Yahoo Autos George Barris, Self-Proclaimed “King Of The Customizers,” Dies At Age 89
Photos courtesy Barris Kustoms on Facebook.
George Barris, perhaps one of the most prolific builders and promoters of show cars, custom cars, and TV and movie cars, died early Thursday morning at his home in Encino, California, at the age of 89.
“He was surrounded by his family in the comfort of his home,” Barris’s son, Brett, wrote in an announcement on Facebook Thursday afternoon. “He lived his life they (sic) way he wanted til the end. He would want everyone celebrate (sic) the passion he had for life and for what he created for all to enjoy.”
Barris, born in Chicago in 1925 as George Salapatas, moved with his older brother Sam to Roseville, California, in the late 1920s after the brothers’ parents died, according to a biography of George on his website. He and his brother began customizing cars with a hand-me-down 1925 Buick that they repaired, repainted, and flipped to buy a 1929 Ford Model A. After picking up bodyworking skills in the Sacramento area in the pre-war years, the brothers operated their own shop in Los Angeles after World War II with Sam’s natural talents in metalcraft complementing George’s talents in promotion.
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Of the cars the brothers turned out until Sam’s death in 1967, perhaps the most famous and influential was the Hirohata Mercury, a 1951 club coupe that the brothers chopped, nosed, decked, and transformed into a two-door hardtop for Bob Hirohata in 1953. Its fame - which eventually landed it on the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this past August - came as a result of George’s knowledge of how to pitch photos and articles to the car enthusiast magazines of the day, a skill that he developed throughout the Fifties and that would lead him to his career building specialty cars for Hollywood movies and television shows.
