Billy, Barris, and the bodacious Batmobile at Barrett-Jackson Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121221/carnews01/121219866#ixzz2FljuePaZ

Asking George Barris about how he built the Batmobile is, for some fans, like having Michelangelo walk you through the Sistine Chapel or touring Fallingwater with Frank Lloyd Wright. Recognizable by car fans and comic book fans alike, some of whom may have never rebuilt a Ford 390 V8, it is arguably one of the most iconic cars of all time, a pop-cultural juggernaut, burned into the faraway memories of baby boomers who grew up watching the whimsical “pow!” “whiz!” Batman instead of the gravelly voiced superhero of our generation. And the very first Batmobile is going up for auction at Barrett-Jackson under the bright lights in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Jan. 19. “I'm just honored to do this for George,” said Craig Jackson, CEO of the auction house that bears his family's name. “I've known him probably 30 years, something like that. He's been coming to the auction forever. So I was really savoring spending a lot of time with George and just having him tell his stories and share his pictures.”

This one is Batmobile #1. Peel back the black paint and automotive archaeologists can find shades of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept -- a cartoonish, chrome-laden body that caricatured the sweeping optimism of the 1950s within twin bubble-tops. A significant car in itself, the Futura co-starred with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds before languishing in a Hollywood backlot for 10 years, when Ford sold it to Barris for the princely sum of $1 (plus “other valuable consideration”).

To transform the Futura into the Batmobile, Barris and company extended the fins inward until they were flush with the body. The shop removed the catfish-wide chrome grille and split the gaping mouth in two, adding a wire slicer in the front for whatever gratuitous challenges the writers scripted. The headlights took on the form of Gothic buttresses. Wheelwells were opened up to clear ordinary-looking five-spoke wheels, wrapped underneath conventional-looking flares. And that was just the bodywork -- the rocket tubes, turbine engine, and Bat-Phone would come in time. Barris was preoccupied with making the Batmobile as much of a star as Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman and Robin, respectively: “If you're going to do it that way,” he had told Batman producer William Dozier, “I would have the Batmobile act just like what you were doing with the stars. 'Pow,' I'd send rocket tubes out. 'Bang,' I'd have oil squirters and chase lights. “So I made the Batmobile become a star -- it would actually act and do scenes like that. And that's why it became so famous, because it was the first time I ever made a car be an actor.” http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121221/carnews01/121219866#ixzz2Flk1rcOU

Barris and his team had just 15 days to transform the natty old Futura, and just $15,000. In some places the limited budget gets cleverly disguised. Look at these gas sprayers, Barris points; they're made from lawn sprinkler fittings from a local hardware store. The jet engine in the back is made from a five-gallon paint can. Everything is labeled: Nail Spreader, Bat Chute, Bat Ray, even the turn signals as Bat Turns. Maybe more people would use their turn signals if they incurred the wrath of the Dynamic Duo. The Bat Chutes are authentic drag-racing parachutes that were used to complete the Bat Turn, a maneuver only accomplished via the magic of Hollywood. “We were shooting for TV Guide there, on the off-ramp of the freeway,” said Barris, gesturing to the 101 Freeway that runs behind his shop in North Hollywood. “And I pop my Bat Chutes. I come over to the side, park it and start to pull out the Bat Chutes -- and here comes the highway patrol. 'Who are you to have parachutes on the back of a car on the 101 Freeway?' So he wanted to give me a ticket. And I said, 'This is the Batmobile, and we were road testing it!' And he let me go. We were road testing it to fight crime.” Read more: