George Barris: 1925 - 2015

November 2015

Kustom | Batmobile | Munsters | Lincoln Futura
 

His most famous creation was the Batmobile as used in the 1960s Batman TV series featuring Adam West (as the caped crusader) and Burt Ward (as Robin, the Boy Wonder). But there was a lot more than that to top US auto customiser George Barris who has died aged 89 just shy of his 90th birthday.

A Chicagoan, he was born George Salapatas, the son of a Greek immigrant. Following the early death of his parents in 1928, George and his brother Sam moved to Los Angeles. From a very early age, the boys were involved in car modification. Their first creation is said to have been a 1925 Buick.

When George Barris was just 18, he opened a custom shop. His brother, Sam, had been serving in the US Navy. But upon his discharge he joined George and they rekindled their passion for designing hot rods and performance cars. This dynamic duo was soon building a reputation and became familiar faces on the hot rod and racing scene of the late 1940s and early 1950s, both as engineers and as competitors.

By the mid-1950s, George was working alone at the business, Sam having left to pursue other professional avenues. By the 1960s, there were only a few people to call for TV/movie cars and automotive props, and one of those people was Barris.

In the early 1960s, he created the Batmobile. The Batmobile was based upon a Lincoln Futura concept car built in the 1950s. Following a red re-paint (for cinematic purposes), that Futura was used in the 1959 movie It started with a kiss starring Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds.

▲ 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. It costs $250,000 new and was sold for $1 (plus "other valuable considerations"). A replica of this car was made, and numerous replicas of Barris's Batmobile are motoring around.

The Futura did the usual show rounds and was a popular sight. Then, its job done, the Ford Motor Company sold the vehicle to Barris for, it's said, just $1. Barris parked the car at his shop and left it until a TV producer called looking for a custom-built vehicle for a new TV series, and you can figure out the rest.

George Barris also built the Munster Koach and the Drag-U-La car used in The Munsters TV series (image immediately above). Later, he fabricated a customised Plymouth Barracuda that was used in the movie Fireball 500 (see Sump April 2015). And if you watched the US TV series, Mannix, starring Mike Connors, you might remember the Barris-built Oldsmobile Toronado used in series one. Then think back to The Beverley Hillbillies, and in particular to the old heap driven by Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett. That's also a Barris creation.

▲ Barris Sidewinder. There's a 400hp Buick engine in there. It's mounted transversely and drives a free-floating axle via double chains. Magnesium rear wheels. Tyres from a DC-6 aircraft. And a parachute for stopping. Way to go, George.

Sadly, George Barris was caught up in a few controversies, and entirely of his own making. At one point in his career, he did some restoration work on a Back to the Future movie De Lorean and later built a replica. So far so good, except that it's claimed Barris later exaggerated and misrepresented his involvement with the De Lorean project (both movie and manufacturing) until lawyers compelled him to desist.

Regardless, he was up there with the best of them and well deserved his reputation as one of the great Kustom Kings. He was married and had two children.

www.barris.com

— Dexxion