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George Barris Was the Creator of Many Iconic TV/Film Vehicles

He was known as“The Kustom King of Cars”, the “Master Builder” and a “Genius on Wheels”, and many people in the collision repair industry also called him a friend until he passed away in 2015.

Here are some fascinating factoids about Barris and his legacy, brought to you from all of us at Van Chevrolet Cadillac Body Shop in Kansas City, MO.

Iconic Barris-built film cars included a completely modified Dodge Charger for Thunder Alley; a hyper-cool Plymouth Barracuda for Fireball 500; the mega  futuristic Supervan for a film with the same name; a high-tech gadget-filled Mercury station wagon for The Silencers and a menacing rework of a Lincoln Continental Mark III for The Car.

Barris also designed a wide range of novelty vehicles for well-known celebrities; including golf carts for comedian Bob Hope, the crooner/actor Bing Crosby, actress Ann Margret, country artist Glen Campbell, and rocker Elton John; as well as 25 modified Mini Mokes for a record company contest featuring the Beach Boys.

Some of the most popular of Barris's creations include the Batmobile, Adam West’s car in the highly successful 1966-68 TV series. Barris took a Lincoln Futura concept car that was designed by Ford and built by Ghia in the mid-1950s for $250,000, When Batman’s producers came calling for a cool vehicle with short notice, the Futura became the Batmobile just 15 years later. It was in Barris’s own collection until 2013, when it was sold at an auction for $4.6 million.

Barris's KITT from Knight Rider, which was known on the TV show known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand. With self-driving ability and voice recognition technology that was real, this Pontiac Trans Am was a vehicle that was truly way ahead of its time.

Another notable vehicle conceptualized by Barris was the Munster Koach from The Munsters TV series.  A pair of two Halloween-themed hot rods was constructed for the 1960s sitcom – the Munsters Koach that was built on a lengthened Ford Model T chassis and the ‘DRAG-U-LA’ , which was a low-line dragster that was constructed around a real coffin.

The Beverly Hillbillies' truck designed and built by Barris was a huge hit for this surprisingly popular 1960s sitcom made for the Clampetts to cruise around in. Barris and his crew took an old 1921 Oldsmobile truck and converted it into this fun vehicle.

The L’il Red Wrecker was created for actor and comedian Redd Foxx, who wanted a tilt-cabbed custom vehicle with a supercharged 392 cubic-inch Chrysler engine.

Barris's Monkeemobile took a Pontiac GTO that was created by designer Dean Jeffries for this TV series about a fake rock band. Barris went on to acquire it and took it on tour for decades.

Van Chevrolet Cadillac Body Shop in Kansas City, MO 

Sources: Wikipedia and AOL