Batmobile Creator George Barris Receives Fitting Memorial Service, Burial
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — The funeral for George Barris turned into a classic car show as mourners paid respect to the legendary custom car builder by arriving in their uniquely designed vehicles, KCBS reports.
An array of roadsters and muscle cars filled the parking lot of Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where a memorial service for Barris was held Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
About 1,400 people attended the big send-off.
"George always liked the big show and the daughters and the granddaughters and the grandsons, we all put together this great send-off," Edward Lozzi, Barris' friend and publicist, said.
Barris, who created television's original Batmobile and helped define California's car culture with colorfully designed vehicles, died Nov. 5 at the age of 89 after a lengthy illness.
He was still at San Juan High School in Citrus Heights when he designed his first fully customized car, a 1936 Ford. Soon after he formed Kustoms Car Club and went to work in earnest with his late brother, Sam.
In 2013, Barris sold the original Batmobile for $4.2 million to Arizona car collector Rick Champagne. Barris bought the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car for $1 and spent $15,000 customizing it into the Batmobile seen on in the 1960s "Batman" series.
Over the next 70 years, he would design literally hundreds of cars for television shows, movies, celebrities, heads of state and just regular folks.
Two of the most famous were the Batmobile, created for the iconic 1960s TV show, and The Munster's Koach, built for the television show "The Munsters."
