The Calico Surfer

The Calico Surfer as it appeared when it was first built. Photo courtesy of www.barris.com

The Calico Surfer as it sat when it was offered for sale at the Auctions of America California Collector Car Auction in Burbank, California in 2013. Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

Photo courtesy of Auctions of America.

The Calico Surfer is a custom vehicle built by Barris Kustoms for Calvin Clark of Palos Verdes, California in 1964. Calvin was the publisher of the International Surfing Magazine, and the Calico Surfer was meant to evoke the woodie station wagons revered by the surfing culture of the 1960s. The custom creation featured a hand-formed steel body with ash applique woodwork and a cantilevered front roof panel that could be removed. French Cibie headlights swiveled out from the nose. The chassis was made from rectangular steel tubing, engineered to house a Corvair front suspension.

August 1-3, 2013 a restored and slightly altered version of the Calico Surfer will be offered for sale at the Auctions of America California Collector Car Auction in Burbank, California. When the car was offered at the auction, it featured a 350 horsepower 289-cid Ford High-Performance small-block with a Paxton supercharger and an Iskenderian cam. The engine was hooked to three-speedn automatic transmission and a Ford Fairlane axle with 3.27 gears. Cragar chrome wheels were mounted with Viper TR Radial GT tires. The seats were upholstered in blue crushed velvet, with silver leather facing. The dashboard had matching crushed velvet with round Stewart Warner gauges the width of the panel. The entire vehicle was in a good condition, but for a few scrapes on the bottom of the chassis.