HallmarkSweptWinger
Joined: Jul 27, 2006
Posts: 1284
Berlinesia, Germanifornia
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Posted on Nov 06 2015 11:25 AM
Oh, very sad... George Barris died...
The guy who created the Batmobile, the Munsters car and thousand more wonderful art cars!
In the last years he also worked together with Bob Shade and Hallmark Guitars.
There is a Hallmark Guitars / George Barris Compilation release also with one song from my band. And Ghastly Ones, Deke Dickerson and a lot of more cool bands! I am very proud to be on this cool release and be part of this kind of culture.
Unfortunately never met him in person...
R.I.P.
— Twang cheers!
Ralf Kilauea
www.kilaueas.de
https://kilaueas.bandcamp.com/album/touch-my-alien
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Nov 07 2015 11:39 AM
We'll all meet again at the other end of this dragstrip called life.
RIP George, you done good.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Nov 07 2015 07:29 PM
George was indeed a true legend. Arguably the first and last of his kind. A hero to so many of us who grew up in a time when wild kustom cars ruled movies and TV. He brought so much coolness to this world in his 89 years.
Today I drove by his shop on Riverside like I've done a million times. The Batmobile was in the window like it always was but the place was dark. I thought of all the times I would walk in there and see him. He was always cool about letting people look around. I took many friends there over the years. No one believed you could walk in there pretty much anytime, greet Barris and see The Batmobile and Munsters Coach without an appointment till they did it themselves.
Here's a pic of George and I last year when BOSS FINK got to play his annual CULVER CITY CAR SHOW with the Calico Surfer behind us. Thanks for the greatness, Mr. Barris.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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zzero
Joined: Jul 09, 2010
Posts: 1153
Lillian Alabama
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Posted on Nov 07 2015 11:40 PM
Another great one gone, another original flamed out and passed on. Never saw his work in person but I grew up watching it on TV. RIP Mr. Barris.
— Enjoying the surf,sun and sand!!
Last edited: Nov 07, 2015 23:41:39
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Nov 08 2015 07:25 AM
Thanks Norm for that photo. Some just simply create 'fun' in others' lives during their time on the planet and should be celebrated.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Nov 08 2015 06:04 PM
I was very conscious of Kustom Kar Kulture and George Barris' kreations as a kid, and could recognize the work of a single genius behind the Batmobile, the Munsters' car, the Monkees', Paul Revere & the Raiders' – all the readymade bands had one for their TV shows and concert appearances. In the 60s Barris' work was to build cars as symbolic expressions of these characters. My dad was a car dealer so I was extra aware of things like cars, tanks and planes. Scholastic Books published a paperback picture book of Barris' Kustom Kars that we could reference and discuss. We used to draw pictures of "Boss" kars for our own fantasy personas. Basil Wolverton, Mad Magazine, Cracked, Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids, Fremont Dragstrip w/ Don "the Snake" Garlitts and that other guy they called the Mongoose... Hot Wheels... Wham-o toys...
— Squink Out!
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Nov 09 2015 05:34 AM
JObeast wrote:
We used to draw pictures of "Boss" kars for our own fantasy personas. Basil Wolverton, Mad Magazine, Cracked, Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids, Fremont Dragstrip w/ Don "the Snake" Garlitts and that other guy they called the Mongoose... Hot Wheels... Wham-o toys...
We must be somewhere near in age; did the same things & my entire notebook at school (you know, the 3-rings with the almost denim-like coverings) was essentially tattoo'd with that stuff.
Oh, and it's Don Prudhomme who was known as 'The Snake'.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 08:49 AM
Indeed! If you were a kid from about '64 to '74 Barris was a part of your world and you might not even have known it. Kustom cars ruled TV and Movies. There was also Dean Jeffries who created The Green Hornet's Black Beauty and The Monkeemobile (not a Barris creation though many think it is). And then there's Roth who crossed over into monsters. I was a kid in the early 70's and was obsessed Barris, Jefferies, Big Daddy Roth, and the like and more. A great time to be a kid, but then again every generation says that.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 08:57 AM
Not so sure many would look back on this era to say it was a great era to be a kid, unless excellence is measured by glut of computer graphics or great zombie flicks.
When I was a kid, they had just come out with polyurethane skate wheels and we lived on the steep streets of San Bruno, getting bloody knuckles ad bruised shins. Watching "Skater Dater" made me cringe, seeing those kids riding barefoot on primitive boards on the steep streets of LA. They called the typical injury suffered by this reckless bravado 'hamburger feet'.
— Squink Out!
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crumble
Joined: Sep 09, 2008
Posts: 3158
Guildford England
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 10:20 AM
Over the pond here.. Initially George Barris was brought to us by Hot Rod Magazine which was very popular in news stores from the early 1960s.
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Clifford
Joined: Oct 11, 2015
Posts: 14
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 12:03 PM
RIP
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Squid
Joined: Aug 22, 2010
Posts: 1019
Portland, Oregon with Insanitizers
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 12:07 PM
Two weeks ago wifey and I visited the LeMay car museum (in Tacoma WA) with Barris' Munsters car. Here is a photo I snapped. This a real car, not a model. The two seats were made from steel coffins. I found this the most amusing car in the large museum, followed by a Jaguar XKE, the Flintstones movie car, and an all-solar thing that looked like a glider.
— Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com
Last edited: Nov 10, 2015 12:10:31
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cambeezy
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
Posts: 399
Cleveland, Ohio
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 12:08 PM
crumble wrote:
Over the pond here.. Initially George Barris was brought to us by Hot Rod Magazine which was very popular in news stores from the early 1960s.
Also via Hot Rod Mag here in faraway Cleveland, Ohio
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 04:15 PM
Squid, that's not the Munsters Koach. Here's the Munsters Koach and Grandpa's Dragula.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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crumble
Joined: Sep 09, 2008
Posts: 3158
Guildford England
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 04:42 PM
Shivers! You said George kept the Batmobile in his shop. I guess there must have been more than one because I regularly see one at my local shopping centre. The owner uses it as a photographing business and makes a lot folks happy in the doing.
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 04:54 PM
Yes, there are several Batmobiles. There's the ones made for the original show including one that was coated with black flocking, and several that were made up until recently that appear at car shows, etc. The #1 original picture car sold at auction for 4.2 Million. The one in Barris' window is a replica built to exact specs.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Nov 10 2015 05:45 PM
JObeast wrote:
When I was a kid, they had just come out with polyurethane skate wheels...
"trucks" (Chicago the best during my time; like round bricks but with ball bearings...) 
Born '52, left SoCal in '69 - everything was wonderful in terms of growing up but, then again, as many have said: "It was a different country then."
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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