made grill, and a terrifying black coat and glass windows to add to its mysteriousness (in the flick, it is unknown who drives it) and inform the audience of its bad intentions.

Knight Rider was another classic show that Barris just couldn't do without, given that the car played a full-fledged supporting role, thanks to great voice acting from William Daniels.

Contrary to a popular myth spread through various internet list articles and the like, the legendary designer wasn't responsible for the original companion to Michael Knight called Kitt. George joined in the last fourth series to design its two alternative "modes": Super-Pursuit KITT and Convertible KITT.

On top of that, he also changed some parts from the original vehicle to adapt it better to stunt work and helped with arranging stunts as well.

For Jurassic Park, recognizable rides were needed without any high-tech and science-fiction-looking stuff. In the movie, there were two types of cars: tracked ones carrying the sightseeing tourists, and jeeps driven by park employees. George was responsible for providing both in bulk numbers.

The cars used were pretty modest: Ford Explorers for visitors and 1992 Jeep Wrangler Saharas for the staff. The first ones were especially memorable. They had normal roof replaced with slightly bent glass roof and extra lights all over the place, but the best thing about them was the paint. The second type had different numbers on the side, depending on which of the five models were used for the scene.

The last major film in George Barris' rich dossier was the 1994 movie adaptation of The Flintstones.

Since the specific vehicle Fred Flintstone drives by carrying it around while running is such an integral part of that cartoon, more imaginative than technical work was required. Barris followed the original sketches, while extending the car, adding second pair of wooden blocks to support the longer roof, and introducing few smaller extras.

Three versions of the car were made for the show. One of them had no floor and was used for close-ups, and the other two had floor and a golf cart engine installed to power it while John Goodman playing Fred Flintstone was "running". George managed to snatch one of those after the filming was complete.

Working for the films was one thing, but Barris was always an opportunist, thinking about more income sources. He was already in Hollywood, where everyone was rich and spending on expensive whims.

Cars were naturally part of the glamour. Stars had to show up to public events, where thousands of pictures per minute are taken. Why not pay to leave a better mark? With his North Hollywood shop, Barris didn't even have to make much effort to tap into that market. Celebrities came to his office daily.

To make things even better, a surprising amount of them were car nuts, knowing more about their beloved mechanical babies than anyone would have guessed.

Elvis Presley was definitely one of those. A cadillac lover, rumored to have had more than 100 different ones, he certainly knew a thing or two about them.

During the making of Follow That Dream, he met Barris and asked him to pimp out his 1960 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75. Barris agreed.

The body got altered, side windows were replaced with smaller, circle-shaped ones, a super-expensive paint with extras such as crushed diamonds was applied. The real shocker awaited inside though, with things such as TV set, ice chest refrigerator and even mini dresser installed for the star's convenience.

Another celebrity that asked Barris to bring the most out of his car was Dean Martin. Much forgotten these days, in his time Martin was one of the most respected actors. Outside of the big screen, he was an active member of the famous Rat Pack (check sidenote).

Barris was a friend of Martin, sharing passion for cars, and also his client, giving him many cars to tweak. The most popular one was The Casa de Eldorado, as it was branded.

The 1970 Cadillac Eldorado was the selected choice. It was painted orange, side stripes were changed for more complex composition, trunk was augmented, and extra set of windows was mounted in the back. Inside, a TV set, cocktail bar and more luxuries were put.

Another member of the Rat Pack was Frank Sinatra. For the movie Marriage on the Rocks, George delivered two vehicles: Ford Mustang and Ford Thunderbird.

The first one got a rework, named Zebra Mustang, that instantly caught Sinatra's eye. Nice compact sports look, zebra stripes on the sides, plenty of power trapped inside - it was a vehicle many people fell in love with on that set.

When the movie was finished, a big party was thrown to celebrate. Frank's daughter Nancy was present, as she played a supporting role in the film. As her birthday was coming up, Frank had a little birthday surprise for his daughter. In front of everybody, he gave her the keys to the beautiful Zebra Mustang.

In the 1980s, computers were already part of the process of making a movie. In the 1990s, they started being utilized on a major scale. In the 2000s, they became an indispensable tool in every major production.

Hollywood was pushing for them hard - generating stuff meant giant savings. The difference in spending between rendering a crowd of people standing in front of a historical building and hiring extras to fill the set filled with "buildings" made just for this one opportunity is gigantic. Computers enabled Hollywood producers to save plenty.

Suddenly, many people did not have to get paid anymore. Stuntmen didn't have as many gigs as they used to, car designers built considerably less vehicles. George Barris felt the damage computers did to his profession.

As opposed to stuntmen who were often bound to their jobs (unless they had world titles in martial arts and could rebound there), George was a very resourceful man. His shop was operational and people paid premium prices to get their cars modified.

Even though he was already in his retirement age in the 90s, and with enough savings to live a record-long life debt free, when Hollywood stopped engaging him, he started working for private car owners. Full of appreciation for the cars long gone and iconic machines from cult movies, a lot of Barris' work in his late years revolved around replicas. The closer the match, the steeper the price, of course!

Throughout all these years, he remained married to Shirley, who supported him and even physically assisted the wizard with some of his works. She died from cancer on July 30, 2001.

On November 5, 2015, George died peacefully during sleep while in his California house. He was 89 years old at the time.