George Barris
George Barris was a custom car designer best known for creating the iconic 1966 Batmobile for the original ABC Batman television series with Adam West and Burt Ward.
For the Batmobile, Barris began with a Lincoln concept car called the Lincoln Futura and built upon that, constructing and customizing the car within 15 days. It was built for $15,000 at the time and sold at auction in 2013 for $4.6 million.
Barris began building model cars from a young age and launched Barris Kustom Industries in Los Angeles after World War II. He began working on film assignments, including cars for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest; High School Confidential!; The Time Machine; Cinderfella, with Jerry Lewis; a zebra mustang for Marriage on the Rocks, with Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr and Dean Martin; The Silencers, with Martin; William Asher’s Fireball 500, with Frankie Avalon; 1977’s The Car, with James Brolin; Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
He also contributed to many television series beyond Batman, including customizations for cars on The Munsters (the Munster Koach), Mannix (the Mannix Roadster), The Beverly Hillbillies, The Bugaloos, Bearcats!, The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider and the telefilm James Dean: Race with Destiny.
George Barris was a custom car designer best known for creating the iconic 1966 Batmobile for the original ABC Batman television series with Adam West and Burt Ward.
For the Batmobile, Barris began with a Lincoln concept car called the Lincoln Futura and built upon that, constructing and customizing the car within 15 days. It was built for $15,000 at the time and sold at auction in 2013 for $4.6 million.
Barris began building model cars from a young age and launched Barris Kustom Industries in Los Angeles after World War II. He began working on film assignments, including cars for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest; High School Confidential!; The Time Machine; Cinderfella, with Jerry Lewis; a zebra mustang for Marriage on the Rocks, with Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr and Dean Martin; The Silencers, with Martin; William Asher’s Fireball 500, with Frankie Avalon; 1977’s The Car, with James Brolin; Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
He also contributed to many television series beyond Batman, including customizations for cars on The Munsters (the Munster Koach), Mannix (the Mannix Roadster), The Beverly Hillbillies, The Bugaloos, Bearcats!, The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider and the telefilm James Dean: Race with Destiny.
Additionally, he customized cars for celebrities that included Bob Hope, John Wayne and Elton John.
Barris died November 5, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. He was 89.
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