Some Sad News in the Automotive World

[Irish O'African]

I have some sad news, guys. Yesterday on November 5th, 2015 George Barris has passed away due to complications with Cancer. For those of you who did know who this man was, he was responsible for crafting, designing, and producing some of the most famous, creative, and beautiful vehicles in the movie, television, and vehicle custom industry.

 

Such vehicles include these vehicles:

 

 

 

Hirohata Merc

 

 

The Hirohata Merc, first constructed in 1953 for Bob Hirohata, it was designed and built by George and Sam Barris, assisted by Frank Sonzogni. It started out as a 1951 Club Coupe. Nosed, decked, and shaved, the top was chopped four inches in front and seven inches in back, and the vertical B-pillar was reshaped so that it curved forward. The rear window had its posts removed, and was raked steeply forward, requiring a new roof piece to be fabricated. Side trim was replaced with that from a 1952 Buick (the spears), augmented by grille teeth from a 1952 Chevrolet (three per side) and functional scoops. The front wheels are fitted with traditional sombrero ('47-'51 Cadillac) hubcaps.

 

Ala Cart

 

 

The Ala Cart is a 1929 Ford Midel A Pickup restyled by Barris Kustoms for Richard Peters of Fresno, California. Built expressly to win the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Trophy at Oakland Roadster Show, George Barris began the construction on Richard's flathead powered pickup truck in 1957. Peters had raced his flatbed truck on the dirt roads around the central California farming community before he decided that it was time to make it faster and nicer. Ironically, the truck actually won the AMBR prize twice, first in 1958 and then again in 1959.

 

Munster Koach

 

 

Only one Munster Koach was made for the television series and feature film. It was made from three Ford Model T bodies and is 18 feet long. The 133-inch frame was made by hand, as were the brass radiator and fenders. It has "blood red" interior and Gloss Black Pearl paint. It took 500 hours to hand form the ornate rolled steel scrollwork. The front end had a dropped axle, split radius rods and T springs. Its design featured a custom hearse body. It is also seen in Grand Theft Auto Online as the Fränken Stange in Rockar's rendition of it.

 

DRAG-U-LA

 

 

DRAG-U-LA, along with the Munster Koach, was one of two cars designed by Tom Daniel while working for George Barris and Barris Kustom Industries for the television show The Munsters.The fiberglass body of DRAG-U-LA was built from a real fiberglass coffin that Richard "Korky" Korkes was able to purchase from a funeral home in North Hollywood. Korky Korkes stated in 2013, it was illegal to sell a coffin without a death certificate. Korky made a deal with the funeral director, paid in cash, and it was agreed the coffin would be left outside the rear door of the funeral parlor where the Barris crew would collect it after dark. It featured a 350HP, 289CI Ford Mustang V-8 engine, with a four-speed stick shift. It had two four-barrel carburetors mounted

Batmobile (1966 TV series & movie)

The iconic Batmobile was built using a one-off 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. Barris was trying to get Hollywood's attention with the Futura, which he had purchased from Ford for the nominal sum of $1.00 and "other valuable consideration", but aside from its film appearance, the Futura had been languishing in his Hollywood shop for several years. With only three weeks to finish the Batmobile (although in recent years Jeffries says that his car was dropped because he was told it was needed in "a week and a half",he was quoted in 1988 as saying "three weeks". Barris decided that, rather than building a car from scratch, it would be relatively easy to transform the distinctive Futura into the famous crime-fighting vehicle. Design work was conducted by Herb Grasse, working as an associate designer for Barris.

Wagon Queen Family Truckster

The Wagon Queen Family Truckster station wagon was created specifically for the film. It is based on a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon. The car was designed by George Barris, and lampooned American cars of the late 1970s. The Truckster features a pale avocado green metallic green paint scheme; eight headlights (a second pair, pirated from another Crown Victoria/Country Squire, mounted inverted below the stock pair); and a grille area largely covered by bodywork with only two small openings close to the bumper.

KITT

The character of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) in the original Knight Rider series was physically embodied as a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans Am with numerous special features such as Turbo Boost (which allowed quick bursts of speed or jumping over obstacles), the ability to drive 'himself', a front mounted scanner bar that (among other things) allowed KITT to 'see' (and a nod to series creator, Glen A. Larson and his "Battlestar Galactica"'s Cylons), and 'molecular bonded shell' body armor, portrayed to be invulnerable to diamond headed drills, small arms fire, the impact of thrown objects, and even high speed impact with cinder block wall. The armor could also resist close explosive blasts although a direct hit could cause severe damage. A refit in the 1985 season included the addition of "Super Pursuit Mode" and a convertible top. The car's voice was supplied by actor William Daniels.

General Lee (TV series)

The General Lee (sometimes referred to as simply "the General") is the name given to a 1969 Dodge Charger driven by the Duke cousins Bo and Luke; along with cousins Coy and Vance (in season 5) in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. It is known for its signature horn, its police chases, stunts — especially its long jumps — and for having its doors welded shut, leaving the Dukes to climb in and out through the windows. The car appears in every episode but one ("Mary Kaye's Baby"). The car's name is a reference to American Civil War general Robert E. Lee. It bears a Confederate flag (a rectangular variant of the square battle flag of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia) on its roof, and also has a horn which plays the first twelve notes of the song "Dixie".

 

Rest In Peace, George Barris

November 20th, 1925 - November 5th, 2015

 

 

[Dottie]

Its sad but you're a bit late on the thread

[Irish O'African]

Well, I did not know. I just thought this was a better place for it.