What happened to the Mulholland "King of the Hill" RSR?

[KevinP73]

From the Lincoln Futura (1954), to the Ford MA (2002) to the Ford Airstream (2007), Ford Motor Company concept cars have always left people asking: when are you going to build that thing?

[KevinP73]

Many more pics here.
http://carstyling.ru/en/cars.1955_Lincoln_Futura.html

[911 in SC]

There are at least a couple of places that make kits too:

Unique Movie Cars & Props

CY Prductions

There was an article in a 'mainstream' auto magazine (Car & Driver, Automobile?) a few months back about 'movie' and 'television' cars.

[Jeff Hail]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

From the Lincoln Futura (1954), to the Ford MA (2002) to the Ford Airstream (2007), Ford Motor Company concept cars have always left people asking: when are you going to build that thing?

I can picture George and Sam with head's cocked and oxy/ acet torch in hand. A couple gallons of black paint and some dayglow orange for pinstriping...


Kevin,
you worked for George at one time didnt you?

[KevinP73]

Yep I worked for George for about 5years. I never knew Sam though as he had passed before I entered the scene.

[Jeff Hail]

The Porschev guys at it again. Actually it's a built Caddy motor/ trans with 517 HP. The guy who built it isnt a drag racer he just likes to "invent and build". Maybe he was just bored?

Gotta love the Hartman Luggage disquised as an engine cover.

[Jeff Hail]

Vintage Sunbeam with familar backdrop

[Banning]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hail

Vintage Sunbeam with familar backdrop

Cool photo Jeff. Looks like late 70's by the scene. Photo taken from Benedict Cyn looking towards west with Beverly Glen water tower visible(few houses at that time) and Don Henleys place visible with all the trees to the upper right.

The Mulholland entrance to Don Henleys was the "Horseshoe" turnout across from Fire Stn. 99. The "Horseshoe" was actually part of the old Mulholland Drive before it was re-routed to accomodate the Fire Stn.

I had a Sunbeam like that one that had a wiring problem. It burned to the ground after selling to a friend at University High School in 1972. Gotta love that LUCAS ignition system.

[Banning]

Almost have the videos ready to post. They are degraded and located on old Beta tape. I have the first recorded onto DVD and getting ready to post. Getting the format correct is important. I called Jeff and he is helping me to get this done correctly.

The videos consist of an informative Eye on LA showing the old Grandstands, Bowmont with no gate, etc, plus the documentary of the filming of King of the Mountain(car in camera sequences), plus LA week in Review with Tim Carlson talking about Mulholland racing, plus a documentary about Mr. Mulholland and the creation of the famous Drive.

All videos are from 1982 except for the last one.

[SSB]

Officer Svender Bender

[Jeff Hail]

Originally Posted by SSB

Officer Svender Bender

Better add that chapter Victor!

[slodave]

I took a ride down Malibu Canyon today. Very surreal.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/374564-pics-malibu-canyon-fire-aftermath-post3557690.html?posted=1#post3557690

All pics can be viewed here:
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/slodave

Dave

[TooTall]

Originally Posted by SSB

That Batmobile is new yet very correct. Check out the steering wheel & speedo. Where does one get one of those??

"Atomic batteries to power...........
Turbines to speed.........."


"Holy understeer Batman!!"

Cheers,
Kurt O.

[lfot]

Originally Posted by slodave

I took a ride down Malibu Canyon today. Very surreal.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/374564-pics-malibu-canyon-fire-aftermath-post3557690.html?posted=1#post3557690

All pics can be viewed here:
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/slodave

Dave

Those pics are amazing.
Thanks Dave.

[KevinP73]

OK Let me tell you the story of the "Batmobile" as I heard it.
This all took place long before I started working for Barris.
Back in 1953 (actually the year of my birth) Ford Motor Company commisioned a company in Turin Italy to create a concept car for them. The car was dubbed "The Lincoln Futura". The Futura toured the show curcuit for a couple years and was then "retired" by Ford. Unlike GM, Ford didn't bury or destroy thier old prototypes. They were stored in a wharehouse in Detroit. George was tight with Ford back then and knew of these old prototypes sitting around. Years go by and
through his contacts with "the studios" (which one I'm not really sure) George became aware of a new series that was in development. They indicated they wanted a futuristic looking car. George negotiated the purchase of the "Futura" with the stipulation that the car was to NOT be shown, advertised or promoted to the public. Rumor has it that George bought the car for $1.00. The car received some very minor cosmetic changes. TRECup mentioned in an earlier post how he would visit Barris' shop and witnessed some of this work being performed. The "Futura" became "The Batmobile". The Batman series ran and when Ford got wind they felt that George had violated the agreement by showing the car in public. Georges rebuttal was that he was promoting "The Batmobile" not the "Futura". Thus began a very long legal battle between Barris and Ford Motor Company. This battle included Ford demanding the return of the car. Barris had made several copies of the car for use in the television series and the actuall car ( The Batmobile or the Futura) went into hiding. Ford finally lost interest in the matter and the whole issue was laid to rest by both parties. The "Batmobile" has seen several different owners since then but Barris Kustom will allways be known as its creator.

[TRE Cup]

I grew up down the street from George Barris' shop. Walking home from junior high school, I would pass by there a lot. Tubs, his painter, was very nice in allowing me to hang out, ask questions, check out the cars.
The Lincoln Futura had been sitting across the street on the corner , where the flower shop is today, just rotting away with faded red paint and crazed plexiglass bubble. One day, The futura was in the back of the body shop with these weird scallops on the tail fins, and they were fitting the angled tubes into the back deck. " This thing looks like a Bat car!" I told them. Tubs looked over at the other guys working and then tells me- "This is the new Bat Mobile ". It was originally painted flat black for the show
That poor car had to be towed through the first few episodes as the drivetrain was old and in bad shape. Barris built more of them, including more bling frills with the neon trim. He even put black flocking on , to simulate bat fur. That did not last with the constant handling in studio shoots.

Real creative guy- later came the monkee mobile GTO, Munsters mobile, and Dragula (coffin dragster for Grandpa)- all ran and drove with loud big motors

[KevinP73]

Barris knew Ford wanted the car back bad enough to hire some PI's to find it and retrieve it. The Batmobile being as popular as it was George was not inclined to pass on an opportunity to show it. Problem is with Ford looking for it real hard. Tubs (Roy Johnson being his real name) took a copy back to Dearborn, Mich for a car show. The event ran it's scheduled course and Tubs packed up the car in an enclosed trailer and headed back to sunny SoCal. His first night of the journey back he stayed in a hotel only to awaken the next morning with the comapny Dodge van, trailer and all its contents GONE!. Tubs called George with the news and was instructed to just get on a plane and come on home. Tubs called a taxi and as he's headed down the road towards the airport along side the road is the company van with the trailer still attached. The back door of the trailer is down and right behind that is the Batmobile!! Just sitting off the side of the road. All the contents of the van and the trailer were intact. The car, other than being unloaded from the trailer was untouched.
The theory was that someone stole the van and trailer thinking the "Futura/Batmobile" was inside. When they discovered a fiberglass copy they just abandoned it.

[lfot]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

Barris knew Ford wanted the car back bad enough to hire some PI's to find it and retrieve it. The Batmobile being as popular as it was George was not inclined to pass on an opportunity to show it. Problem is with Ford looking for it real hard. Tubs (Roy Johnson being his real name) took a copy back to Dearborn, Mich for a car show. The event ran it's scheduled course and Tubs packed up the car in an enclosed trailer and headed back to sunny SoCal. His first night of the journey back he stayed in a hotel only to awaken the next morning with the comapny Dodge van, trailer and all its contents GONE!. Tubs called George with the news and was instructed to just get on a plane and come on home. Tubs called a taxi and as he's headed down the road towards the airport along side the road is the company van with the trailer still attached. The back door of the trailer is down and right behind that is the Batmobile!! Just sitting off the side of the road. All the contents of the van and the trailer were intact. The car, other than being unloaded from the trailer was untouched.
The theory was that someone stole the van and trailer thinking the "Futura/Batmobile" was inside. When they discovered a fiberglass copy they just abandoned it.

So did Barris keep the original in hiding during the show's production? Were all the cars used in the show "copies" of the Futura/Batmobile?

[KevinP73]

Back in the day.
Left to Right
Tubs, Myself, Dale Gould. Photo by George himself.
Dale and I went on to work on the Lola and then I went to A.I.R. Tubs passed years later. Dale is now in Oregon somewhere. I'm not aware of what he's up to.

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by lfot

So did Barris keep the original in hiding during the show's production? Were all the cars used in the show "copies" of the Futura/Batmobile?

Ford wasn't aware of the car being in the series untill after it aired it's first season. It was then that the original went into a trailer in Van Nuys. I don't recall his name but there was a dragster chassis builder who had a shop on Woodley at the Van Nuys airport. George rented a hanger there for all of his show cars. When Ford demanded the car back George hid the original in a trailer that this chassis builder had in the parking lot. It sat there for many years.
George had a guy named Kim who drove an 18wheeler for him. Kim was out of town one day and George came to me and asked if I could drive a big rig. I said I could drive anything! More brag than fact. George took me over to the airport put me in the Peterbuilt that Kim normally drove and told me to hook up to this trailer and bring it to the shop in North Hollywood.
It was probably the most dangerous day in L.A traffic history but went un-noticed by the general public.
Upon getting the trailer to the shop we all proceeded to unload the original "Futura". This was the day that George shared the history of the car with me. Untill then I really had NO clue of any of it.