The Peter Sarber 1951-52 National Roadster Show Photos
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Ron Brooks has shared a series of photos taken by Peter Sarber at the 1951 and 1952 National Roadster Show in Oakland California.
Ron mentioned that Peter Sarber’s family had a camera store in Oakland for 50 years. They had a photo booth at many of the car shows, taking photos of the cars, selling photo prints, and renting cameras.
Many thanks go out to the Sarber family and Shane Leasure for sharing these images with the world and to Ron Brooks for scanning them.
There are a good number of scans and I will add them all in this thread when time allows.
Lets start with the 4 photos Peter Sarber took of the Ayala 1940 Mercury.
Gil Ayala had created this 1940 Mercury with full fade away fenders as his personal driver. But not to long after he finished the car he sold it to Richard J. Stickley from Hollywood, California. Of behalf of Richard Gil showed the car at the 1951 Oakland Roadster Show.
The car was received very well, winning the Customs class. The car was originally painted Black, but after Gil had sold his 1940 Mercury he had repainted the car in Devil Maroon and that is how it appeared in the show.
Especially the interior photo is really amazing, since not much of the interior of this car has seen before.It gives us a great view of the unique upholstery with large squares and the use of a 1949 Mercury side trim on the door panel. It shows the car has hydraulic windows, modified 1946 Ford dash a Ford Crestline steeringwheel, pushbuttons and Appletons S-552. According the magazines at the time the interior was upholstered in yellow.
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Peter Sarber also too these two photos of Bill Taylor’s 1949 Chevy at the 1951 Oakland Roadster show.
The Barris Kustom Shop was responsible for this beautiful restyled 1949 Chevy convertible for owner Bill Taylor The car has a chopped windshield, rear fenders were modified to use 1950 Pontiac taillights. The grille opening was reshaped to fit the large diameter tubular floating grille bars, and the headlights were frenched before George Barris painted the car in deep Purple lacquer. Bill Gaylord did the purple and gray interior and created the beautiful padded top with panoramic rear window.
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These pictures are great!!! I hope it‘s ok to put some observations in between: In the picture of Gils Mercury in it’s second version (below) it looks like it still has the original dash in place. And i also noticed in the new interior picture that the vent windows seem to be fixed/non moving. And the 46 dash sits high in the Mercury, so that the spotlight shafts go through the upper dash tips!
And in the 49 Chevy picture i spotted the chopped 41 Business Coupe with Frazer grill in the background (could maybe be a Mercury?). This car is seen from the front in the background in a picture from Don Montgomerys book „Hot Rod Memories“, also Gils Mercury is visible barely on the left side of the lower picture on the book page:
And here in the background from the Chevy picture:
Cant‘t wait to see more pictures, thanks a lot for showing them!!!Thanks for sharing. And thanks to the Sarber family, and Ron Brooks for scanning. Important images of a true artform! Preserving them becomes a very precious trust. An era absolutely unique in art and culture. We probably never will know just how important the early customizers ever realized their impact would be going forward. Revolutionary on so many levels.
Here is another photo from the amazing Peter Sarber photo collection. Peter Sarber took this photo of Ray Duckworth’s Buick at the 1952 Oakland Roadster show. The 1952 Oakland Roadster Show program mentioned this about the car.
Car No. 409: Owner Ray Duckworth of San Lorenzo, member of Customs of San Leandro. 175 horsepower Roadnaster engine, Headers, electric fuel pumt. Super chassis with Auburn dual ratio rear-end with semi-torque tube drive. Body completely molded with special hood opening. Padded dash, imitation snake skin seats, safety belts, center swithg panel with indicator light. Color is deep purple metallic done by owner.
I had never seen any images of this car before, and I also do not know anything else than what I can see in the photo (only one photo of this car in the collection) and what is written in the 1952 Show Program. Obvious the car must have been inspired by the George Barris 1941 Buick. With all the Cadillac additions to the Buick base.
One of the most interesting modification on the car is the new hood cut out. Also interesting is that the car ran black wall tires and aftermarket Sombrero hubcaps in 1952. Making it look like it was an car restyled during, or shortly after WWII and kept in great condition all these years. So much interesting this to discover on this “unknown” early style Custom Buick.
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Peter Sarber took this photo of the Jim Skonzakes 1949 Buick Roadmaster Custom at the 1952 Oakland Roadster Show. Jim drove his Buick all the way from Dayton Ohio to attend the show.
The Buick was parked right in front of what we think is the Sarber photo booth. The Sarber family operated a camera store in Oakland, California and had a booth at all the big car shows back then.
The photos you can see being displayed are the same as in the collection share with Ron Brooks. Most likely the photos were taken during set-up day, the negatives developed at the shop and 8×10 photos printed to be sold at the event over the weekend.
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Jack Brumback 1942 Ford was restyled by the Barris Kustom Shop in the early 1950’s. The Ford had a really unique chopped top with dramatically – much more taken out of the rear of the top than the front – wedge chop, resulting in a near fleetline shaped roof.
The Barris team managed to make it all look really good with the teardrop shaped rear quarter window ending in a very sharp point.
The front of the car was restyled with folded headlights, a 1950 Oldsmobile grille surround and same year Henry J grille and Mercury bumpers. Originally the car was lowered more then shown in this photo, possibly the car was used as daily transportation and the owner might have had difficulties driving the car as low as the Barris shop originally intended.
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1941 Ford chopped Business Coupe owned by Chris Cintas from Sanra Clara California. The windshield was laid back, 1948 Ford fenders molded to the body. The rear fenders were extended down and modified to accept long and low fender skirts. The front was modified to accept a 1949 Frazer Manhattan grille. The builder of the car is unknown.
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What great find and a treasure for these pictures to be shared. Thanks for passing them along to us Rik!!!
Another photo taken by Peter Sarber at the 1952 National Roadster show in Oakland California.
Car #401, Tony Rando 1939 Ford Convertible.This is one of my personal favourite cars at the 1952 National Roadster Show. I had seen a small photo of the car in an early magazine before, but never a good scan of an actual photo. So when Ron Brooks send me this scan it made me smile. This car has just such great proportions with its chopped windshield, channeled body, removed running boards and sectioned hood. The icing on the cake are the Appleton Spotlights, the DeSoto bumpers, the aftermarket smooth hubcaps on wide whites, the teardrop skirts and the dean on perfection stance.
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Another photo taken by Peter Sarber at the 1952 National Roadster show in Oakland California.
Anthony Heinsbergen’s Muntz Jet “Golden Boy”.Anthony Heinsbergen, interior designer and decorator from Los Angeles worked together with the Barris Kustom Shop and Elliot Wiener upholstered to create his dream car. A car that showed off his work as interior designer. The body was restyled with extended front fenders with large 1922 Marmon headlights added. A new grille surround with a tubular insert was created, the model smoothed and painted a bright gold metallic by George Barris. The interior was done in snake skin with special luggage designed by Elliot Wiener and 2 inch thick red rugs on the floor. A nice detail are the rarely seen General striped white wall tires, which look really well on this car. Hubcaps are aftermarket units.
The Muntz was displayed at the Barris Shop / Carson Top Shop booth at the event.
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Another photo taken by Peter Sarber at the 1952 National Roadster show in Oakland California.
Peter captured this very nicely restyled 1941 Plymouth 4-door sedan at the 1952 show.The unidentified custom looks really wonderful and as a four door model it is quite unusual for the time to get a full Custom treatment.But to me it all works really well. And the owner/builder thought it looked good enough to enter the show.
The car was restyled using a modified front to accept a 1946 Chevy grille, molded headlights and shaved hood with shortened hood side trim. The door handles are shaved, the fenders folded to the body and the running boards removed and replace with a molded in pan. The bumpers were replaced with 1949 Plymouth units and teardrop skirts were added to make the car look really super with the perfect custom stance. The finishing touch were a set of wide white wall tires and custom hubcaps that looks like a combination of set of Chrome-sides with smooth full moon centers. What a beautiful family cruiser.
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Peter Sarber took this photo of Ed Mesick’s 1941 Chevy Convertible at the 1952 Oakland Roadster show.
Car No. 405: Ed Mesick’s beautiful restyled 1941 Chevy Convertible with chopped windshield, matching padded top, Plymouth grille in a modified front with folded in headlights, molded in fenders, shaved trim and teardrop skirts. Very nice customs that won some awards at the show as well. I have no idea who performed the restyling on Ed’s Chevy
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Peter Sarber photo taken at the 1951 Oakland Roadster show.
George Barris radically restyled this 1941 Ford convertible for John Vara in the later part of the 1940’s. About every inch on the car had been modified, channeled body, reshaped fenders with full fade aways, sectioned hood, chopped windshield, padded top, new grille etc. Before the car was completed it changed hands and Johnny Zaro became the new owner he had it finished and had George Barris paint the custom in a deep maroon color.
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Another Peter Sarber photo taken at the 1951 Oakland Roadster show.
1936 Ford owned by Don Rodgers. I was unable to find any info on this car, or the owner. It appears to be a phaeton with a chopped padded top inspired by the SoCalif Plating truck. The rear padded top covers the rear doors completely, and has a nice boomerang shape curve on the front door window opening shape, inspired by the SoCalif Plating truck, and very similar to the Joe Hocker 1936 Ford.
Don Rodgers Ford was restyled with a chopped windshield, padded top, 1940 Oldsmobile bumpers with ’49 Chevy License plate guards, teardrop skirts, lowered suspension, bullnose hood ornament and shaved door handles.
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