Interview with George Barris, King of the Kustomizers. October 2009

(Because of youtube guidelines, this is just a portion of a much longer interview with George Barris) Though most famous for creating the Batmobile in 1966, George Barris designed and built many of the most famous autos to ever appear on TV and in films. His creations include the Clampett's truck on the Beverly Hillbillies, the Munsters' Koach, KITT of Knight Rider fame and scores more.
Here is some interesting history about the 1966 Batmobile:
In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company designed and built a futuristic concept car called the Lincoln Futura. It was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000, and like many concept cars, was never put in to production. In the mid 1960's, George Barris of Barris Kustom City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford.
Fast forward to August 1965, the Batman TV show producers approached George to have him build a new Batmobile for their upcoming show. The only catch was the car had to be ready for action in a mere three weeks. Seeing the bat-like qualities his Futura already had, George felt it was the perfect answer to the quandary 20th Century Fox had created.
Three weeks later in October of 1965, the Batmobile was born and television history was made.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• George Barris
• king of the kustomizers
• batmobile
• munsters
• KITT
• knight rider

[TheCanine2]

OK, don't take this the wrong way...George Barris is an important automotive figure...the film/ sound/ interview quality of this piece didn't reflect that. Sometimes Barris will be answering a question and the camera is pointing at an empty chair, or showing half of him. Not trying to be mean, but if you're learning to make documentaries, maybe you should perfect your skills on family and friends first. Good luck and keep trying.