George Barris Dead At 89; Batmobile Creator Remembered; NASA Use ‘King Of Kustomizers’ Design
Custom car builder and creator of the iconic 1956 Batmobile George Barris, has died Thursday, according to Hollywood Reporter. He was 89 years old.
"Sorry to have to post that my father, legendary kustom car king George Barris, has moved to the bigger garage in the sky," posted George's son, Brett Barris on Facebook. "He passed on peacefully in his sleep at 2:45 am. He was surrounded by his family in the comfort of his home."
George was born on Nov. 20, 1925 to Greek immigrant parents. His father James Salapatas and mother Fanicia Barakaris later Americanized the family name to Barris.
After their mother died, three year old George and his older brother moved to Roseville, Calif., to live with their aunt and uncle.
As teenagers, George Barris and his brother Sam started the first Barris Brothers custom car.
While the brothers served at their family owned Greek restaurant, George and Sam worked on restoring their own 1925 Buick.
The brothers experimented with the car's appearance and restored it to running condition. The car was later sold with a profit and the Barris brothers bought another project vehicle.
In high school, Barris formed the Kustom Car Club, the unusual spelling of "custom" became his signature.
Barris, helped exemplify California's car culture with customized vehicles ranging from remarkably beautiful to outrageous, reports NBC.
Known as the "King of Kustomizers," George Barris worked with numerous celebrity clients and studio executives. Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Cher and Elton John to name a few.
Screen legend James Dean also tasked George to customize the Porsche which is featured in his movie "Rebel Without a Cause."
The Batmobile which Barris is best known for, included a Batphone, a Bat-ray projector and an automatic tire inflating system. It was sold two years ago, at an auction block for five milliion dollars, revealed the Independent.
"He started the culture of custom cars here," said Barris's longtime publicist and friend, Edward Lozzi. "Even Nasa contacted us to ask permission to use the design of one of his fun toy cars, which was a moon rover, for one of their own space vehicles."
George Barris was preceded in death by his wife. In addition to his son, George Barris is survived by his grandson and daughter, Joji Barris - Paster. His two children are part of Barris Kustom.
