George Barris Customized a 58 Corvette..

[BDK]

My opinion is that he did not do it to my liking...What do you think.
Corvettes on eBay: 1958 George Barris Custom Corvette - Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle

 

[dannyboy]

The front end has the same goofy face as Jar Jar Binks!

 

[XFIRE82]

The front end is too open, he should of built a custom chrome bumper to hide the tires and end pieces joined with a narrow bar just under that grill. Fins don't suit the car. Steering wheel should of been grey instead of the wood so that it matched the body color and would blend nicely with the black interior. Engine bay is nice. Can't imagine what it was like to take a new car and just let your imagination go wild with no budget.

 

[Jeremiad]

Interesting. I didn't follow it through, the single render is good enough for me to see that I don't need to follow it through. lol.

I do sort of like the stubby wings on the back, but I don't like what appears to be some wind catchers around them. The roof vents are also interesting, but given the shape of the rest of the body they should be round if they should be there at all.

I like the idea of the deletion of the chrome bumpers, but it makes the car look taller (like a Jeep). Instead I would lower it, and maybe make up some custom fiberglass to bring that front end a little closer to the ground so it doesn't look like it could climb stairs.

The tail lights aren't right either. If you want to follow those lines, I say lose the chrome and french them inside of the body lines instead. It was probably just the convenience of being able to use Toronado or Riviera turn signals, but the sharp corners don't work with the rest of the body lines.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Not fussy about the way it sweeps up at the tail.. or the sucker fish snout out front much... but it does have a spare tire and a 340 hp 327... .

 

[BDK]

I think stock looks much better...........

 

[12cents]

 

[YFCvii]

Appears to be just one of
the other characters trying
to Find Nemo ...

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Does not look real. Is it?

Not wild about it but they were different.

Think it would look better painted on solid colour, not crazy about the coves.

 

[Hotrodron]

Don't care for it, looks like an old Volvo.It needs some chrome.......

 

[BDK]

Does not look real. Is it?

Not wild about it but they were different.

Think it would look better painted on solid colour, not crazy about the coves.

It's very real.. It was built in 58-9 using a brand new car.. If you click on the link you can read the whole article..

 

[Dantanman]

Not my style but still pretty advanced changes for its day, no computers to play with different concepts, doubt he even had clay, small budget compared to the big guys.

 

[XFIRE82]

Interesting. I didn't follow it through, the single render is good enough for me to see that I don't need to follow it through. lol.

I do sort of like the stubby wings on the back, but I don't like what appears to be some wind catchers around them. The roof vents are also interesting, but given the shape of the rest of the body they should be round if they should be there at all.

I like the idea of the deletion of the chrome bumpers, but it makes the car look taller (like a Jeep). Instead I would lower it, and maybe make up some custom fiberglass to bring that front end a little closer to the ground so it doesn't look like it could climb stairs.

The tail lights aren't right either. If you want to follow those lines, I say lose the chrome and french them inside of the body lines instead. It was probably just the convenience of being able to use Toronado or Riviera turn signals, but the sharp corners don't work with the rest of the body lines.

....some good ideas Jeremiad, but the car was built in 59, Riviera was born in 63 and the Toronado was 66, so Barris didn't have access to them. At least he didn't hang stage coach lanterns in front like he did on many of his customs. But I agree that front end is dune buggy high. The hardtop was grey the ragtop was white and the cove he painted inbetween.

 

[nascar03]

I love what George and them other customizes did back then., very creative..
You have to remember there wasn’t too much store-bought stuff.
Those customizers made art. You rarely see it these days..
Yes, there are a few SEMA cars that are done... and they are very nice.
You just don’t see enough of it coming out of the garages in the back lanes these days.
Guys like Barris, Winfield, Tognotti, etc, etc were building cars at the top-end of the custom hobby.. When you went to shows back then they were competeting WITH each other to extend the design barriers... it was a great time to be a car-guy.
I was quite young when all this was going on but the models of these cars were a treasure. I have a 80+ Year old Car buddy down the street that was right in the middle of this stuff. He was into 1/1 customs and still has all his model cars from back then. He says he just couldn’t leave things stock...his models are displayed proudly in his toy room... nothing stock about them. His two old Thunderbirds in the garage were modified back then too. A few magazine articles also done of his customs. His daily driver is an SSR with a 427.
I loved that era.. you just don’t see enough of it these days.

In my opinion!

Thanx for listening
Graham