Barris Kustom Golden Sahara

Information

The Golden Sahara II (also knowns as Concept Goodyear Golden Sahara II) is a concept car designed by George Barris for Jim Street, a car collector from from Dayton, Ohio.
Based on the 1953 Lincoln Capri Hardtop and built in 1954 by Delphos Machine and Tool shop at an estimated cost of $75,000 USD (around $700,000 in today's dollars).
The car was and upgraded to Version II in 1956.The design is inspired by the jet era and futuristic Batmobiles of the 1950s, with glazed cockpit of a 1953 Lincoln Capri, luxurious gold-plated interior and exterior trim, translucent-luminous Goodyear tires, and advanced electronic equipment for the time: piloting controls inspired by aeronautics, automatic emergency braking based on obstacle sensors, electric door opening, voice control, radio, stereo system, tape recorder, television, telephone, and cocktail bar.
Goodyear contributed to the restoration by re-creating a set of solid urethane tires equipped with programmable LEDs to replicate the appearance and function of the original illuminated Neothane show tires.
The tires were constructed using a mold in the correct size and pattern provided by vintage tire specialists, Kelsey Tire.
The car was stored at Street's home in Ohio for nearly 50 years.