We should be excited to see what God's Hot Rod looks like.....or anxious?....or concerned?...ray: Thanks George, live on forever......
It's a shame, but I wonder --will they use the Munster Koach, Dragula, and his other creations for his funeral procession? It'd be cool if they did. Patrick
George led an amazing life and has always been one of my favorite car guys. For those of you who aren't familiar with all of the accomplishments of George (and his brother Sam) check out his bio on Wikipedia (below). RIP George.... :TU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Barris_(auto_customizer)
A true artist .In every sense of the word . Legendary stuff he built .Never to be matched. Monkee mobile...man oh man . R.I.P. George thanks for all my childhood hot rods . P.S. On Sept 13 1976 my dad held a neighborhood wide Go Cart contest. I think we had about 15 entries. I was 11 and named my ride the Munster Mobile .Took first place. I have the daily news article and picture on my wall. My sister found it some years ago and framed it for me .
He did the Batmobile, not the Monkeymobile. I think it was Dean Jeffries who did the monkey car. Edit; Jeffries worked on the design and initial fabrication for the Batmobile (for the 1966 Batman TV series), but when the studio wanted the car sooner than he could deliver, he turned the project over to George Barris who hired Bill Cushenbery to perform the fabrication work
George did all the classic 60's TV cars bro. Bat mobile, Munster Mobile, Grandpa's Coffin car. And the list goes on and on....
His shop on Rivseride drive had big glass windows and usually one or two of the cool cars on display for the public to see. The Munster Koach and Batmobile seemed larger than life in person, at least it seemed that way as a kid. The lighting looked awesome at night, the heavy metal flake and candy paints really poped like nothing I had ever seen at the time, he was a real showman. We would beg the old man to stop the car when we were in the area, he usually did. :TU: n You would see other cars he built on the road or parked on a lot in the 70-90's or so. This paticular car I would see all over the LA area in the late 70- 80's
X 2! George & Sam Barris were pioneers in the custom business. Their work inspired a lot of other builders. R.I.P. George.
I had the honor of meeting him a few years ago. He hosted a charity car show at the Volo Auto Museum near my house. They ran him around in a golf cart to see all the show cars. He signed the dash plaques for the show as well as items people brought up to the table. I had him sign a 1:18 T-Type. A couple years before when he visited Volo for his show they brought him around to a couple of the local cruise nights to hang out. Very cool guy. RIP George Barris
Damn. I had a funny feeling that was going to happen soon. I don't know why. I was just humming the Munster's theme song this morning too.
George also designed the Family Truckster for the Chevy Chase film "National Lampoon's Vacation" in 1983. "The Family Truckster station wagon was created specifically for the film. The Truckster is based on a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon and heavily modified. The car was designed by George Barris, and lampooned American cars of the late 1970s. The Truckster features a pale avocado green metallic paint scheme; fake wood paneling; eight headlights, four on each side in a rectangular cluster (taken from another Crown Victoria/Country Squire and inverted); and a grille area largely covered by bodywork with only two small openings close to the bumper."
