The HAMB is reporting that George Barris has died

[Joe Handley]

I saw it on Jalopnik earlier today on my lunch break.

[Petetrucker07]

RIP George. May the welding rod never end, may the lead and body filler flow forever.

[Bernard Kron]

Wasn't it Sam Barris who did the Ala Kart?

The Ala Kart was completed in late 1957, quite some time after Sam left the Lynwood shop for NorCal in 1956. It owes far more to George stylistically than to Sam, and like so much from that period, even more to the talented collective that formed the Barris shop. George always walked a very thin line between mentoring and exploitation and, as will be repeated all too often from hereon out, was all-too-quick to claim credit which wasn't his to claim. Too often Barris merely elaborated and embellished the work of others, and, as the years progressed, often with inferior results. But his eye for spotting talent was undeniable and, in so many ways, as promoter, entrepreneur, photographer and publicist he was the critical link that brought on the Golden Age of customizing. The passion he felt for hot rodding and customizing in all its forms, including car modeling, where he was, once again, a critical and pivotal figure, was undeniable and completely authentic. It remained so throughout his long life. And throughout his life he always acknowledged the enormous role that Sam played in their early success and, indeed seemed never to have quite come to terms with Sam's estrangement and subsequent death due to cancer in 1967 at the age of 43.

 

[Chuck Most]

George Barris claimed other people's work as his own, and he's a "sleazeball".

Steve Jobs did the same thing and he's some kind of hero.

Yeah, makes perfect sense....

[slusher]

I always loved the Batmobile. Sad to lose a car another guy. 

[samdiego]

Another Icon? THE Icon! Yeah, he was a little wacky but I'm going to have to throw in that he was the best known custom builder in the country for a few decades. You don't get to that point by laying low. I've been in the sign business for 30 years, vaguely similar, the shop owner always takes the credit. The Hirohata Merc may have been more Sam than George but it's my favorite Merc. Can't believe the Hollywood Reporter didn't catch the caption reading Chuck Barris instead of G.B., a little harsh. I think Chuck is still here. The man deserves more respect than that. I figure that very few of us here know the true stories. I don't, so I'm not going to slam the man post-mortem.

I do remember an episode of Chop, Cut, Rebuild. They revisited the Supervan after restoration. Dan, the Host sees GB's sig on the nose and comments. The shop owner repiles "Try and stop him! I turned my back and he was signing everything!"

The King of Promotion, he was really good at it.

RIP, George. Thank You for the years of modeling that you made possible for me. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by samdiego

[louie]

Yes indeed, another loss of a legand. I am and always will be a fan of Mr . Barris . Thank you George for all you have done. May you rest in peace.     Jeff 

[Harry P.]

Steve Jobs did the same thing and he's some kind of hero.

Hero to who?

[Harry P.]

I don't get how so many of you can worship at the feet of the "great" George Barris.

I mean, the guy flat-out took credit for things he didn't do! Not once or twice... but habitually. Sure, he did do customs, but some of the most famous ones we all know, which he took the credit for, were the work of others, either other people outright or people who worked for him in his shop.

Think of it this way... say you and your buddy worked for Custom Shop X. Say the shop got the job of creating a custom car to be used in an upcoming TV series. Say you are the guy who actually did the design work, and your friend did the actual fabrication. Then the owner of the shop goes around telling everyone he was responsible for it.

Don't know about some of you guys, but I would be a little PO'd if I was either that designer or that fabricator/body man.

 

[Daddyfink]

Thanks for fueling our imaginations over the years, Mr. Barris

Edited November 6, 2015 by Daddyfink

[Triple Nickle]

If you liked his style or not, George Barris was one of the most well known car custom builders ever known. Condolences to his family.

[ZTony8]

While not condoning Barris's credit grabbing I wonder just how much different that is than any corporate built cars being credited to the director of design of the corporation rather than the staff designers working there(i.e. any 50s/60s GM car credited to Harley Earl or Bill Mitchell)?

[Harry P.]

While not condoning Barris's credit grabbing I wonder just how much different that is than any corporate built cars being credited to the director of design of the corporation rather than the staff designers working there(i.e. any 50s/60s GM car credited to Harley Earl or Bill Mitchell)?

Cars made for sale to the general public are one thing... of course they are designed and engineered by a whole team of people, not just one guy (although Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell also did design cars all by themselves).

But a one-off, custom show car like the Batmobile or Monkeemobile or Black Beauty? That's a whole different story, as they are almost always seen as the work of one particular designer.

[GLMFAA1]

Harry

Hmmmm, design by committee?

greg

[Harry P.]

Harry

Hmmmm, design by committee?

greg

What do you mean?

[gtx6970]

WOW, the mans  body isnt even cold yet and some cant wait to piss on his grave.

I am sorry but this isnt the time or the place  to desigrate the mans name

I"m not a big fan of him or most of his work . Sure ,, maybe  he wasnt a saint ( who is )  But he was a major player in the scene back froma time when most of us were just kids playing with toys. He was playing with the big stuff and making a huge name for himself

 

And as a far as I know the person who gets credit is usually the one paying the bills, ( then and now )

 

My condolences to the Barris family.

Edited November 6, 2015 by gtx6970

[fog cutter]

what used to be called "telling fibs" in the olden days (sort of around 1950 - 70) has evolved into "social engineering". George kept up with the times, that's all.

think of it as "Joe Smith puts out a really interesting bimonthly newsletter." now everyone who reads Joe's tome understands it's all the names on the masthead, the contributors, printers, materials suppliers, and readers that make it a swell, but since Joe had the vision, energy, and most likely put up the do-re-mi to get things rolling, he's certainly entitled to the kudos.

George could be a Joe.

in any event, let's find someone who can retort to chastise. RIP George.

[vintagedragcrazy]

WOW, the mans  body isnt even cold yet and some cant wait to piss on his grave.

I am sorry but this isnt the time or the place  to desigrate the mans name

I"m not a big fan of him or most of his work . Sure ,, maybe  he wasnt a saint ( who is )  But he was a major player in the scene back froma time when most of us were just kids playing with toys. He was playing with the big stuff and making a huge name for himself

 

And as a far as I know the person who gets credit is usually the one paying the bills, ( then and now )

 

My condolences to the Barris family.

x2 your absolutely right

vince

[BIGTRUCK]

Would'nt Barris be responsible for work done in his shop , good work or bad? Just think "sleazy" is a little harsh.

[Harry P.]

Would'nt Barris be responsible for work done in his shop , good work or bad? Just think "sleazy" is a little harsh.

Yes, he would be "responsible" for what came out of his shop, just as any owner is "responsible" for the product their company produces. But to actually claim to have designed a car that you didn't design is just dishonest. Apparently I'm the only one here who thinks that actively taking credit for someone else's work is wrong. Looks like most of you don't think honesty and integrity has any worth. Yeah, maybe it's too "old fashioned" of a concept to be relevant today.

Oh well... so be it.

[John Teresi]

x2 your absolutely right

vince

X3

[Vince Nemanic]

Every time I saw a clip of Barris talking about the Monkeemobile. he used the phrase "my Monkeemoble" not "when I designed the Monkeemobile".  He let the listener assume the origins of the car.  I always took it that he was referring to the fact that he had  bought the car. He chose his words as carefully as a lawyer would.

[Tom Geiger]

Yes, he would be "responsible" for what came out of his shop, just as any owner is "responsible" for the product their company produces. But to actually claim to have designed a car that you didn't design is just dishonest. Apparently I'm the only one here who thinks that actively taking credit for someone else's work is wrong.

I don't know the whole situation but it's customary for a business to refer to the product that comes out of it as it's own.  So if designers were working in his shop, and being paid, the design and end product belongs to the company.  And that's called 'paying your dues'.  Those guys used the experience to later go on their own.

[Chuck Most]

Hero to who?

Hipsters the world over. "He changed the world!" No... he was a marketing genius, not a tech genius. The guys who actually busted their humps developing all that trendy starts-with-a-lowercase-i stuff live in relative obscurity. Thomas Edison did pretty much the same thing... the one invention he could actually call his own was a flop. But damned if Mr. Edison isn't a legend and a full-blown American Hero, despite all the dirt that's been dug up on him.

 

As far as taking credit for other's work? It's common in the auto industry. Harley Earl had a whole team of designers, but he always got credit for the design, even if all he did was tell one of his peons to change the mirrors. It did get a little tenuous at times with Barris, admittedly. But I'm willing to let much of that slide, as I honestly do not believe any one person did more to promote custom (or Kustom as the case may be) cars to the world than George Barris. Argue over his scruples all you like, but nobody had more passion about custom cars than he did.

[Phildaupho]

George had a great life. I first got to know him through the pages of Rod & Custom and especially liked the interview with him and Big Daddy Roth. I saw him at a number of car shows over the last few years and he always seemed to be enjoying himself. He was a pioneer although at times he could also be very controversial. I hope the Drag-u-la is brought out for his funeral which will surely attract the whose who of the car hobby world.

RIP