Annual car show brings out big stars on wheels

VOLO – For the past seven years, the George Barris Car Show and Auto Fair has brought in some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood – the ones on wheels, that is.

Saturday’s show will include one of the biggest unveilings in the Volo Auto Museum’s history, founder and president Greg Grams said. Attendees this year will be treated to a display of what Grams described as “the most bizarre cars on the planet” worth millions of dollars, including nine cars with celebrity connections that have sat in storage for years.

The “original” real-life Doc Hudson from Disney’s “Cars” (voiced in the movie by the late Paul Newman) also will be unveiled at the event, as will a pedal car used by clowns from Disney On Ice.

As usual, the show’s namesake, George Barris, will be in attendance. Barris is the famous Hollywood car creator who has designed and built cars for the original “Batman” TV series, “Back to the Future,” “Knight Rider” and others, Grams said. Barris also has made custom cars for the likes of The Beach Boys and James Brown.

“George Barris is one of the few car icons left,” Grams said. “He started it all, built all the cars for the superstars. He’s just a legend.”

Barris still does some design work, but he no longer builds. Most recently, he has designed cars for movies such as “The Fast and the Furious.”

The $15 event at the museum is worth stopping during Independence Day weekend, Grams said.

“There’s always something new and exciting,” he said.