Futura, Batmobile, 1959 It Started with a Kiss

[@richardtaylor4292]

Until this, I always thought that the original Batmobile was a complete custom job. I never realized that Lincoln had actually made the Futura (Batmobile). Other than a few tweaks here and there, mostly custom paint.

[@bondhughbond]

Ford's Bill Schmidt and John Najjar designed the car but they had Ghia coachbuild the body in Italy. Ghia did a lot of the concept cars for Ford and Chrysler in the '50s and '60s. The chassis was a modified version of a '53 that Lincoln had built for another project but never finished it. Many years ago I discovered what you discovered and I was very disappointed that the car was only subtly modified to become the Batmobile. It makes sense, though, considering the small window of time Barris had to deliver it. Originally Dean Jeffries was contracted to build a Batmobile for the show (he did the Monkeemobile and Black Beauty for the Green Hornet) and his plan was to customize a garden variety '59 Cadillac. Jeffries couldn't deliver it in schedule so they turned to Barris who had the Futura rotting behind his shop since this movie. He thought it would be perfect and he could deliver it quick because it already looked like a Batmobile. He bought it from Ford for $1! I think the Futura was a much cooler car to base it on and it was still a truly unique Batmobile.

[@davidgiambra2775]

"I was just shifting gears" hahaha

[@holmes1978]

Love this

[@LESLIEFABIANCASTELLANOSV-py2tn]

THIS CARS ARE REALLY BEATIFUL TODAY ALL THAT CHARMING IS DEATH TOO MUCH TECNOLOGY BUT NOTHING ICONIC AND LEGENDARY

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

I was curious when my classic car loving husband asked me if I'd seen this film, and I said no (we both love classics and Batman) but I suspected some other car/Batman fan would have downloaded on YT and voila! I was right. Much quicker (and cheaper) than renting the film off Netflix or AMC or Prime, because films like this are never ever free. Why, I don't know. When I was growing up they were always free (obviously)....

[@shettrick]

Glad you found it. There are hundreds of films free on KZbin and free streaming services with advertising like Tubi and many others, which I always find rather than paying for other services.

[@Chris-dm1je]

I've just watched the film. You did the right thing. Tedious pap that is watchable only when this car is on screen.

[@jed6271]

Watch for Eva Gabor (“Green Acres”) starting at 1:39. A young Lisa Douglas!

[@paulfogarty7724]

I wonder if it has a built in safety against accidently opening the canopy while moving at speed ?.. that canopy would act like reverse thrust on a jet engine... ( or get ripped off entirely )

[@shettrick]

Ha, it's not a real consumer vehicle -- was only made for movies and TV shows

[@Kevin.W.]

@shettrick It wasn't made for movies and TV shows, it was a concept car. It was only used in this movie, a one time thing.

[@shettrick]

@@Kevin.W. OK, thanks. My main point in reply to the previous comment was that it was not designed for consumers to purchase and therefore didn't require the safety features the commenter was asking about..Thanks for confirming that is true

[@Chris-dm1je]

In the 50s and 60s, these concept cars were built pretty much for publicity. They were never intended to go into production without being massively redesigned and toned down, if at all. The car companies said that they were demonstrating the future of motoring, and indeed, some such cars did have features that in heavilly modified form would make it into production cars. But their main function was to dazzle with bold designs and exotic features. The cars would tour the big motor shows, but by their very nature, their usefulness to the company was limited to perhaps a year at most. No use showing up to this year's car show with last year's vision of the future. Lots ended up forgotten and scrapped. The Lincoln Futura appeared in this movie, resprayed bright red, then lay in the yard behind George Barris's custom car works until he found a use for it as what would become for many, the definitive Batmobile.

[@jamesc.williamsburg6152]

The car looks amazing,,, but i Bet it got hot inside... doesn't look like the windows roll down

[@Chris-dm1je]

It wasn't really built for driving. It spent its first months touring motor shows, on rotating stands with women in ball gowns sitting in it. In this movie, it's not seen driving for more than a minute or so at a time, as you say it must have been awful, especially under the Spanish sun.

[@ronfowlermusic]

Holy hybrids!

[@peterkirgan2921]

Holy whackamolie! That kind of thing???😂

[@dickdomain719]

Sad he destroyed such a gem and turned it into a POS.

[@Chris-dm1je]

It's doubtful it would be remembered at all today if he hadn't. I do think it looked better in its original form, before it was sprayed red for this movie. And having just watched this movie, I can say that it would have not done much to keep the car's memory alive.