While Lorenzo Semple, Jr. was putting the finishing touches on his script for the BATMAN 
pilot, he wrote to executive producer Bill Dozier enthusiastically on August 6th, 1965: "I can 
tell you that we've created one absolutely guaranteed new TV star: the Batmobile." The Batmobile 
became almost as popular as the show's stars, and even today draws thousands of fans to auto 
shows around the country.
	Semple's version of the Batmobile is an American dream. The ultimate example of car-as-
an-extension-of-owner. Batman's car was a dark, powerful machine, faster than anything else on 
the road. It was extremely cool, flamboyantly thwarting its own theft with sirens and fireworks. 
Its atomic-powered engine and fire-spouting rocket turbine propelled it down the road at only 
dreamed-of speeds. It even protected itself from fire with flame-retardant smoke. And much more. 
It made Bob Kane's Batmobile pale in comparison, and by it's creation, Semple forged a legend.
	After reading the script, Dozier realized he needed someone working on the Batmobile 
immediately, and called George Barris, the "King of the Kustomizers." Barris and his brother 
had started customizing, (or kustomizing as he prefers), cars before World War II, and moved to 
Hollywood in 1945. There, they set up shop in Lynwood, California and created cars for Clark 
Gable, Mamie Van Doren, Jayne Mansfield, Spike Jones, and even Barry Goldwater.
	The company had moved to North Hollywood, and specialized in cars for television shows, 
including customizing the monstrous hot rod (from hell?): the Munster Koach.
	Dosier and Barris cut a deal: BKI [Barris Kustoms] would be paid to customize the car 
and would then rent that car to Greenway on a weekly basis for the show. Production artist Eddie 
Graves at 20th Century Fox designed the Batmobile and gave the sketch to Barris. "The art 
director brought in an idea of what they needed: flashing lights, turbine fire blower on the back, 
chain slicer, etc.," said Barris. "We gave them a twentieth-century Batmobile that was different 
from Bob Kane's."
	Barris had an automobile that fitted Graves' design, an experimental 1957 (actually 1955) 
Ford Lincoln Futura. Barris was given three weeks to deliver the car to the studio for the pilot. 
While Barris worked on making the chain cutter and other additions to the car, Barris hired a 
competing car kustomizer, Bill Cushenbery, to do the body work. "Bill did the metal shaping," 
said Barris. "I chose him because of his experience and craftsmanship. He is a top-notch craftsman."
	Recalled Cushenbery, "I guess they were too snowed under. I did it in my own shop. Barris 
TOLD me what to do. I didn't work from any sketches."
	Said Barris, "I incorporated the bat-face into the design sculpturing of the car. That's 
why you see the ears go up where the headlights are. The nose comes down for the chain slicer. The 
mouth is the grill. Right on back to the huge, long fins which are Bat-fins."
	The metal modifications proved very tricky. "The car had to be torn down quite a way to do 
the work because the fins.....

(MISSING SECTION)

"These tires were a thousand dollars a piece. Needless to say, we had no spare. Dozier was going 
out of his mind because we're holding up the whole thing. So immediately, we jacked up the car, 
peeled off all the tires and wheels and went down to a Firestone Dealer. We got some regular 
Firestone tires, popped them right on, and off we went.
	Victor Paul, Burt Ward's stunt double and Hubie Kerns, BATMAN's co-stunt remembered 
shooting the car at a real cave in Bronson Canyon.
	"All they did was put in a bunch of phony doors and highway fence in front of it," said 
Paul. "We only had a couple inches on either side. It was so tight that the cameraman had to 
undercrank. We didn't want to take any chances of tearing the car apart. We came out of there 
about twenty five miles per hour."
	The Futura was only the first Batmobile built for the television show. BKI made four 
others on different Ford chassis as there were no other Futuras. BKI had to lengthen the different 
chassis by 11 inches to match the longer wheelbase and tread of the Futura.
	The second car was a stand-in car for the filming. The third car was mostly used to tour 
for exhibitions and feature attractions. The fourth car was a drag racing car, with a more powerful 
engine than the others. And according to Barris, the fifth car was another steel car and was used 
mostly for drive-by shots out on the highway. California Metal Shaping pulled molds off the number 
three car to do the metal work.
	The engines were all 427 Ford (except the drag racer)," said Barris. "The transmissions were 
all BMN Hydros. The fibreglass cars weighed 3800 lbs. The steel cars were 5500 lbs. All the tricks 
in the cars were created for various things called for in the scripts: Nail spreader, oil skidder, 
the butane flame blower out of the back. the anti-flame detector, seat ejectors.
	According to Kerns, he only drove the Futura and none of the others.
	"I'm told that they are very fine cars, but I would never know, because i never saw them," 
he said. "When I heard they were making a second, I thought we were going to get a good car for the 
show, but I never saw them. I only drove that piece of junk that looked good."
	Kerns thought of the Futura as "that piece of junk" because of the age of the car and the 
high drgree of use the production required of it.
	"It got so much use, the suspension and engine got tired," said Barris. "It was a tired car 
before it got started."
	Because it was 'tired', Barris was always prepared for repair work.
	"We always had certain repairs after certain shots were done." said Barris. "We had tires, 
wheels and other knock-offs in our shop. We always maintained spare parts, either on location or 
here. Fox transportation was there with tooling also."
	Another problem due to all the stuntwork required of the experimental car was overheating.
	"The engine would get hot, because they would leave it running and everything is enclosed," 
said Barris. We had to adapt more fans in there. We incorporated draw fans in the front of the 
radiator and pull fan behind the radiator. To do that, it took 30 to 40 amps more juice. The 
generator only puts out 18 to 20 amps. We were losing 20 amps everytime we were running it so the 
battery would go dead. That means we had to put in a spare battery and another 20 amp alternator so 
that it would get more juice to run all the extras when at low speed, and still not get over 220 to 
230 degrees as far as the engine was concerned."
	The car also had another annoying problem. "The winshield had a bad spot in it where Hubie 
had trouble seeing," said Victor Paul. "It was always blurry on one side."
	Baris explained that as a problem unique to windshields with compund curves and the cockpits 
of the other cars were blown a different way after the flaw was discovered. "That was a Lexon we 
used on the Futura, then we used plexiglass," said Barris. "We vacuumformed the others, which means 
we didn't have to lay it in the mold. It was a lot cleaner and easier."
	In spite of the complications, they continued to film the show with the Futura. "It did a lot 
of what we wanted it to do, taking off and stopping, and coming around the bend," admitted Victor Paul. 
"It would move. That car was over 5000 pounds, once you got it going, it could go pretty fast. We did 
some pretty fast chases around Malibu where we were going at a pretty good clip."
	But age finally caught up with the Futura. "That thing was a deathtrap, almost," said Victor 
Paul. "The steering would break on it. The transmission got screwed up on it.
	I remember we were doing a chase in Malibu and Hubie was coming around this curve, down by 
the beach near Marineland. We finished the take and Hubie said 'Y'know we had no more steering. I was 
turning the wheel and we were just going straight. Another time, we missed an open manhole by inches.'"
	After too many close calls, BKI had to do a major overhaul on the car. "We removed the 
transmission, the drive, the suspension and the engine and replaced it with a 1965 Ford; the same as 
the other four cars," said Barris.

	Two of the most common effects shots done on the show with the Batmobile were the Bat-turn and 
the rocket engine startup. Each of the cars was equipped with the twin Dietz parachutes commonly used to 
stop drag-racing cars. These were supposed to turn the batmobile 180 degrees during the Bat-turn. The 
effect was managed with an insert shot rigged by Fox's special effects crew. The car was mounted on a 
special effects turntable and was simply turned around. The camera was undercranked to speed up the film 
and the interioe shots were done by rear projection work.
	The rocket engine start-up's tight shot was done at the prop department at Fox. They built a 
full-scale mock-up of the back of the Batmobile for an inset shot. While the Futura and the other 
Batmobiles did shoot flames, they weren't spectacular enough for the producers.
	Today, only the first two cars are still in Barris' possession, the others in hands of collectors. 
Barris leases them for car shows and exhibitions around the country. Crowds always gather to see them, 
wherever they go, proving that these vehicles are truly "The stuff that dreams are made of."