What a fun afternoon at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona! I had to go when I saw that they were going to have an insane collection of famous George Barris cars on display this year. Besides the most famous Barris cars like the Batmobile, the Munster Koach, the Dragula, the Ala Kart, and many others, the real draw for me was the GOLDEN SAHARA!
I’ve been obsessed with the Golden Sahara since the first time I saw a photo of it when I was seventeen or eighteen years old. As far as 1950s Kustom cars are concerned, the Golden Sahara is the top of the heap, the craziest Jetsons-inspired 1950s vision of the future ever built. And on top of the incredible visual style of the Golden Sahara, it also carries an incredible tale of intrigue!
The Golden Sahara was owned by an enterprising guy from Dayton, Ohio, named Jim Street. Street worked out a deal with Goodyear tires to have these incredible, transparent gold light-up tires installed on the vehicle. He took the car around to numerous car shows and even got it in a few television shows and movies (including the Jerry Lewis film Cinder Fella). A story I hadn’t heard until today is that Jim Street displayed the cars until he could no longer get the translucent show tires from Goodyear, so around 1966 or so, when he no longer had any tires to display with the car, he put it in storage and he never let it be seen by the public again. All through the 1990s and 2000s, I was obsessed with this car. I even made plans to go knock on Jim Street’s door in Dayton on one of my tours, but I never did. There were decades where people wondered: What happened to the Golden Sahara? Did it still exist?
A few years ago, Jim Street passed away, and it turns out he had a huge collection of boats and show cars that got auctioned off. And there it was! Unseen since 1966, the Golden Sahara was there at the auction, in the flesh. Being one of the most famous Kustoms of all time, with an incredible history and even stranger era of mystery and intrigue, it sold for $365,000 at the auction—before restoration. The car has since been expertly restored, and is on display in Chicago most of the year at the Klairmont Kollections museum. But this weekend, it was arranged to bring it back out to California for the Grand National Roadster Show!
It was incredible to see in person this car that I had been so obsessed with. It literally is the coolest vehicle ever made, in my opinion. At the same time we were there, Sally Jo and I ran into Garrett from the Ghastly Ones and his wife, Michelle; Bert from the Whippersnappers and his girlfriend, Michelle; Steve Wertheimer, owner of the Continental Club in Austin and hot rod/Kustom guy extraordinaire; and surf guitar/car guy Maxx Kominsky! It was a great meeting of the minds! I started talking to the guy who manages the Klairmont museum and telling him my obsession with the Golden Sahara and how long I have been waiting to see it in person. He let me go behind the rope and open up the hood! The engine has a gold-plated intake manifold. Incredible!
We then walked around the rest of the auto show, and it was really impressive, the best one I have ever seen. Each building was filled to the brim with show cars, hot rods, customs, and expertly restored vintage cars.
We walked over to the “Suede Palace” building to see James Intveld play, with our buddies Djordje Stijepovic on bass, Carl Sonny Leyland on piano, and Kip Dabbs on drums. What a great show! Jimmy was doing a set of rockabilly and playing lead guitar, which he doesn’t do so often, but he’s so good at it. We ran into lots of friends and even managed to bump into Jimmy Vaughan of the Fabulous Thunderbirds (Stevie Ray’s brother) and I got to talk to him about a 1950s Mosrite doubleneck guitar I knew he had in his collection that I would like to photograph for my book. He was super cool about it! We made plans to do it when I’m in Texas for the Lone Star Round Up in a couple months. Success!
What a great day. I’m so glad that we got out of the house. Those car guys are just as nerdy and obsessed as the guitar/music nerds—but with more money. Lots more money! I think Sally Jo enjoyed it despite the deluge of car nerds surrounding us at all times. And I finally got to see the Golden Sahara!
See more photos at Deke’s original post.
