This is the Sidewinder, it’s an incredible V8-powered custom trike that was built by George Barris and his team in 1975 – arguably the most famous American custom car builder of all time.
Although we haven’t been able to verify it, the rumor is that this vehicle was driven by Steve McQueen at least once, down the main straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway no less, but these sorts of things really need to be verified before they’re taken as gospel by any prospective buyer.
Fast Facts: The George Barris Sidewinder
- George Barris built the Sidewinder trike with his team in 1975 at his North Hollywood shop, powered by an all-aluminum 329 cubic inch Buick V8 producing an estimated 350 – 400 bhp. The engine, mounted sideways in a tripod frame, drives the rear axle through an automatic transmission and double-chain system, inspiring the “Sidewinder” name.
- Barris equipped the trike with a slew of performance parts, including an Iskenderian camshaft, Jahn racing pistons, and a MOON fuel tank. Custom chopper forks were built by George Barton of Randy Enterprises, and it has twin rear spoiler wings for some additional visual drama.
- The rear wheels and tires came from a Douglas DC-6 airliner, while braking was handled by twin Hurst/AirHeart discs, complemented by decorative Dietz parachutes. The Sidewinder was designed as a showpiece rather than a street machine, capturing Barris’ blend of showmanship, creativity, and over-the-top 1970s custom styling.
- George Barris, born in 1925 and famed as the “King of the Kustomizers,” rose to prominence after founding Barris Kustoms in Los Angeles in 1944 with his brother Sam. His creations, from the 1951 Hirohata Mercury to the 1966 Batmobile, helped define postwar custom culture. The Sidewinder remains one of his most striking later works, now headed for auction with Historics Auctioneers.
History Speedrun: George Barris
George Barris is a man who became a legend in his own time by building an empire out of imagination, metal, fiberglass, and circus ringmaster-like showmanship. Born in Chicago in 1925 and raised in California, he began modifying cars as a teenager, building his first custom from a battered 1925 Buick.
This is the Sidewinder, it’s an incredible V8-powered custom trike that was built by George Barris and his team in 1975 – arguably the most famous American custom car builder of all time.
He and his brother Sam set up Barris Kustoms in Los Angeles in 1944, they set to work shaping the aesthetic that would help define American custom car culture for decades. They quickly gained a reputation for their inventive metalwork, metal flake paint, and flamboyant use of color – soon drawing attention from major Hollywood studios.
In the years after WWII Barris emerged as one of the most recognizable names in the California car scene, if not the most recognizable outright. His approach was equal parts art and engineering – chopped roofs, frenched headlights, and hand-formed bodywork that transformed stock cars into rolling sculptures.
By the early 1950s his creations, like the Hirohata Mercury and Ala Kart, had become icons of the emerging “kustom” movement – a subculture that took equal parts from the worlds of hot rod and jet age design. Barris’ work frequently appeared in Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines, and his larger-than-life personality and circus-ringmaster-like showmanship turned his shop into a pilgrimage site for customizers from around the country, and around the world too for that matter.
It would be Hollywood and the silver screen that turned George Barris into a household name. He developed cars for film and television, from The Munsters’ Koach and Drag-U-La to the Beverly Hillbillies truck and, most famously, the 1966 Batmobile. Built from a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car in just three weeks, the Batmobile defined the era’s pop-culture automotive design – a perfect blend of comic book fantasy and mid-century futurism.
Amid the TV and cinema fame, Barris never stopped building wild one-offs. The 1975 Sidewinder Trike stood out even in his wildly eclectic portfolio. Built as a showpiece rather than a street-legal machine, it had a mid-mounted V8, chromed side pipes, wild paintwork, and twin oversized rear wheels. Its sweeping bodywork captured the experimental spirit of mid-1970s custom culture perfectly, it was part motorcycle, part sculpture, and all Barris.
Through the 1980s and beyond, George Barris kept a strong presence on the car-show circuit. He wrote books, licensed his designs, and collaborated with museums to preserve the legacy of 20th century American car customization. Even as new builders emerged, few have ever matched his combination of creativity, business savvy, and unusual cultural reach.
The Sidewinder is powered by an all-aluminum Buick V8 that’s said to have a 329 cubic inch displacement, and to be capable of 350 to 400 bhp.
When Barris passed away in 2015 at age 89, his shop in North Hollywood was still active, still bearing the bright gold script – Barris Kustom City.
The George Barris Sidewinder Shown Here
George Barris and his team built this extraordinary three-wheeler, named the Sidewinder, at his North Hollywood workshop in the mid-1970s. It’s powered by an all-aluminum Buick V8 that’s said to have a 329 cubic inch displacement, and to be capable of 350 to 400 bhp.
This engine is fitted with an Iskenderian camshaft and Jahn racing pistons, and it breathes through a fuel injection system fed by a hand-formed spun-aluminum MOON tank carrying 100 octane fuel.
Drive is sent through an automatic transmission to a double chain and sprocket system linked to a three-inch floating rear axle, with gear selection handled by an Ansen posi-shift unit. The engine sits sideways in a tripod-style frame that doubles as a structural cradle, giving rise to the “Sidewinder” name.
The front end uses custom-built chopper forks built by George Barton of Randy Enterprises – well known for their work in the top ranks of custom motorcycle fabrication in the era.
The body is made from 20-gauge USS steel, it has a dramatic boomerang profile with twin high-speed spoiler wings in the rear. In true Barris fashion, it mixes hot rod design cues with some aviation history – the magnesium rear wheels and tires were sourced from a Douglas DC-6 airliner.
George Barris and his team built this extraordinary three-wheeler, named the Sidewinder, at his North Hollywood workshop in the mid-1970s.
Stopping power comes from twin Hurst/AirHeart discs for low-speed braking, supplemented by dual Dietz parachutes (non-functional) for deceleration at high speed.
The George Barris Sidewinder is now due to roll across the auction block in late November with Historics Auctioneers. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Historics Auctioneers
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
