Hotrod Road Show » Dragula

Yvonne DeCarlo Lilly Munster and One Sweet Barris Ride

rariccardi — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:38:47 +0000

Yvonne DeCarlo became famous from her roll as Lilly Munster in the TV series, The Munsters. The series only ran for two years and spawned two movies, but the role of the sweet, yet sensible vampiress Lily introduced Yvonne to a new, younger audience and reignited her career.

Yvonne Decarlo With Munster Car

Not entirely unrecognizable from her full-tilt glam studio days, Yvonne wore green makeup and a long, black fright wig with a silver streak as the wife of Frankenstein’s monster-esque Herman Munster. In a way, (along with Carolyn Jones as Morticia on “The Addams Family,” which also ran from 1964-66) Yvonne De Carlo’s Lily may have helped to spawn early goth chic, introducing long black hair, flowing empire-waisted gowns, and bat necklaces to the mainstream public.

De Carlo’s Killer Ride
De Carlo relished the role, going so far as to have her black 1966 Jaguar sedan tricked out by Hollywood customizer George Barris with spiderweb hubcaps, gold coffin rails in place of a luggage rack, and coffin-shaped door handles. The pièce de résistance? The traditional Jaguar hood ornament was replaced with a brass wolf’s head with gleaming ruby eyes.
During the later years of her career, Yvonne used her Scream Queen status granted by “The Munsters” to propel her career towards a second wind in B-horror movies to help pay the bills. Quite often, she was cast in the role of a seemingly innocuous housewife. Lurking beneath the surface of her famous, sparkling gray eyes, Yvonne’s characters harbored a startlingly evil nature, capable of killing someone in cold blood.

Read the rest over at the Ghouls on Film blog.

Barris at the NYC Car Show Autoseum!

rariccardi — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:00:39 +0000

PRESS RELEASE June 19, 2008 For immediate release:
New York, NY – George Barris, King of the Kustomizers and his East Coast representatives, Andy Perillo and Mike Manning of NY Custom Coach creators of the Batmobile and the world’s most popular one-of-a-kind movie and TV cars have announced the establishment of “The Committee for the Autoseum” slated to create a Long Island based museum for the preservation of the famous cars and to educate future generations in this exciting facility that will be a vocational, educational and industry center.

George Barris at the LINY Autoseum from Ralph Riccardi on Vimeo.

The Committee for the Autoseum has begun working with community educators developing an on site training site for all levels of the automotive industry.
The Autoseum will incorporate restaurants, cafes, retail shops, a catering hall, theme parties, weddings, press conferences, media center as well as offer an inter-active center featuring a showcase for the public with the focus on community and family oriented events.
The Autoseum, a not-for-profit organization, will be raising funds by showcasing the world’s most famous and unique cars at the Cradle of Aviation in Garden City, NY on August 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2008.
This event will feature a cocktail party, lunch, dinner/dance and a brunch as well a custom car show, a custom and classic car auction, family fun including rides, vendors, prizes, psychics, etc.

To volunteer, sponsor, donate, promote, etc. or for more information, please call NY Custom Coach/the Committee for the Autoseum at 718-465-5999 or see: www.autoseum.org

New Video from Culver City 2005

rariccardi — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 21:27:12 +0000

We have uploaded all the video from the Culver City Car Show 2005. Click the link.
There is some footage of the Munster Coach and the Drag-U-La and many other great cars and people. Take a look and let us know what you think by posting a comment here.