By Marty Cooper
Think back to the San Fernando Valley of the mid-20th century. What two cultural standouts come to mind? For many, the answer is simple: movies and cars.
The Valley’s four studios – Universal, Warner Bros., Disney, and then-named Republic Studios – churned out comedies, westerns, and dramas at a dizzying pace, while Southern California became the headquarters of the booming car culture.
Beginning in the early 1950s, the car culture was reaching its zenith, particularly in the San Fernando Valley. Aficionados would deck, shave, lower, poke, tuck, chop, donk, pinstripe and otherwise customize their “rides.” Car clubs traditionally cruised Van Nuys Boulevard on Wednesday nights, especially during the peak cruising era of the 1960s through the early 1980s.
And no one combined those two icons of the Southern California lifestyle better than a Greek-American named George Salapatas, better known as George Barris.
Barris customized more cars for motion pictures and TV and provided more unique automobiles for movie stars than anyone else. He would take (usually) Detroit-made cars and turn them into something totally new…not just with a paint job or an accessory, but creative new machines often bearing little resemblance to the original.
Born in Chicago in 1925, Barris moved to the Los Angeles area while in high school and began customizing cars. One of the first films Barris provided cars for was High School Confidential (1958). Its success led him into starting his own car customizing business. His first major film assignment was to make soft aluminum fenders for a police car that crashes into the rear of a Mercedes-Benz convertible in North by Northwest (1959).
The first film where one of Barris’ creations is a major plot point is It Started with a Kiss (1959), where his modified 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham with a bubble-style canopy roof and gold-planted exterior gave it the name of the “Golden Cadillac.” The car is presented as a lavish prize, symbolizing extravagance and impracticality, won by the character played by Glenn Ford. It becomes a central comedic element of the storyline.
Some of the more notable films with vehicles customized by Barris include: The Time Machine (1960), The Great Race (1965), Fireball 500 (1966), Batman: The Movie (1966), Out of Sight (1966), The Silencers (1966), Thunder Alley (1967), The Car (1977), The Van (1977), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Jurassic Park (1993), and Race with Destiny (1995).
Car shows and magazines often featured Barris’ cars, including those created for feature films. Frequently Barris-designed cars were often cover subjects in Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Rod & Custom, and Car Craft. Barris and his creations were particularly prominent in the latter two publications.
Several iconic Barris builds appeared on covers or in major features. His A la Kart, which began life as a 1929 Ford roadster pickup, was one of the most famous custom cars ever, featured on numerous magazine covers and interior feature spreads. It won America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award twice. the A la Kart appears in the teen movie Hot Rod Gang in 1958, as well as other films.
For film personalities he created customized golf cars, modified automobiles they owned, or created new ones. Among his clients were: Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Tony Curtis, Ann-Margret, Jayne Mansfield, Glen Campbell, Elton John, and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Given the Valley’s prominence in both filmmaking and the car culture, it is no surprise that Barris Kustom Industries was located at 10811 Riverside Drive, in North Hollywood.
He produced automotive creations for more than 20 network television shows, including, Batman, The Munsters, Mannix, The Monkees, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The Beverly Hillbillies.
In 2005, The New York Times had Barris customize a Toyota Prius; he was the subject of the title story in writer Tom Wolfe’s 1965 collection of essays, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby; and toy manufacturers Aurora, Revell, and AMT brought him fame among model builders.
Barris’ cars increased in value over the years. For example, in 2013, the Batmobile created for the TV series of the same name, sold at auction for $4.6 million.
George Barris died in his Encino home on November 5, 2015, 15 days before his 90th birthday. At his memorial service, Barris’s casket featured large black fins, an homage to his most famous creation, the Batmobile.
Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, supervised public relations for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for 10 years; held executive positions with Disney and Universal Studios; and was Board Chairman of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. He is a member of the Board of the British Film Institute in America. Cooper is a Fernando Award Honoree and Past Chairman of VICA. An award-winning author, he has written four books, two of them on the San Fernando Valley. His fifth book, The ‘Reel’ Hollywood: The San Fernando Valley, the history of motion pictures in the Valley, was published this month and available on Amazon.
