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FIVE JETSON ERA CUSTOMS

Jerry Admin

‘The Jetsons’ debuted on September 23, 1962, and one of the many cool things about this Space Age cartoon was George Jetson’s flying car.

‘Hot Rod’ magazine published a magazine called ’20 Top Customs’ by George Barris in 1962 featuring the coolest customs built to that point.

There’s no evidence to prove ‘The Jetsons’ stole George’s car design picks from that magazine, but five of these customs had Jetson 21st Century Space Age written all over them.

Jerry Sutherland

The bubble top was big in early 60s custom because everything was Jet Age back then, so a roof with cockpit canopy that looked like it came off an F-105 made sense to custom builders.

The Forcasta was built by legendary customizer Darryl Starbird in the early 60s and it’s still around today.

This car had a huge fan base, and it featured air conditioning, a TV, an intercom, electric doors and a pressure system to divert rain from the Lucite bubble top.

The Forcasta also had an electronic brain—not many cars had those back in ’62.

The Forcasta was hand built, and it featured a Corvair Monza engine. It was redesigned a few times over the last several decades, but it continues to amaze people in 2025.

The second Space Age custom was the Di Dia 150.

This incredible car was built by Andy Di Dia, and it took almost seven years and the equivalent of 1.5 million (2025 dollars) to construct this classic custom. It had functioning hideaway headlights hidden in its massive grille and functioning controls in its custom-built dash.

The fins were huge on the Di Dia 150—that was because this car was built when fins were becoming a go-to at Detroit.

George Barris painted this masterpiece.  Eventually singer Bobby Darin owned this classic and donated it in 1970 to the National Museum of Transportation where it resides today.    

The third car was the X-200 Vortex.

That was the perfect name for a Jetsons-like car that Jerry Woodward built in 1962.

This was another hand-made custom. It was a delta-shaped trike powered by a rear-mounted Lincoln engine that cranked out an amazing 450 horsepower and powered the X-200 Vortex to over 150 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962. 

This custom had high-tech (for the time) features like a TV, record player, power top and hood. The X-100 ended up in an online auction, but it didn’t sell.

The fourth Jetson-era classic is the Golden Sahara T-bird Twist.

This car was built in the mid-50s by George Barris, and it showcased his enormous talent as a designer. It was based on George’s wrecked 1953 Lincoln Capri, but Barris took it to an otherworldly level.

This was a hand-built car with a custom bar in the back seat with a TV up front–the Gen II version of the Golden Sahara was done by Jim Skonzakes.

The Golden Sahara II was sold at auction in 2018 for 350,000 and completely restored in 2019—a fitting next step for a legendary custom.  

The last Space Age custom in this magazine was the X-Sonic.

This incredible custom was built by Ron Aguire and Ed Roth as a feature car. It was based on a 1956 Vette and it rocked the custom world back in the day. It took home many trophies thanks to its ultra-cool styling that included many unique features.

The X-Sonic was nearly lost to history, until Ron tracked it down in the early 90s. It was being used as a parts car, but Ron saved it, and eventually it changed hands and was completely restored. That was a huge save for Space Age custom car history.

Many of these cars were built before George Jetson flew into TV, but there’s solid evidence Hanna-Barbera cartoon artists were at a few car shows before they inked The Jetsons.          

Jerry Sutherland

By: Jerry Sutherland

Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post,  Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.

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