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Can’t Escape The Batmobile No Matter How I Try… | Pimp My Batmobile!.

Watch The Car Room LIVE! Saturday night, 7:00pm ET on: The Car Room TV
By Jeff Glasson • January 21, 2010

Collectors now have an additional online resource for die-cast model information with the launch of the all new Car Room Magazine website. The site’s initial set of features offer information by scale and brand, a photo gallery, die-cast oriented videos and the ability to subscribe to the print version of magazine.
The site has launched with content that can be found in previous issues of the print magazine. Moving forward, collectors can expect to see a great deal of new information that goes beyond the printed page. In addition, a good deal of exciting new functionality is already in the works, and will be rolled out during the first half of the year.
This new site along with some “yet to be announced” surprises are just a part of what is looking to be a banner year for The Car Room Magazine.

by Tom Leo / The Post-Standard
Friday July 17, 2009, 2:51 PM

2009 Syracuse Nationals

Holy hot rod!
As more than 6,000 customized cars and as many as 80,000 people descend upon the New York State Fairgrounds this weekend for the Syracuse Nationals, the real star of the show is the black and red-trimmed Batmobile, from the mid-1960s television series, starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader.
West, the original Batman, is in town all weekend signing autographs, as is Julie Newmar, one of three actresses who played Catwoman on the show.
But it’s the Batmobile, which featured atomic batteries, turbine engines and an endless supply of crime fighting tools, that’s getting the most looks from a steady stream of motor heads inside the Center of Progress building.
Here’s a little known fact: The Batmobile rarely went faster than 25 mph. The car was difficult to drive, said West, 81. It was heavy and unbalanced, and the brakes often failed. The steering and suspension were unwieldy and awkward.

“So poor Burt Ward, who played Robin, sitting beside me, was always white knuckled,” West said.

“It’s probably the world’s most famous car, and it’s so beautifully designed for film,” West added, “but when you have to drive in it on a daily basis, it’s hard to push it over 30 mph because then they can’t photograph it the way the want to. They make it look like it’s going faster.”

The crew had to undercrank the camera, which meant they’d shoot less than the standard 24 frames per second, so when the film was projected at normal speed the car would appear to be going much faster than it really was.

And those gadgets?

Well before cell phones, the Batmobile introduced the car phone.

“It was a car ahead of its time,” West said. “We also had the first navigation system and the first system that enabled us to make a 180-degree turn at a high speed.

“They were mostly props,” West said. “But the flame out of the back of the car worked. The parachute actually did come out. I had several bruises on my shins getting in and out of the car, trying to look heroic.”

The Batmobile on display at the Fairgrounds is not one that was used in the TV series. It’s owned by Chris DeFalco of Saratoga and is one of several replicas that were built later on, specifically to be displayed at car shows. The original, created from a car called the Futura, is owned by custom car builder George Barris.

“The fun of it is people still love the Batmobile,” West said. “It was so tricked out in such an absurd way. We wanted the car to look really sleek and nutty and fun.”

That also describes the show itself.

“You’ve got a guy in a cape and tights running around fighting crime 24-7; this is not normal,” West said. “But it worked because the kids loved it and the adults laughed with it. The car was a big part of it.”

If you go …

What: DuPont Hot Hues Syracuse Nationals
When: 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Empire Expo Center, State Fairgrounds, 581 State Fair Blvd., Geddes.
Tickets: $17; ages 6 to 12, $8.
Information: Visit tleo@syracuse.com or 470-6013.

Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009
Holy Hot Wheels! Batmobile rolls into Modesto today
By Deke Farrow
jfarrow@modbee.com

Bruce Wayne better not need his wheels this weekend. The Batmobile is with its creator, Hollywood-based “King of Kustomizers” George Barris, who’s in Modesto to help celebrate Graffiti Summer.

Barris, whose résumé includes such high-profile TV and movie cars as the Batmobile, KITT from “Knight Rider,” the General Lee from “The Dukes of Hazzard,” the Munster Koach and the “Ghostbusters” Ectomobile, hit town Friday to serve as grand marshal of the American Graffiti Festival parade.

Today, he’s hanging out with the Batmobile in ARC Audio Alley at the North Modesto Kiwanis’ American Graffiti Festival at Modesto Junior College. From noon to 5, he and friends and family from Barris Kustom Industries will be signing autographs, posing for snapshots and talking with fans about cars, customizing and Barris’ illustrious career.

Barris was in Modesto in July of 2006 to have ARC Audio install an audio/video system in the Batmobile, but this is his first Graffiti appearance.

Q: We’re excited to have you in town this weekend.

A: It’s been quite a long time. I was raised and graduated out of Sacramento and used to spend a lot of time in Modesto. … I ran a couple of track meets there when I used to have to race against the Modesto High School kids. And I worked on the “American Graffiti” cars; (George) Lucas and ourselves kind of exchanged a few ideas. It was fun — I did the Mercury and the Deuce Coupe, the Chevy. So it’s kind of exciting for me to come back, it’s been so many, many years.

Q: What can folks expect from your appearance at the festival?

A: I’ll sign autographs on anything they want. Probably if they want Batmobile toys signed, since there’s a trademark involved with Mattel, there’s a little fee for that, but everything else we sign, we don’t charge for. And when we do charge, most of the money goes to a charity anyhow. I’ll bring Batmobile photos, so those we would have available. But a lot of people bring their own personal items, souvenirs, and we’re more than happy to autograph those.

We’ll meet and greet and talk about the things we’re doing today. We’re getting ready to do a sequel to Stanley Kramer’s (1963) movie “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,” and we might get Betty Boop to do a little racing — we’re working on a movie where she does NASCAR.

And we’re going to do another “Munsters” and also another “Green Hornet.”

Q: Are you talking about movie productions in the works or just new versions of the cars?

A: Movies, yes. It’s all preliminary right now, they haven’t decided whether they want to use the old cars or have new ones built. In preproduction, you start looking at what you do want, what you don’t want, just like we did with “The Dukes of Hazzard.” When we did the “Dukes” TV show, then when they started working on the movie, they said, “We should carry it on the same way,” so we’re trying to convince them that when they do “The Munsters,” bring it back the way it was. I think it’s more interesting. … Don’t take away what people liked and try to force something new on them.

Q: You have a pretty full calendar of car-show appearances — you must like it.

A: I enjoy meeting people. And it seems like car shows draw people away from the pressures of the economy. They enjoy the day, they get to look at cars, they get to talk to people — it relaxes their minds. … We just came back from Sweden, and their feature was “American Graffiti.” They built the whole Mel’s Drive-In right there at the show, we brought in the Deuce Coupe, we brought in the Chevy, and (“Graffiti” cast members) Bo (Hopkins) and Candy (Clark) came in.

It’s a show that will last forever because what Lucas did was so real and was a part of what we did through Sacramento and Modesto and Fresno. That’s the way we lived, and we enjoyed it. Yes, we did tie police cars’ rear end with chains to a pole. Yes, a lot of things Lucas put in there was really what we would do. But it was harmless — nothing we did would hurt anybody, it was just funny.

Q: When talking with people at shows, do you find that more of them are hard-core car enthusiasts who want to talk with you about details of customizing, or are they mostly folks who just dig the cars and think of them as life-size Hot Wheels?

A: Most of them are baby boomers. … They like to reminisce about what we did to the Mercury, how we chopped it, what we did to the Deuce Coupe, what kind of engine we had. … Young kids like to talk a little bit about the muscle cars. We do the new Challenger — the Red Demon — and we did a GTO. …

The 2000 era is becoming more important to car enthusiasts because it’s cars they can buy, cars they can find, cars they can drive and enjoy, so they like to customize their Challenger or their Mustang or their Camaro. A ‘50 Mercury like we did for the Pharaohs (in “Graffiti”) is not a daily driver, it’s an enjoyment car for a collector. But how many guys can become collectors?

We enjoy talking about cars of the past, cars of the future, movies and TV of the future … so we have a lot to talk about.

The North Modesto Kiwanis’ American Graffiti Car Show and Festival today and Sunday includes more than 650 vintage show cars, all made before 1973. Other festival attractions are 100 vendors selling food and crafts, kids games and three stages with live oldies music, DJs and acts. Performers include The Sensations, Hot Rods Band and the Kyle Barker Band. More than 12,000 people are expected to attend. All proceeds go to local charities.

Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7 adults, free to children 12 and under. MJC East Campus is at 435 College Ave. For more information, call 888-746-9763.

On the Net: Barris Kustom Industries, www.barris.com; North Modesto Kiwanis Club, www.northmodestokiwanis.org.

It’s no secret that Southern California is home to one of the best car cultures in the world. You can find a cruise or car show pretty much any day of the year, and it’s always amazing to see the vehicles that show up. It’s even incredible to see the kinds of cars that are simply out and about performing normal, everyday tasks. In addition to the usual Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches, you can sometimes catch some truly unique cars out in the wild.

Take, for instance, this original Batmobile that was out getting a wash and wax at the Car Spa in Newport Beach this weekend. It’s the fourth of four original Batmobiles built by George Barris back in 1966 and is known as the “dragster” version because of its 427ci Holman and Moody V8 under the hood and dual parachutes attached to the rear. The car was built to serve as an exhibition model and actually raced at several drag strips around the country back in the 1960’s. It also comes with a working saw blade that drops down at the front and can actually shoot flames out the back. We tip our hats to the fine gentleman that actually drives this thing on the street.
From the fine folks at CooOne Automotive news