The Legendary Barris Kustom Shop Behind the Original Batmobile and These 10 Other Crazy Creations is Closing by Chris Chilton, CarScoops
Barris Kustom Industries, the birthplace of some of the most famous modified cars of the 20th century, looks set to close. Self-proclaimed “king of the customizers” George Barris moved his business to North Hollywood in 1961 after splitting from his brother and former partner, Sam. But according to the L.A. Times, the corner lot is now up for sale for $3.995 million and will almost certainly be redeveloped.
Silver Sapphire
The Munsters, in just 21 days. The 18-foot hot rod was created by fusing three Ford Model T bodies and was powered by a tuned 289 cu-in V8 from a Mustang GT. Barris also built a second car called Drag-U-La for the same show, and when we say it was a real coffin on wheels, we’re not kidding. The Car Hardly George’s most colorful creation, this modified 1971 Lincoln looks like some kind of novelty inflatable. But it’s still the best thing in the awful 1977 movie of the same name in which the local sheriff, played by James Brolin, investigates a mysterious spate of hitand-run deaths. Sidewinder With a bike wheel up front and a pair of DC-6 passenger plane wheels at the back, this terrifying chopper trike must have understeered like a Citroen 2CV on a frozen Scandi lake. Wheelie bars at the rear stopped it flipping over when you unleashed the 400 bhp Buick V8, which sat across the frame in the footwell, getting cosy with your shins.
Barris, who passed away in 2015, is best known for creating the original Batmobile. After fellow customizer Dean Jeffries decided he couldn’t meet the TV show’s producers’ tight deadline, Barris finished the job in just three weeks, turning an old 1950s Lincoln Futura concept into a car fit for a superhero. Pontiac GTO Custom Convertible The metal fabrication was actu- Pontiac’s comeback GTO coupe was ally carried out by another shop on panned for looking too boring, but Barris’s instruction, but Barris was you couldn’t say that about this a canny businessman, and happily took the credit― and the cash. He retained ownership of the Batmobile, leasing it to the show, and eventually sold it for $4.6 million in 2013. But the Batmobile was far from the only crazy creation to spring from Wagon Queen Family Truckster the mind of George Barris. Here are a few highlights, plus one-off convertible that Barris fitted a couple of lowlights to prove that with Mercedes-McLaren SLR-style even a genius can have an off-day. doors, a chopped screen and ostrich leather upholstery. Not the great The Munster’s Koach man’s finest work, but at least it was According to Barris Kustom’s web- better than his Prius. site, Geroge and his team built this creepy sedan for the 1960s TV show, Voxmobile 22 OCTOBER 2021 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
When UK-based guitar and amp manufacturer Vox contracted Barris to build a promo machine, George turned his imagination dial right up to 11. The twin giant Vox Phantom guitars were fakes but it featured a
Chevrolet Aztec
trio of working amplifiers capable of powering 32 guitars and a functional Super Continental organ at the rear. Wagon Queen Family Truckster The hideously kitsch fictional car driven by Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” was really a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire, but modified
by Barris to mock Detroit cars of the time. SuperVan Haven’t seen 1977 Vansploitation flick “SuperVan”? Me neither, but since IMDb lists “wet T-shirt” and “nipples visible through clothing” as plot keywords we can presume its not Scorcesegrade stuff. Still, the Dodge Tradesman-based lead vehicle, which Barris had originally called “The Love Machine” (what, with that much glass?), looked so futuristic it was even reused as a public bus in “Back To The Future II”’s imaginary 2015. Silver Sapphire Before Barris became famous for his TV cars, he was one of the biggest names in Southern California’s 1950s and ’60s custom and hot rod See Barris Kustom, Page 24
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