Sonny and Cher “Half-Breed” Mustangs
In 1964 Ford launched an icon: Mustang.
Riding two years of blistering sales, marketing dollars funded a project to put rising stars Sonny and Cher behind the wheel of brand new, nearly consecutive serial number, 1966 Mustang Convertibles. To match the sporty but mainstream Mustangs to the flamboyant rockers, George Barris and Barris TV and Movie Cars were hired to customize the pony car. A great Train of Thought, or so it would seem…
Ford, their red-hot Mustang, George and a few Barris Kustom tricks should have been a Good Combination. Here at MyRideisMe.com, United We Stand in saying, these cars failed!
Sold as a pair, they fetched over $150,000 (including fees, maybe a win?) at the 2010 Barrett Jackson Auction with George Barris himself on the block to add his, “I Got You Babe” to the auctioneers urging that when it comes to these two collectible cars, Its the Little Things that make’m bring big bucks.
Watch the full 6 minute auction if you’d like:
It’s hard to decided which of the “custom” treatments I liked least. I guess we’ll start with the empty ice cube trays filled with a simple metal mesh pop-riveted to the hood. The very quotable sell sheet in the window (read it here) called these, “Simulated Hood Scoops”. I say, Mama Was A Rock And Roll Singer Papa Used To Write All Her Songs and work at a hardware store on the weekends. Is this custom?
What Now My Love, you ask? Check out the grill:
I Hate to Sleep Alone, so I gotta ask: Did the front of either car improve? A cleft chin marks the center of the grill after removing the iconic running horse, then, I’m not sure if it’s a refrigerator shelf (the same one that donated the ice tray) or maybe part of an old stove on Cher’s car. Either way, someone’s Living in a House Divided. Were rectangular headlights ever an improvement or used in another custom?
Proving the custom Beat Goes On the interiors compliment the “custom” front ends disastrously. I couldn’t put words together to describe the interiors, so let me quote the sell sheet:
Sonny’s Mustang is upholstered with Bobcat fur and antique buff leather trimmed with rustic suede. Cher’s car features white Ermine fur and black antique Scottish leather upholstery, trimmed in hot pink suede.
Ermine and Bobcat. When You Find Out Where You’re Goin’, Let Me Know.
Barris Kustoms has built several great customs: The Hirohata Merch, Blue Danube and of course Sam Barris’ own custom commonly known as “Sam’s Merc”. There’s no doubt the Barris crew can make an amazing car, but these Mustangs and the recent Toyota Prius custom rival the neon clad PT Cruisers covered before as some of the worst attempts at custom I’ve seen.
Don’t Let it Be Me, tell me if you agree! Do these Half-Breed customs work for you?
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No matter what, thoses grill inserts and the trays on the hood ruin the cars, a lot of the work done is typical of the time, and in my opinion not so bad… but the bad points do bring the cars down for me.
I can’t say they are the best Barris customs, but they sure are unique.
Who wrote this stupid Sonny and Cher article? Does the person actually call himself a writer? He can’t seem to keep himself out of his story and his writing skills (I wouldn’t call them that) are weak if anything.
Thanks E! How about you write something for us then?
No matter who built these they are ugly. sorry George.
Dear Pikesan:
It simple never fails. Whenever I say something mean, for some reason I am always given the opportunity to try and fix it.
I’ve been suffering from sciatica and very bad lower back pain for almost a steady year now and the constant discomfort seems to make me willing to speak without using my brain.
Please forgive my bad attitude and my poor comments on your writing. I re-read your article. Your writing is not bad at all, I just didn’t care for your using of song titles in your sentences and that’s my problem. It’s a good idea really, an excellent literary vehicle for moving one’s readers through a story. I guess with all my discomfort I was just looking to pick a stupid anonymous fight. I will post this to follow your reply to my stupid comment on the web.
I hope you are well.
Ellis
P.S. I think you are right about the custom work Barris did on these two Mustangs. Low quality and not that creative really. The fake hood scoops are lame. I also think Barris is often highly overrated, at the very least terribly inconsistent. He does have some very nice projects, but I think most of his importance as a customizer comes from the fact he was one of the early birds in the field.
Ellis, Don’t worry about it. The idea to use the song titles came from an exec at my work. I think it worked a little better for him, but I thought not-so-bad for me.
You originally objected to seeing so much personal opinion in my writing/review/editorial. In blogging, in general, and especially here at MyRideisMe.com, personal input is KEY! That also ensures that not everyone’s gonna like it. You’ll also see liberties with grammar and slang, but hopefully as few as possible misspellings and out-n-out errors. If you want to review my stories and give feedback, that’d be great.
I hope you feel better. My pops has had back pain forever too, so I know how it can get. Don’t give up.
Those who can,do; those who can’t teach though in your case they write.I can’t decide if your envious, jealous or both.
Ken, it’s a nasty car, but to each their own. It’s a theme car and in my opinion, not done well. I’m not envious or jealous! I’m thrilled with the hideous work done on these customs, you call out my writing! Have a great one Ken!