In the 1950s and 60s, one of the most famous auto customizers was George Barris. Working out of his shop in California, George Barris built many custom cars for the stars and for movie and TV shows. The AMX 400 was one of the many cars customized and made famous by Barris Kustoms.About ten years of the AMX 400s history is unsure, but in 2001 it surfaced again and was found by it's current owner, Mike Geary. Mike negotiated with it's owner at that time and eventually was able to come to terms and make the purchase. The story and pictures are from Mike Geary on the Restoration of the AMX400.
Blast To The Past
The Restored George Barris AMX400
With Thanks to Mike Geary For Story and Pictures
In the 1950s and 60s, one of the most famous auto customizers was George Barris. Working out of his shop in California, George Barris built many custom cars for the stars and for movie and TV shows. Some of the more recognizable customs to roll out of Barris Kustoms include classics like the Batmobile, the Monkey mobile, The Fireball 500 car and many, many others, most of which can be seen in one of his many publications available on his web site, Barris.com.
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The AMX 400 was one of the many cars customized and made famous by Barris Kustoms. In late 1969, during a time when George Barris was building concept cars for American Motors, a new 1969 AMX made it's way to his shop. In about 12 and one half weeks, the Barris crew (including George and his older brother Sam) converted this already fantastic looking two seat sports car to the full custom AMX 400. |
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This was accomplished by cutting 4 ½ inches out of the top, extending the nose 15 inches, extending the rear of the car 8 inches, lowering the suspension and then radically customizing the rest. The car was fitted with 14 louvers all the way down the rear section of the car from the roof line to the lower bumper line. The extended nose was also fitted with 3 louvers which were angled forward coming to a point at the center of the full custom nose. Head lights were hidden behind the louvers and the hood was fitted with a functional air scoop. Tangerine candy paint on the lower section was set off by a pearl white with copper over tones across the upper section of this beautiful example of a Barris custom.
Completed in late 1969, the AMX 400 was the last custom George produced in the "60s" and tragically it was also the last custom built by George and his brother Sam, due to Sam's passing.
The AMX 400 was used in the TV series Banacek in 1970 starring George Peppard and in one episode, it was the Phoenix, a 5 million dollar safety car which mysteriously vanished from a rail road car while the train was in motion. After the TV series, The AMX 400 was then used as a circuit show car and toured the country. From there, the AMX400 spent time in several museums and at one point, it was part of the Domino's pizza car collection.
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About ten years of the AMX 400s history is unsure, but in 2001 it surfaced again and was found by it's current owner, Mike Geary. Mike negotiated with it's owner at that time and eventually was able to come to terms and make the purchase. Still in solid original condition, but badly in need of cosmetic restoration, Mike went to work stripping the car to metal and starting over again. The original body work was mostly in tact and required only surfacing and reblocking. The paint was purchased through house of colors and was applied by Dave of Tabz Toyz of Lancaster, New York. |
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From there, Mike and his wife Lin showed the car at Cobo hall in Detroit in March of 2005. There, George Barris again saw the AMX400 for the first time in 20 years. So impressed with the restoration, George envited Mike & Lin to show the car with him at the Good Guys show coming up in Columbus |
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So off to Columbus it went. In the mean time, the Chrysler Museum contacted Mike and asked if he would lend the car to the museum for their current display titled "Hot Rods & Cool Mods". Thrilled at the request, Mike packed up the AMX400 and sent it off to Auburn Hills Michigan where it can now be seen by the public in the Walter P. Chrysler Museum until late fall of 2006. |
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The AMX400 will also be featured in a hard cover book coming out in 2006 by a publisher out of the Chicago area which will contain many of the great American customs of years past so be sure to watch for it. Mike has owned AMXs since 1969& still owns the 1968 390 4 spd. Red AMX he & his wife had their first date in 30 years ago, but owning the restored AMX 400, the most photographed AMX in the world, is his dream come true. Drop him a line about the car if you like at nymeteddy@aol.com
