George was born in Chicago in the mid twenties. As a teenager he and his brother Sam were given a 1925 Buick in need of repair. They straightened the body and added bolt-on accessories before George hand painted the car in orange with blue stripes. It was promptly sold.
The brothers interest in cars intensified during their teenage years as they hung out at local bodyshops. George created his first full custom from a used 1936 Ford convertible before he graduated from high school. This automobile lead to their first commercial customer. Shortly after George formed a club called Kustoms Car Club.
After World War II the two brothers opened a new shop in Los Angeles known as the "Barris Brother's Custom Shop".
At the first Hot Rod Show produced by Robert 'Pete' Petersen, founder of Hot Rod magazine, the Barris brothers were asked to exhibit the only custom car in the show.
Modern automotive magazines were being published which provided coverage of the custom car business. George began photographing autos professionally and writing for the magazines. He was able to promote his business by demonstrating their techniques through how-to articles.
They moved to a larger shop in Lynwood where the famous Hirohata Merc was born. Sam bought a new two-door Mercury to make a great custom.

He figured it out all in his head and began cutting it up and reformed the car. Bob Hirohata admired Sam's style and brought in his '51 Merc for a full custom job. Sam finished his car so it could be shown at the 1952 Motorama. It turned out to be the sensation of the show.
George formed "Kustoms of Los Angeles.” Kustoms of America is still a major club today that has a major cruise in Paso Robles.
The movie studios had taken note of Barris Kustoms on the streets and at races and came to George for cars for their films. This included customizing the personal cars of the stars as well. As the past forty plus years have shown, this association with the studios and stars has been long and fascinating.
George would travel all over the country in his
creations, with the name "Barris" plastered everywhere he could, covering car shows and appearing on TV talk shows. In the late 50's Revell began making model kits of George's cars. AMT soon joined with the "Ala Kart." Plastic model kits became the biggest selling toys at
the time.
Original kustoms and hot rods continued to roll off George's drawing board. As the sixties began, George shifted gears and bought a new shop in North Hollywood where he designed and built award winning cars. He also became a father to daughter Joji and son Brett. George continues to work out of this shop today.