George Barris' Track Roadster

George Barris' track roadster outside the 7674 Compton Avenue shop circa 1948. George built the channeled roadster, that sported one of his first flame paint jobs, in 1948. Lanky Oran Breeland can be seen on the right. Oran worked for Sam and George, and George lived with him and his folks at the time. Photo by Dick Bertolucci, from the book Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's Volume 4.

Another photo of George's roadster taken outside the 7674 Compton Avenue shop. Photo by Dick Bertolucci, from the book King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris.

Track roadster owned and raced by George Barris of Barris Kustoms. George built the channeled roadster in 1948, after he and Sam had moved their shop to 7674 Compton Avenue. George's roadster featured one of his first flame paint jobs. A photo of the car appears in Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's Volume 4, along with a brief history of the car; "While customs played a big part in our lives back then, we were also heavily into hot rods, and on Saturday afternoons, the shop would be crowded with guys and their stripped-down roadsters. One of my earliest flame jobs was on a channeled roadster that I built in 1948 while we were at the shop at 7674 Compton Avenue - track roadsters were all the rage at that time. For the most part though, customs back then were clean and simple."