Ala Kart - George Barris

Le symbole du Hot Rod kustom le Ala Kart

The Ala Kart is known for being the first Show Rod that turned into a model car kit. AMT bought the Ala Kart in 1961 and the model kit was released late that year. The Ala Kart model kit sold more than 1 million kits the following year.



In order to make the car more driveable in and out of shows, the Hilborn injectors were swapped for four Stromberg 97 carburetors. In November of 1963, while the Ala-Kart was being driven by AMT's Budd Anderson, an electrical wire shorted out and melted the plastic fuel lines which allowed gasoline from the electric fuel pump to set the engine compartment ablaze doing serious damage to the hood and leaded cowl. The February 1964 issue of Rod & Custom reported the story in an article titled "The End of the Ala-Kart". For the next year, the winner of 2 AMBR awards and over 200 other top trophies was stored in a Detroit garage. After receiving many letters from Ala-Kart fans, AMT sent the Ala-Kart back to Barris' North Hollywood shop for restoration, coinciding with a re-release of the kit, which was chronicled in the September through November 1965 issues of Rod & Custom. At that time Rod & Custom proclaimed it "America’s most popular Hot Rod." In 1966 the Ala Kart was sent to a new project shop they had set up in Phoenix, Arizona. Gene Winfield was hired by AMT in order to work on their 1:1 show cars in this shop.



In 1966, AMT sold the Ala Kart to Goodyear Tire dealer Jack Shira. Jack painted his logo on the doors, and displayed the Ala Kart in the lot of his store in the hoot Phoenix sun. After a few years Jack's shop was closed, and the car disappeared. The car changed hands several times without any major changes being made to it. Nick Vaccaro was able to track the car down and acquire the famous Ala Kart. In 1973 Vaccaro ran an ad on the back of Hot Rod Magazine offering the car for sale. Vaccaro had disassembled the Kart and stripped most of its body. He had also began to make a new chassis for the car, with a TCI frame, smallblock Chevy engine and Jaguar rear end. Nick Vacarro owned the car at until 1996.



In 1996 a restoration of the car began at the Hershel "Junior" Conway House of Color. In the fall of 2001 John Mumford acquired the Ala Kart, and brought it to Roy Brizio's shop for a full restoration

Article de référence: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Ala_Kart

j'adore ce jouet

The Barris Family are so honored that the legendary Barris Kustom Ala Kart is proudly on display at The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit! Much appreciation to John Mumford and the Brizio Family for making this happen!