GEORGE BARRIS has been on the cutting-edge of Kustom Car & Rod building since the very beginning. But, in 1960, he created one of the Ultimate Super-Cars of All-Time ! It was called, simply, the XPAK 400. However, it was far from "simple".
It was the "Space Age" and George Barris, having seen Hovercrafts' gliding over the water, decided that he could build a Hovercraft, or, Air Car of his own that could do the same thing on land. Thus was born the fantastic, workable, aerodynamic, XPAK 400 !
In this exclusive Interview with George, and John D'Agostino, we talked about the future of the Industry/Hobby and George locked-in on explaining to me just how the XPAK 400 came to be.
The story of the XPAK 400 is brief, but it's a part of the history of George Barris that we've never covered before, so I know you'll appreciate it.
ALSO, George talks about how his whole family is now involved in running his business, and how his grandson is building a "Peterbilt-Style" Hot Rod ...but with him it's "Barris Built" ! JK
Above left: The XPAK 400 As Used On The Album Cover Of The 1996 "Newsboys" Release: "Take Me To Your Leader"; Above right: Another George (George Jetson ) travels with his family in their "Flying Air Car" everyday ! SO, maybe someday cars patterned after the BARRIS XPAK 400 will become a reality !!
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(Clockwise From Above Left: Some of the other cars that left the Barris Shop through the years: Dave Burgarin's '51 Merc Kustom; the Legendary "Aztec" on the August, 1958 Cover of Hot Rod Magazine; The AMT "Ala Kart" Model Kit; Herschel "Junior" Walker's '50 Ford shoebox kustom...Junior PAINTED the "XPAK 400" ! )
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TO HEAR GEORGE'S STORY ABOUT THE "GOLDEN SAHARA" JUST CLICK-ON HERE !
FOR MORE INFO ON GEORGE BARRIS, complete specs on the XPAK 400, and to see many more of his creative kustoms, just go to George's WebSite: www.barris.com
A GREAT STORY ABOUT THE "WAR OF THE AIR CARS" between George's XPAK 400, and, Ed Roth's "ROTAR", can be found on the Barrisbilt Blog ! Here's the link: http://www.barrisbilt.com/blog/2009/06/war-of-the-air-cars/
