Trade Secrets - MOTOR · Trade Secrets II, the brothers got heavily into the custom car business...
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Bob Cerullo [email protected] Trade Secrets U ntil recently the only thing I knew about Gatlinburg, TN, was that it was the town where a boy named Sue met his estranged father, the man who gave him that name. I’ve heard Johnny Cash sing that song for years but never gave much thought to the actual city of Gatlinburg. I just assumed it was a lit- tle backwater town. Far from it. Gatlinburg is a swinging town that hosts over five million visitors a year. They come for the skiing at Ober Gatlinburg, the honeymoon cabins high in the mountains, the eight miles of shops, the Dollywood theme park just down the road and Dixie Stampede. My reason for visiting Gatlinburg was not, as has been alleged, the bright red heart- shaped bathtub in the mountain cabin I rent- ed. I went to see the work of a talented man named George Barris. Born in Chicago in the mid-’20s, he and his older brother Sam moved to Roseville, CA, in 1928 to live with relatives after their parents died. The family gave the brothers a battered 1925 Buick as a gift for the work the two boys did on the family restaurant. The old Buick became their custom car. The boys’ fertile imaginations took over and the old Buick was repainted orange with blue stripes, but not before the Barrises set about straightening the body panels and bolting on all sorts of accessories. The boys sold that car and bought a 1929 Model A. Their interest in cars was growing, and they spent their teenage years hanging out af- ter school at local body shops. The brothers were regu- lars at Browns’s and Bertolucci’s in Sacra- mento. George creat- ed his first full cus- tom car from a used 1936 Ford convert- ible before he gradu- ated from high school. That car be- came George’s first car sold to a commer- cial customer. He soon formed the Kus- toms Car Club. (George Barris claims to have invented the word “Kustoms.”) After World War Your experience and technical skills may allow you to branch out into other areas of auto repair and service. You might even create a whole new industry, like George Barris did. 8 February 2009 continued on page 10 Photo courtesy Hollywood Star Cars Museum This 1922 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan, a featured “player” on the 1960s hit TV comedy The Beverly Hillbillies, is one of the many ex- hibits in the Hollywood Star Cars Museum. Other exhibits that ex- cite visitors are the Back to the Future Time Machine, the Days of Thunder Mello Yello race car, the “General Lee” from TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard and, a more recent acquisition, “Bumblebee,” a 1977 Chevy Camaro featured in the 2007 film Transformers.
Transcript of Trade Secrets - MOTOR · Trade Secrets II, the brothers got heavily into the custom car business...
Bob Cerullo
Trade Secrets
Until recently the only thing Iknew about Gatlinburg, TN,was that it was the townwhere a boy named Sue methis estranged father, the manwho gave him that name. I’ve
heard Johnny Cash sing that song for yearsbut never gave much thought to the actualcity of Gatlinburg. I just assumed it was a lit-tle backwater town.
Far from it. Gatlinburg is a swinging townthat hosts over five million visitors a year.They come for the skiing at Ober Gatlinburg,the honeymoon cabins high in the mountains,the eight miles of shops, the Dollywoodtheme park just down the road and DixieStampede.
My reason for visiting Gatlinburg was not,as has been alleged, the bright red heart-shaped bathtub in the mountain cabin I rent-ed. I went to see the work of a talented mannamed George Barris. Born in Chicago in themid-’20s, he and his older brother Sammoved to Roseville, CA, in 1928 to live withrelatives after their parents died.
The family gave the brothers a battered1925 Buick as a gift for the work the twoboys did on the family restaurant. The oldBuick became their custom car. The boys’fertile imaginations took over and the oldBuick was repainted orange with bluestripes, but not before the Barrises setabout straightening the body panels andbolting on all sorts of accessories.
The boys sold thatcar and bought a1929 Model A. Theirinterest in cars wasgrowing, and theyspent their teenageyears hanging out af-ter school at localbody shops. Thebrothers were regu-lars at Browns’s andBertolucci’s in Sacra-mento. George creat-ed his first full cus-tom car from a used1936 Ford convert-ible before he gradu-ated from highschool. That car be-came George’s firstcar sold to a commer-cial customer. Hesoon formed the Kus-toms Car Club.(George Barris claimsto have invented theword “Kustoms.”)
After World War
Your experience and technical skills may allow you to branch
out into other areas of auto repair and service. You might
even create a whole new industry, like George Barris did.
8 February 2009
continued on page 10
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This 1922 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan, a featured “player” on the1960s hit TV comedy The Beverly Hillbillies, is one of the many ex-hibits in the Hollywood Star Cars Museum. Other exhibits that ex-cite visitors are the Back to the Future Time Machine, the Days ofThunder Mello Yello race car, the “General Lee” from TV’s The Dukesof Hazzard and, a more recent acquisition, “Bumblebee,” a 1977Chevy Camaro featured in the 2007 film Transformers.
Trade Secrets
II, the brothers got heavily into thecustom car business and soon gainedthe attention of Hot Rod magazine.They opened a new shop, known asthe “Barris Brothers’ Custom Shop,”in Los Angeles. The two brotherscomplemented each other; Sam wasan expert metal crafter whileGeorge’s strong suits were design,painting, manage-ment and promotion.
George also beganphotographing autosprofessionally andwriting for automo-tive magazines. Hewas able to promotehis businesses bydemonstrating theBarris Brothers tech-niques in how-to arti-cles.
The movie studios began to no-tice Barris’ custom cars. One of thefirst films for which Barris madecars was High School Confidential.It was a huge success for BarrisKustoms and led the brothers toseek out more movie work. GeorgeBarris traveled all over promotinghis cars. He appeared on TV talkshows and at fairs and car shows. Inthe late-’50s, Revell began produc-ing model kits of George Barriscars. AMT soon joined with the “AlKar” plastic model kits, which be-came one of the biggest selling toysat that time.
Original customs sprang from thedrawing desk of George Barris to theshops of some of the most famousfabricators and craftsmen in the cus-tom car business. The orphanedboys from Chicago struck custom cargold in California.
Eventually, George Barris’ compa-ny, Barris Kustom Industries, be-came famous throughout the enter-tainment industry for its original de-signs of vehicles used in movies andTV shows. Barris has created morefamous movie and TV cars than justabout anyone in the business.
In 1996, the Hollywood Star CarsMuseum was opened in Gatlinburg,where many of George Barris’ cre-ations are beautifully displayed—the
If you have a question or comment for Bob Cerullo, e-mail him [email protected], or write tohim c/o MOTOR Magazine, 50 CharlesLindbergh Blvd., Suite 100, Uniondale,NY 11553.
10 February 2009
Ghostbusters “Ectomobile,” The Mun-sters’ “Drag-u-la” and the Flintsone-mobile, plus my favorite, The BeverlyHillbillies’ touring sedan. Some of themost popular exhibits are the cars fromblockbuster movies like Gone in 60Seconds, Charlie’s Angels and The Fastand the Furious. The Museum is nowshowcasing “Bumblebee,” the 1977
Chevrolet Camarofrom the 2007 filmTransformers.
I found the per-sonal cars of famousstars particularly in-teresting. Cars thatonce belonged toBob Hope, BurtReynolds, FrankSinatra, Elvis Pres-ley, Anna Nicole
Smith and Dolly Parton are all show-cased.
The Gatlinburg area is really a funplace. Just down the road in PigeonForge is Dollywood, an outstandingand wonderful place for the rest ofthe family to visit while you tour theStar Cars Museum.
The Trade Secret is that your ex-perience and technical automotiveskills can make it possible for you tobranch out into other areas relatedto automotive repair and car cus-tomizing. George Barris was able toparlay his hobby into a lucrativebusiness to become world-renownedas the King of Kustoms.
What more can anyone really wantthan to be able to earn a living doingwhat he loves to do. In the case ofGeorge Barris, his brother Sam andnow Sam’s son John, they’ve takencar customizing to a higher level.The next time you ogle a custom caror thrill to one on the big screen, re-member the story of George andSam Barris. George’s newest designscan be seen at www.barris.com.
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Circle #9
The Barris boysstruck custom
car gold inCalifornia.
