George Barris’ Kustom City is For Sale
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By John Gunnell
George Barris “kustomized” thousands of cars at his famous Barris Kustom City shop in North Hollywood, Calif. Now, we hear from our West Coast contact Rick Feisbusch that the well-known shop is up for sale.
Los Angeles Times auto writer Charles Fleming described Barris Kustom City as “A foundation stone of Southern California car culture.” The shop is where the Batmobile, Munster Koach and many custom hot rods were built. The 10,000-sq.-ft. property has been listed for sale at $3.995 million.
“George and Sam Barris were the shop,” said Ken Gross, a hot rod historian and former Petersen Automotive Museum executive director. “That’s who you went to. They were very responsible for the whole custom car scene.”
Sam was often spoken of as the talent, while George Barris was the face of the business and its best promoter. He was known as the “King of Kustomizers” and became famous for the cars he built for actors, the productions they starred in and other celebs.
George Barris died in 2015, the same week as the SEMA Show that he often attended. His daughter Joji Barris-Paster then took over management of the business. Her brother Brett and son Jared were also involved.
Realtors Jason Froehlich and Scott Moore of Douglas Elliman Real Estate are handling the sale of the building. There are plans to move much of what’s still in the shop to a location in Oxnard, Calif. One of the Batmobiles was reported to be inside the building. We have to wonder what other Barris “Kustoms” are parked there, too?