The 1955 Lincoln Futura made its official public debut on January 8, 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show. And as many people know the car went on to become the famous Batmobile. But before it was the Batmobile it was somewhat of a star in the 1959 movie, It Started with a Kiss staring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford.
(via DEMARAS RACING)
Back in the 1950s, car companies demonstrated innovative designs and showcased new styling trends through ‘concept cars’. These were one-of-a-kind, purpose built ‘cars of tomorrow’ intended to gauge public opinion and display the creativity of Detroit’s automakers.
Ford encouraged their designers come up with the most futuristic, space-age ideas. Designer Bill Schmidt from the Lincoln division proposed a vehicle with with aggressive, shark-inspired lines, organic-looking grill and tailfins which would become a epic concept car; the 1955 Lincoln Futura.
Lincoln sent a chassis and a 368 cubic inch V8 to Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Ghia to hand-craft the complex body. The Italians even developed a pearlescent white finish by mixing fish scales into the paint! With its double-bubble canopy and futuristic looks, the Lincoln Futura was the darling of the 1955 Chicago Auto Show.
The Lincoln Futura remained on the car-show circuit for several years, was extensively covered by national car magazines, and influenced the design cues of the Lincoln Premiere and Lincoln Capri. After retiring from public appearances, the fully functioning vehicle was borrowed by MGM film studios for their new movie It Started With a Kiss.
The Lincoln Futura was still incredibly popular with the public, and instantly recognizable. But it’s pearl white finish didn’t work well in Cinemascope, so movie producers gave the Futura a splashy coat of red paint and introduced it to co-stars Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford.
When filming wrapped, the red Futura even went on a promotional tour to advertise the film which was actually quite successful, making $4.7 million at the box office against a $1.8 million budget.
The car was essentially forgotten until 1961, when custom car builder George Barris convinced the Ford Motor Company to sell him the car for $1. The idea was to build a wild custom out of the Futura, but the project never launched, and the Lincoln languished for years parked out back behind Barris’ shop just rusting away.
Then in 1965, George Barris was approached by TV producer William Dozier, whose upcoming Batman TV series needed a Batmobile before filming started in a scant 3-weeks. With no time to design and build a car from the ground-up, Barris dusted off the Futura and modified it to look more like a bat than a shark.
The fenders were flared out, as was the popular style in the mid 1960s. The classic stainless grill with its horizontal slats was covered by a pointed fiberglass nose, and the elegant tail end was hidden by cartoonish bat-wings and a phony jet engine made out of (one assumes) a re-purposed garbage can.
Glossy black paint with red outlines covered over the original fish-scale white and harlot’s lipstick red repaint. Despite the incredibly short notice, the Lincoln Futura was transformed into the Batmobile in time for filming. The series was an instant hit and Barris’ breathtaking Batmobile would become even more famous than the Lincoln Futura concept car it started life as.
The original concept car cost $250,000 to build in 1955. Supposedly, George Barris paid only $1 for the old Futura in 1961, then spent $15,000 customizing it. By 2013, then 87-year-old George Barris auctioned off the iconic Batmobile at Barrett-Jackson for $4.6 million.
(via DEMARAS RACING)
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