RIP George Barris

[Drunk Monk]

R.I.P. GEORGE BARRIS, DESIGNER OF TV'S BATMOBILE
THE "KUSTOM CAR KING" ALSO CREATED THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES' JALOPY AND MANY OTHER AWESOME AUTOMOBILES.
POSTED: NOVEMBER 5, 2015, 3:53PM BY: METV STAFF



In classic television, an action show was often only as good as the hero's car. What would Jim Rockford be without his Firebird, or the Mod Squad without its Challenger? When it came to making cool cars for TV, George Barris was one of the best. Earlier today, Barris' son took to Facebook to report that his father had died.

Sorry to have to post that my father, legendary kustom car king George Barris, has moved to the bigger garage in the sky. He passed on peacefully in his sleep at 2:45 am.
Barris crafted some incredible autos over his decades in the business. Perhaps the most iconic is the original Batmobile, the sleek black ride with red (well, "fluorescent cerise") highlights and fins, built from a 1955 Lincoln Futura. With a short deadline to produce the ride for Batman, Barris modified a Futura in his shop rather that start from scratch. To this day, it remains far more beautiful and timeless than that squashed steath bomber in those recent Batman movies.

The ace customizer continued to churn out memorable cars. He provided the Munsters' hot rod, the Beverly Hillbillies' truck, Mannix's Toronado roadster, and the "Super Pursuit" K.I.T.T. on Knight Rider, to name a few. If you remember the 1977 B-movie Super Van, that was Barris, too.

The Batmobile remains his pièce de résistance. Two year ago, the vehicle sold for $4.3 million at auction.

That's one bad ass car maker.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I used to drive by his place over in the Cahuenga pass. They had the Damnation Alley Truck parked outside all the time.

[Drunk Monk]

I never realized all those great rides were by one man. His batmobile was the best batmobile of them all.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

He did the Munster Mobile as well.

[El Dingo]

So sad.

I worshipped this guy. I had all of the bubble-gum cards and still think his Batmobile is cooler than anything since the 60's.

Bucket list: Sit in one of these: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.barris.com/carsgallery/tvmovie/cars-tvmovie.php">http://www.barris.com/carsgallery/tvmov ... vmovie.php</a><!-- m -->

[Drunk Monk]

I used to drive by his place over in the Cahuenga pass. They had the Damnation Alley Truck parked outside all the time.

I had all of the bubble-gum cards and still think his Batmobile is cooler than anything since the 60's.

Both of you FTW!!