Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

George Barris, the “King of the Kustomizers” whose work included the classic Batmobile for the 1960s TV series, has died.

“Sorry to have to post that my father, legendary kustom car king George Barris, has moved to the bigger garage in the sky,” Barris’s son Brett posted on November 5. “He passed on peacefully in his sleep at 2:45 am. He was surrounded by his family in the comfort of his home. He lived his life they way he wanted til the end. He would want everyone to celebrate the passion he had for life and for what he created for all to enjoy.”

Prior to Batman, his work included vehicles for Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and George Pal’s The Time Machine. He used a Lincoln Futura as the basis for the Batmobile for the ABC TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, and he kept it in his own collection until selling it in 2013 for $4.6 million. The success of the Batmobile led to his creating vehicles such as the Munster coach and later versions of the original KITT for Knight Rider.