George Barris died Nov. 5, 2015.

The King of the Kustomizers. RIP

I grew up looking at George's work in car magazines. His death is part of the reason I started this blog. I've been thinking since he passed that I needed to do something but I didn't know what.

There are articles all over the web and plenty books about his and brother Sam's cars. Check them out, there's some great stuff to see. I want to reflect a little on the way he touched lives all over the world through his art/craft.

As a kid I would see his ads in the hot rod books selling his "Customizing Made Easy" books. This was during the "Super Van" and "Corvette Summer" era. This is where the seed was planted for me.

I'm sure there were thousands like me who were inspired by his work. Kids who's dreams were influenced by George's passion. People he never met but managed to touch their lives. I didn't grow up to be a famous builder but George was a positive influence on my life, as he was for many others. Just as some kid might be influenced by seeing the car you built or just seeing you working on it in your garage.

I think of some of my heroes lost over the last few years, Ed Roth, Von Dutch, Dave Bell, the Pizz and I want to honor them and thank them for the inspiration.

So who are your hot rod heroes? Who are the young people you may be influencing now?

PS: I had to stop in the middle of writing this because my wife woke up and we spent some time together, talking about household projects and teenagers and holiday plans. I had to stop again when the baby woke up because when he's up he rules the world. Then there was work. But that's the point of what I'm trying yo do here. Real Life: Hot Rods. What do ya think?