The “Ala Kart” Custom Roadster

(Going "Old school" with THIS one) “Ala Kart”, one of the most famous customs of all time originally started life as a 1929 Ford Model A Pickup, restyled by Barris Customs for Richard Peters of Fresno, California. It was built expressly to win the  America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Trophy at The Oakland Roadster Show. The “King of the Customizers,” George Barris began its construction in 1957.

The back body section was taken from a 1927 Ford Model T Roadster. The bed was completely hand formed and fitted with handmade trim. The bed features a Tonneau cover which was upholstered with rolled and pleated  Naugahyde  to match the interior. The taillights are a combination of 1958 Chevrolet Impala and 1956 Dodge DeSoto bezels and lenses. The hood is a three piece unit with a continuous Aluminum scoop . The grille shell is made of hand formed metal and tubing and houses the quad lights are from a 1957 Chrysler Imperial. All body work (except for the Hood), was done in 20 gauge cold rolled steel.

Its engine is a fuel injected Dodge Red Ram Hemi with an Isky cam, Jahn’s racing pistons and Ansen rods. The rear end is from a late model Ford complete with hydraulic brakes. The emergency brake is electrically operated by switch mounted on the dash. The suspension system is all made up of 4 coil springs with adjustable air bags. Torsion bars are Traction Masters with stabilizers. The transmission is a Lincoln Zephyr unit with 3.43 rear gears. The steering wheel was taken from a Lincoln Continental and the complete dash is hand formed with SW dials. Wheels are chrome reversed units with spun bullets and Dunlop tires.

The interior has split wrap around, semi circle seats done in white pearl Naugahyde and black velvet (with chrome beading between each pleat.) Carpets are Mouton Black fur.  Underneath, the flooring and pans are upholstered to match interior.

All four fenders were bobbed, v-pointed and completely finished on the underside the same as the top. Nerf bars and the exhaust system are chrome plated with ripple side pipes fitted on the shortened running boards. The Kart was finished off with forty coats of white diamond dust mother-of-pearl with projection scallops in Kandy Cerise and gold leaf with pin striping, all hand rubbed to to a high luster. The scallops and paint were laid by George Barris himself.

During the build, on December 7^th, 1957, the Barris Customs Shop caught fire, and fourteen cars were lost to the blaze. The Ala Kart was in a separate room, and was miraculously spared from the fire.
The car was shown at the 9^th Annual National Roadster show, held in February 1958 . Being advertised as a $15,000 hand-built pickup, Ala Kart won the grand award, a $5,000 nine-foot gold trophy being judged as America’s Most Beautiful Roadster 1958.

The Ala Kart is also known for being the first Show Rod that became a model car kit. AMT models 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.

Ala Kart changed hands several times without any major changes being made to it. In the fall of 2001, Ala Kart was given a full restoration. She’s still just as breathtaking today as the day she was crowned. What a beauty….

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