Wow! $500,000! You could be right. It is super unique, totally outlandish and comes with a history. Several years ago I saw Boyd Coddington's '40 Ford shop truck sell at auciton following his death. It got quite a high price for such a vehicle - as I remember it was somewhere around $140,000. I remember people saying the high price was mostly its association with Boyd. A lost Barris car would be even more desirable. I can't picture some old dude in a plaid shirt driving the Golden Sahara. Assuming that's who buys it, the new owner needs to hire a young driver attired in a fur coat, gold chains and funky hat...some guy who looks like a total pimp from the past.
Speculative investment is a complex thing, be it automobiles, stocks, or art. If there is something to be gained by purchasing, there are those to whom price is no object. Do you really think that a Van Gogh painting is worth $15,000,000? Well, it is now! How do you think that came to be? Vincent couldn't give the stuff away! There is no "trickle-down economy", only "trickle-up"!
I feel like there are only hand full of guys that might want, and can afford this thing. I hope Jay Leno ends up with this one.
If Moriarty had been nicer to more people, there might have been a go fund me page for him already started.LOL Just kidding, Mark! You would be the ultimate caretaker, now,if the stars would just align!
I'm with Ryan, this thing doesn't do anything for me. It's fugly now,and was fugly when it was built. Typical Barris excess as someone mentioned. Some cars from that era just have that flow, smooth like a baby's butt, this thing is more like a wart on broken nose. Now the Kookie T, with a little help could be real nice. I like the white/red flamed version above /\
You're right, because there's like 6 people on here with the balls and skills to build something like this now. That number dwindles further if you account for who can afford it. Your cup of tea or not, it doesn't get any more traditional than this. And that's what the HAMB should be about. Hopefully it will inspire some people to think beyond an A on 32 rails or lake pipes and dummy spots on their 4 door 62 Falcon. It's amazing to me, as a guy into customs, how dudes into "traditional" hot rods will shit all over a car like this when the zenith of their abilities is to take some rusted shitbox body, install some marginally running flathead and call it a day. Typical. (obviously this comment is not directed at Ryan or any HAMBer in particular, just a general statement on the state of the hobby and traditional rod and custom scene).
'57 Joe, you're right with everything you said. Just imagine that car totally restored, driving on its own, with the owner walking behind with the remote control in his hands. And not some kind of modern electric motor plastic car but a full sized 50ies custom with a V8 500 hP engine. I guess that would be a sensational view even today, 60 years later. Anyone who can't appreciate that should be better collecting stamps.
This would be very cool! I think there are two distinct aspects to this car, styling and technology. I suspect it's entirely possible to love the whole thing or love one and be lukewarm at best about the other, either way. I think the same could be said about the styling alone. There's a pretty big difference between the first and second versions. I personally like the first version better, but that's just opinion. In any case the creative thinking it that went into the car and technology and the skill involved in bring it to life is pretty impressive.
To shit on this car because the styling doesn't appeal to you is like saying Lincoln was a shitty president because you don't like guys who wear hats. It's missing the point. This car, love it or not, is a huge part of our custom car building heritage and deserves a lot of respect and credit for that, regardless of personal, subjective opinions. As for what it will sell for, I don't know, I'd be surprised if it brought a huge sum of money, but I'm much less interested and concerned with its selling price as I am with what the new owner will do with it.
Yes, it was known who had the car/s. Here are the Kookie pics my dad took in 64 that Ric used in his book. Just noticed my name in the phot cred as well. From the chapter on the Golden Sahara
I'm glad the tone of this thread has changed and agree with the comments from 57Joefomopar forward to this point. Why hate on a car because it's not your style. If everyone loved model A's one 32 rails or only 32 Ford's it would be a very narrow minded dull world we all live in. Sent from my SM-G955U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I read that it had a 500 HP motor?,from the picture I seen of the motor it looked like the original 317 and still had the original teapot Holley 4 bbl so what could have been done to it back then for that much power or was that a misprint.
Uhh, Barris is deceased. While it's not even close to being my favorite Custom, It's significant and holds a big place in Custom history. The car deserves to be restored and shown again. I don't really care if it sells for $150k or a mil. Whoever buys it will have the money for the purchase and (hopefully) a proper restoration. I'm more concerned that the right person buys it. Someone that won't lock it back up in a garage for another half century, but someone that will participate in the hobby and take it on tour to some Custom & Rod shows and perhaps later loan it out to various Automotive museums for all to enjoy. I'd love to see it in person.
I posted this in @Moriarity's thread on this classic but for anyone who might like to see this thing doing the real road thing check it out...Its funny another observation that I thought of as I watched the footage is renting your stuff out for a part in the movie...that thing was driven hard... there's a thread on it here and its not all good with some funny bits as well. Pretty rare footage captured forever on film of the Golden Sahara is from; just start and slide over to... 1:04:44min to 1:05:31min One bit of irony I 'm not sure was intended was Lewis with the Fish in the car...anybody know if this was a poke at the paint so to speak...? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ahara-in-decades.1100332/page-6#post-12485544
That could be why the film seemed to be sped up some in the movies so it looked like it had 500 horses.
That, is a spectacular way of putting it, and certainly applies in a great many threads on here regarding cars that don't fit into the current definition of "traditional rods and customs". May I add that to my sig line?
The May 2018 issue of Automobile magazine has an article on prices of various cars sold at the Bonhams Scottsdale auction: 1958 Porche for $5,170,000. 1948 Tucker for $1,792,500. This 1950 Stude custom - which encompasses just about the amount of ridiculosity as the Sahara - got just $38,500. We ain't gettin' no respect!
Yeah, well you'd have to pull the decimal point about 3 notches to the left to get a bid from me! Talk about FUGLY!!!!!!!
The front of it is heavy, the headlight extensions too long for my taste. The rest of it is nice, it flows well.
TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE FOLLOWED THIS THREAD FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS... Jive-Bomber ! Thanks for this ! You are always on-target, my friend ! For those of you who haven't heard this yet, or, missed it before, the Direct Link, found below, will take you to the Interview that George, John D'Agostino, and, myself, did on July 26th, 2009 at the KKOA on BOTH the "Golden Sahara" & "Golden Sahara II". George's story telling abilities were just super, and how he tells how he activated the car for "Cinderfella" (the Jerry Lewis film) is just really cool ! HERE'S THE DIRECT LINK: http://www.legends.thewwbc.net/gpage109.html My best to all !!! Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net
Well no matter what the new keeper does he is going to piss half the bunch off. Restore to a perfect rendition of the early version and you get the leave it as is never touch a thing brigade mad. Leave it as it is now and those of us who would rather see it restored to The way it first came out and we first saw photos of it aren't happy because we never liked the later version.
Jonnie sure did a good job interviewing George. To bad that the stories George mentioned about the Golden Sahara in this interview are far from accurate. Barris painted the GS I in refrigerator white, a solid non pearl color. The GS I was build at the Barris Shop. The GS II was pearl white, but Barris had absolutely nothing to do with the second version of the car. It was build in Ohio at Delphos Machine and Tool Shop and body work was done mostly by Bob Metz. The Pearl paint was something Jim found on a pearl necklace and traced the material, which was never before used on a car, to the Mearl Corporation. The pearl paste that was used was actually made from fish scaled, that part George Barris was right about, but George never worked on the second version. Jim Street made all the arrangements for the Cinderfella movie after one of the prop people from the producers had seen it at a local car dealer display and asked jim to do a presentation with the car for the movie producers. They all loved it, especially all the electronic gadgets created by Henry Meyer at the Delphos Machine & Tool Shop.
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