George Barris R.I.P

Today the sad news went viral that legendary Kustom Car King George Barris, has died

Barris was born in Chicago in 1925 

Barris began building model cars and customizing at an early age. When he was in high school he created his first full custom using a 1936 Ford convertible as the base.

George Barris made a name for himself when he moved to Los Angeles after World War II, launching Barris Kustom Industries with his brother Sam.

After a while Hollywood saw what cool cars he did built and his first film assignments included work on cars for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, 1958's High School Confidential and 1960’s The Time Machine.

George standing on his hands, behind him the start of his 1941 Buick

The car that really made him well know'n was the vehicle he built for Batman. Barris did a Lincoln based concept car called the Lincoln Futura, wich he had kept in storage for years but finished in 15 days.

The success of Batman and the Batmobile led to more work, such as... Mannix, The Beverly Hillbillies, Knight Rider and designing the Munster Koach for The Munsters.

He also designed novelty cars or performed customizations for a lot of celebrities such as Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Bob Hope, etc...

Elvis Presley in front of his 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood Cadillac Limo Kustomized By Barris 

George Barris... The Legend of Kustomizing. R.I.P ;-(

20-11-1925 / 5-11-2015

Links: George Barris / Wikipedia, www.barris.com