George Barris, creator of TV’s original Batmobile, has died

Associated Press ^ | Nov. 5, 2015 7:24 PM EST | John Rogers

[Olog-hai]

George Barris, the legendary custom car builder who created television's original Batmobile and helped define California's car culture with colorfully designed vehicles ranging from the stunningly beautiful to the simply outrageous, died Thursday. He was 89. [...]

Barris customized cars and buses for TV shows, movies, celebrities and heads of state and was a pioneer in designing small, plastic models of those customized cars. The models popularized his wildly imaginative vehicles all the more when they were assembled by millions of American youngsters in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. ...

[Impala64ssa]

Great stuff!! Thanks for the links.

[Impala64ssa]

When I was a kid I saw the Batmobile at a custom car show at the Westchester Cty Ctr. What a badass looking car.

[ETL]

You’re welcome. You may have seen most of it already.

[ETL]

Tom Daniels was another one. He designed the Red Barron, Paddy Wagon, and many others

The best hot rod paddy wagon ever, IMO, was this one by Carl Casper...

____________________________________________________

"The Tom Daniel Paddy Wagon model kit inspired some to make his designs a reality."
http://ultimatehotwheels.boards.net/thread/18

PS-Looks like I was wrong again, this time that Barris designed the Red Baron. Thanks for the correction.

"The [Red Baron] project was designed by Tom Daniel and built by Chuck Miller at Styline Customs.[1]"
--Wikipedia: The Red Baron (custom car)

[ETL]

[ETL]

[Cowman]

Well, If you want to bring up model kits inspired by famous people...

[ETL]

Lol. Who would ever associate a liberal media guy with a cool car like that. I picture him with a Volvo or VW Bug. Do you know if that was ever a real car?

And since we're on the subject of model car kits and celebs, I found these on a site called "Worst-Selling Model Car Kits Of All Time". Morley's Monster is on there! But at the end of the list the author of the piece says this: "I may have made all this up. We're still looking into it."

After going over the piece more carefully, looks like the guy did make most if not all of them up.

[Falconspeed]

I admire your work.

Please, when you have time. Ford Mustangs? They never get boring.

Maybe you have a link to photos. Thanks.

[ETL]

>

[Falconspeed]

Most excellent. Thank you. I was sold when I rode in my cousin’s 1967 Mustang Fastback in Omaha, Neb. as a youngster.

[RandallFlagg]

I just now saw this thread.
RIP, George. Loved your work.

[ETL]

Yeah, I love the 67s and 68s. Almost identical I think. 66s and earlier were good too. 69s not bad. What has really shocked me though, in this sad day and age we’re living, is how incredibly nice the retro Mustangs are (2000s). I’m not sure which exact year in the 2000s the really cool retro designed Mustangs first appeared, but, up until the last year or two at least, they were incredible. I hate the new Cameros and Chargers. I don’t know why they even call that 4-door thing a Charger. Challengers, not too bad, but kind of “chubby”, compared to the lower, wider, sleek original.

[ETL]

...I’m sure you noticed, nearly all of the Mustangs I posted were 67s or 68s.

[Falconspeed]

I agree.

The 65 and 66 Mustangs were cool with a flat back.

The 67-69 Mustangs were cool with a curvy back.

Mr. J. Mays started polishing the Mustangs in 2005 and they get better every year. The new Mustangs are impressive American machines.

J. Mays, as you probably know, is the humble and legendary designer who did the Mustang, Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Thunderbird, Ford Flex, Lincoln pickup truck and the Audi TT.

I prefer the new Mustangs, because the new Camaro and new Charger seem to be trying to copy J. Mays. But I think the new Dodge Challenger is sweet.

Keep up the good work. Remember Revell car models?