George Barris, the Man Who Created the First Batmobile Passes Away

George Barris – the man who made stars out of cars, and gave us the Batmobile passes away aged 89.

George Barris, the legendary car builder who helped fashion modern-day car culture passed away at the age of 89 at his Los Angeles Home.

His most iconic creation was the Batmobile, designed for the 1966 TV series Batman. The caped-crusader’s vehicle went on to become one of the most popular pieces of entertainment history worldwide.

This car was auctioned at 4.62 million dollars in 2013, and made the world record for the highest price a TV/movie car ever fetched.

Barris, who grew up in California, redesigned his first car as a teenager – a 1925 Buick, given to him for helping out in the family restaurant. Barris sold the redesigned car for a profit, and started working on his next.

My first challenge was a ’32 Ford and I put cat-eye tail lights in it. I was paid 10 dollars.

George Barris to Car And Driver

After fully customising a 1936 Ford in high school, Barris went on to establish the Kustom Car Club. The unusual spelling of ‘custom’ later became his signature.

The wild, yet beautiful imagination of Barris soon caught the attention of Hollywood biggies and got him clients like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone, amongst others.

Custom Cars by George Barris

Barris may be no more with us, but his creations will live forever.

So long Barris, the trip has been groovy!