Cosma Ray

Photo by George Barris

The Cosma Ray and its hauler.

December 5, 1964 the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas covered Darryl Starbird's 1964 Auto Capades Rod & Custom Show in Fort Worth. The Cosma Ray was one of he featured builds at the show, and Darryl appears with car in the short footage. Click here to check it out at The Portal to Texas History.

The first page of the script from the WBAP-TV/NBC coverage. Scan courtesy of The Portal to Texas History.

The second page of the script from the WBAP-TV/NBC coverage. Scan courtesy of The Portal to Texas History.

The Cosma Ray owned by Jerry Greenwade became a landmark in the early 1960's, with its bubble top, wild paint scheme. The nose was peaked and the wheel wells were radiused. The interior featured teardrop headrests. The car was fit with wide wheels and a pair of unique lake pipes. Jerry Greenwade used Barris Kustoms as a base for a while after George Barris had done his part of the work on his Corvette. According to George, "Jerry wanted to make the Stingray into a rocket-type car with a bubble roof, which were pretty much popular at the time. We were trying to get away from a straight windshields and create a more shape to the whole form of the car. Between what Starbird and we did on the Cosma Ray, it sure won a lot of awards."