George Barris built this custom for himself after he moved to LA. He built it at the Compton Avenue shop. After this well proportioned and style Buick was finished and had been used on the May 1948 Road and Track magazine cover the demand for similar styled customs grew at the Barris shop. Several similar styled Buick where produced shortly after he had finished this one for himself, ordered by customers who wanted to ride a perfectly styled custom just like it.

George his 1941 Buick is a classic styled customs that we certainly can call trend setting. The custom had it all, perfect stance, perfect flowing lines with the chopped padded top and full fade away fenders. Twin Appleton spotlights, dark paint and white wall tires, with smooth large disk hubcaps.

The 1941 Buick convertible windshield frame was chopped a few inches. The body dropped by lowering the suspention front and rear with a slightly larger drop in the back for a perfect stance. It looks like the Buick was first built as a custom without the fade away fenders. In the small photo on the opening page of this chapter you can see the car with the work on the fade away started but a set of appleton’s is already mounted on the chopped windshield frame, perhaps indicating that the car was driven in chopped and lowered condition with stock but molded fenders.

The fade away fenders where created using 1942-46 Buick fade away fenders cut and shaped to fit the 1941 Body. The headlights have been frenched into the molded front fenders and the heavy original chrome ornaments where removed. The stock grille was removed and replaced with a 1946 Cadillac grille. The front sheet metal was reshaped to blend the grille in. The area below the hood was created from sheet metal and the hood character line was very nicely repeated into that and shaped to end in a nice point just above the new grille. At the rear the fenders where molded to the body and flared nicely into the body with a gentle curve.

George shaved the trunk of the chrome emblems and replaced the original outside trunk hinges with internal versions. The stock taillights where removed and relocated into the 1946 Oldsmobile bumper guards to leave the rear of the body totally clean. At the front the stock bumper was also replaced with a 1946 Oldsmobile bumper with same year gurads. The front has the parking light integrated in to the guards.

The Buick was painted with many coats of deep Royal Metallic Maroon, which later would become one of the Barris trademark colors. Glen and Bob Hauser created A padded top with absolutely perfect proportions. The car was the only custom at the first SCTA Hot Rod show in 1948 and was on the cover of the March ‘48 Road & Track.

The car can be seen with different Caddy grilles and tire/hubcap combinations. Several photo’s show it with black wall tires indicating this was a custom built right after the war. Grille was first from a 41 Cadillac and was later swaped with a cut down and modified unit from a 1946 Cadillac.