George Barris’ Other TV & Movie Cars of the 60s

By now most of us We’ve seen the news that George is selling the original Batmobile at the Scottsdale Barrett Jackson Auction in January. The former Lincoln Futura concept will certainly get a pretty penny from some lucky buyer. After all, a good number of us grew up with thinking that Batman and Robin had the most bitchin’ ride ever… Who wouldn’t want to drive that black-winged beast around the block at least once? But what about George’s other super 60s custom creations made for TV and the movies? Barris Kustoms was rocking and rolling during this decade, working on many vehicle projects for the entertainment industry, and turning out some crazy cars as a result. Now unfortunately, George has been known to take some credit for the Monkee Mobile and the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty, but he’s got enough groovy creations of his own from the 60s for us to choose from. Leaving the Batmobile aside, here’s my top 5 Barris TV & Movie Cars of the 60s, chosen for a range of reasons:

1. Drag-u-la (& The Musters Koach): Dragula was just plain cool. Who knew a bubbletop casket would make the perfect dragster? The Musters coach was pretty ghoulish too, but you just KNEW Grandpa Muster was gonna win that drag race!

2. The Voxmobile: A rolling set of gigantic Vox guitars with working Amps and keyboards on board? Input jacks for 30+ guitars to plug in and jam? How 60s can one whacky ride be?

3. Paul Revere & the Raiders Coach: Twin Pontiac GTO powered, puling a steerable 18oos stage coach, and weird as hell. I’m impressed at the scope and engineering to make this thing work… And just how wacky a show car could get in the 1960s.

4. Fireball 500: Made for a forgettable Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello stock car movie, I always loved this topless twin pod racer with the pipes coming out of the hood. The white to red fade paint is a nice affect as well.

5. Mercury Beldone concept (from the Jerry Lewis movie ‘The Patsy’): Modified by Barris to be a remote controlled gag car of sorts, the 1955 Mercury D-528 concept was actually a pretty nice looking design to start with.