Barris Kustom Cars

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TurbomanKnight
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Barris Kustom Cars

Post by TurbomanKnight » Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:47 am

About 20 minutes ago I was talking to my friend. He was telling me that on Mag Rack (video Magazine on cable) they was showing cars made by Barris. They showed the SPM KITT with the mustache (Rear Lid Spoiler on front nose) from the auction house where it was sold. They also showed a picture of Barris And the Hoff from the 4th season. They also said that Barris started working with Knight Rider from the 3rd season. :? The SPM KITT had a crappy working scanner. It scanned from the left side to the middle then back to the left side. It now has the right wheels thanks to Mr. Don Colie. (YAY DON!!!)
Anti-Ford. 'Nuff Said.

1988 Camaro IROC-Z28
5.7 Tuned Port Injection .040 over
700R4
2.77 posi
3" Exhaust with Headers

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Army_F_Body
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Post by Army_F_Body » Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:37 am

I was watching "Autmaniac" with Bill Goldberg last night (great show by the way) and the subject was custom pick ups. I guess Barris and his brother made a cool custom pick up in the early 50s called the "Ala Carte." They also did some work on a custom pick up for "Rod and Custom" magazine which looked pretty trick. I guess they did do some good stuff to earn the reputation he (they) have today.

I wonder how he feels about all us folks that are making KITT replicas? The orginal "Ala Carte" was sold off and is currently being restored. Another fan made a replica and it showed George Barris driving it. I wish it would have shown his reaction or opinion about that particular replica. I wonder if he would be postive or negative about it. When I talked to Barris about a KITT replica some 15 years ago he made it sound like the task was equivalent to building a space shuttle in your backyard. While it hasn't been a cake walk, it surely hasn't been the daunting taks he implied all those years ago. I'm sure he hates some of us for stealing his thunder since a few replicas out there (Mike Ott's and Scott Rice's come to mind) could blow his efforts out of the water after seeing that Nick and Jessica car.

However, I'm sure with the help and parts from people like Don Colie or Mark Scrivanni, and if Barris (or his people) really applied himself, they could make one hell of a car. This I would love to see. It has a Discovery channel special written all over it. Also, I'm surprised that no making of the General specials have surfaced with the new Duke's movie coming out. I like to see how those were made as I imagine major restoration work was involved (you would think more would have to be done to them than just painting them orange). Maybe somthing will surface after the movie is released. It would definately make a good "Rides" special.

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:04 pm

I think on Rides awhile back they did a Xtreeme Lee (basically a modified General Lee) I heard it sucked.

Rob, when you finish your exterior on your car. Take a spin to Barris's Shop. And have him take a look at your car. Tell him you were the guy who moved his precious dog. Tell him about how he told you it can't done. Take load of pictures. That would be fun!
Anti-Ford. 'Nuff Said.

1988 Camaro IROC-Z28
5.7 Tuned Port Injection .040 over
700R4
2.77 posi
3" Exhaust with Headers

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Post by Army_F_Body » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:50 pm

Yeah I saw that. Didn't Kenny Wayne Chesney buy it?

It was mentioned the last time we had a California group meet to cruise over to Barris' shop, but we never did. I think it would be neat to meet and ask him some questions about the show and his take on the replica scene. I'd like to hear what he has to say about some of the parts we are using (likes, dislikes, etc.). Perhaps Michael Parajo would be interested in using some of his connections to arrange such a thing (maybe Barris does an open house thing like Boyd Coddington does and we can plan in advance to attend). It could be like a joint KRO/Registries mission. That would be cool, I think.

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:08 pm

Most Definantly Cool 8)
Anti-Ford. 'Nuff Said.

1988 Camaro IROC-Z28
5.7 Tuned Port Injection .040 over
700R4
2.77 posi
3" Exhaust with Headers

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Post by michealknightbx81 » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:37 pm

JUdging by the condition of the cars that Barris auctioned off, Barris doesn't take care of his rides and when the final bidding was done, Barris fleeced them good....
One man can make a difference.....Power without perception is spirtually uselees....

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Post by Army_F_Body » Sun Aug 21, 2005 8:39 pm

People are buying a name and not an actual product the way I see it.

If they were interested in a good, functional car, there are more cost effective outlets for that.
KITT project is on again!

Currently working on: brand new stock tan interior, almost done!

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Post by Michael Pajaro » Wed Aug 24, 2005 4:09 pm

michealknightbx81 wrote:JUdging by the condition of the cars that Barris auctioned off, Barris doesn't take care of his rides and when the final bidding was done, Barris fleeced them good....
I think I have to disagree. I was at the auction and saw the cars. They were generally in great condition. Keep in mind, most of them were TV/movie cars- if the interior didn't appear on camera, there was no reason to build it out.

Barris didn't fleece anybody. People knew exactly what they were getting. It's an auction, so Barris didn't set any prices at all. (Granted, he was probably involved with the estimated values but there were no minimum bids.) If the bidding public thought that this KITT was only worth $5000, then that's what it should have sold for. But that's not what happened.

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